At MidAmerica Airport, More Uncertainty After TWA Takeover
Some Call It A Monument To The Future, Others A Monument To Government Waste
MASCOUTAH, IL (January 14, 2001) -- The takeover of Trans World Airlines, the nation's sixth-largest carrier, by Fort Worth-based American Airlines, the second-largest airline, has renewed uncertainty about the future of MidAmerica St. Louis Airport.
In the three years MidAmerica Airport has been open, the facility has attracted just one airline, Portsmouth, N.H.-based Pan American, a company that specializes in flying into reliever airports near major cities.
There are no cargo carriers (at one time cargo was touted as the lifeblood of St. Clair County's $220 million airport). General aviation, or small plane, pilots have steered clear of MidAmerica Airport. And a proposed maintenance and overhaul facility has failed to materialize.
On Wednesday, American Airlines announced plans to buy TWA's assets for $500 million. Airline industry analysts believe smaller airlines that might be inclined to operate at MidAmerica Airport now will wait to see what American does with TWA's hub operations at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. If American uses fewer gates and creates vacancies there, MidAmerica Airport's chances of getting another airline could be crippled.
As uncertainty swirls around Lambert because of the TWA buyout, one industry analyst says MidAmerica Airport never should have been built in the first place.
"It should not have been done, but it was done," said Mike Boyd, who runs an aviation consulting firm in the Denver area that does consulting work for the Bloomington airport in Central Illinois.
"You've built it, you're stuck with it. Now how do you make it work?"
What about charter service?
MidAmerica Airport was built as a "reliever" airport for Lambert, meaning it was intended to offer overflow and complementary passenger, cargo, and perhaps general aviation or maintenance operations.
However, Boyd does not believe a reliever airport is needed in the St. Louis area and said the key to making MidAmerica Airport viable may be charter flights to vacation destinations.
St. Clair County officials have said that Boyd's opinions are suspect, since he does consulting work for Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington, which in the airport industry, they say, could be considered a competitor to MidAmerica Airport.
The Red Lion Casino in Elko, Nevada, operates Casino Express Airlines, which ferries excited gamblers to Elko from over 90 cities in the United States. While the airline does run charter flights from Lambert, Casino Express also runs charter flights to Elko from Gary, Indiana, where Pan Am also flies to.
Boyd said county officials should pursue airlines like Casino Express, and believes charter flights could do well at MidAmerica.
"You make it basically a leisure gateway," Boyd said. "There is a potential there."
Airport Director Rick Hargrove said he is marketing the airport to companies in all parts of the aviation industry.
"We're talking to all those kinds of people," Hargrove said. "There are opportunities out there that when the time comes, we'll be very interested in putting together a package for them."
David NewMyer, the chairman of the aviation management and flight department at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, agreed with Boyd about the potential success of charters at MidAmerica Airport, and thinks charter service could lead to better things.
"That makes a lot of sense," NewMyer said. "That might pave the way for scheduled service to the very same places."
Is cargo the answer?
In September, Lambert leaders announced the airport had no more room for cargo and was going to encourage any operator who wished to expand, or any company wishing to start cargo service, to look to MidAmerica Airport.
But the nation's major cargo haulers -- Federal Express, United Parcel Service, Airborne Express, DHL and Emery -- have said they have no interest in moving their operations across the river. And Hargrove admits the airport is not close to bringing in a cargo operator.
"They're not ready to commit right now," he said. "I'm sure the county will be willing to make concessions to get the first one."
A small start-up cargo airline, Phoenix Provider, had proposed to build a hangar and offices at MidAmerica Airport. It then would contract with the large cargo carriers such as UPS and FedEx to handle their excess volume.
But Hargrove said last week the company still is seeking financing and is no closer to making its plan a reality.
Paul Page, the editor of Air Cargo World magazine, a trade publication covering the cargo industry, said there is a chance MidAmerica could attract cargo business, but doing so will prove challenging.
"MidAmerica's challenge is to convince cargo companies that there are positive economic benefits that outweigh the challenges airlines would face in moving there," Page said.
Most cargo companies do not like to be the first one to start operating at an airport, Page said. "Cargo operators like being around other cargo operators."
Hargrove said the airport has a six-acre cargo ramp ready to go and has set aside 65 acres of land to the northwest of the current terminal for a cargo company. In addition, Hargrove said the airport can offer a potential cargo operator nearly 200 more acres of land on which to expand.
"The advantage that we've got here at MidAmerica Airport is that we've got land that's available for development," he said. "All we have to do is get a user."
Calling all small planes
Thirty acres also have been earmarked at MidAmerica Airport for general aviation. Generally, a fixed base operator would operate a hangar and passenger terminal for small planes, their pilots and passengers.
But while land at the airport has been set aside for general aviation some day, St. Clair County Board Chairman John Baricevic said the county is not actively pursuing it.
"We're not really looking at general aviation," he said.
"There are several other airports in the St. Louis region that are better alternatives for general aviation," Hargrove said.
Specifically, St. Louis Downtown Parks Airport near Cahokia, which is operated by the Bi-State Development Agency, and St. Louis Regional Airport in Bethalto currently cater to small crafts.
Warren Morningstar, a spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, a general aviation group near Washington, D.C., said of the 5,000 American airports not used by the military, only 400 have major airline service, making general aviation a major presence in the industry.
"Just looking at the numbers, its clear that general aviation is going to a lot more places," he said.
Boyd also said general aviation is something MidAmerica Airport needs to aggressively pursue, especially in light of the quality of facilities MidAmerica can offer.
"If I had a facility of that size and quality, I'd be going after general aviation," he said. "Anything with wings that will fly, I'd be going after."
Hargrove said that pilots of small planes, corporate jets and commuter planes are welcome to use MidAmerica Airport, but there are no plans to market the facility to them.
And there are no immediate plans to build a maintenance or aircraft modification facility at the airport, Hargrove said.
What does the future hold?
When MidAmerica Airport opened in November 1997, St. Clair County agreed to budget for five years of operating losses at the facility. After that, the airport would be expected to fly on its own.
NewMyer said he believes the airport eventually will take off, but it may take longer for the facility to succeed than the county expected or wanted.
"I think it's going to happen for them, but its going to take a while," he said. "Five years may not be enough."
In the meantime, MidAmerica Airport will have a $6.5 million budget in 2001, with much of that coming from St. Clair County taxpayers.
Hargrove emphasized the importance of thinking long-term when talking about the airport's performance and said he is certain the airport, for which he is planning 40 to 50 years into the future, will be a success.
"It will become a very important airport," he said. "To look at the airport as a short-term investment is shortsighted."
Information provided by the Belleville News-Democrat
David Van Den Berg Article © Belleville News-Democrat
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