Pan Am Will Stop Flying To MidAmerica Airport
Service Will End December 3
St. Louis, Missouri (November 1, 2001) -- Pan American Airways, the only commercial airliner flying to MidAmerica Airport, announced Thursday that it would stop using the airport by December 3.
The news dealt a blow to MidAmerica and to St. Clair County, which built and operates the airport 25 miles east of St. Louis. The $213 million airport opened in 1998 and sat empty for two years before Pan Am's debut in August last year. In that year, St. Clair County spent $3.9 million to run the airport.
Pan Am's decision to pull out of MidAmerica comes at a time when the nation's airline industry is suffering, and luring a replacement carrier to MidAmerica is likely to be difficult.
MidAmerica's backers hoped Pan Am's arrival last year would help establish the airport as a hassle-free alternative to Lambert Field.
Despite initial curiosity and a few sold-out flights during the winter holidays, business was sluggish.
From January to July, the most recent months for which figures were available, 30 to 60 people boarded planes daily at MidAmerica, meaning the planes were often less than half full.
Dan Fortnam, Pan Am's vice president for marketing, said the New Hampshire-based airline was pulling out of MidAmerica so it could add service to Baltimore and Clearwater, Fla., near St. Petersburg, on Dec. 6. He declined to elaborate.
Fortnam and other Pan Am executives have said that ticket sales for its flights to and from MidAmerica had been sluggish. On Oct. 5, the airline took the unusual step of canceling its flights between MidAmerica and Sanford, Fla., citing slow business and the impact of the terrorist attacks Sept. 11.
Although Pan Am had only six flights into MidAmerica per week, county officials and airport supporters had hoped that its presence might lead to other commercial flights. Pan Am's decision will leave MidAmerica empty once again, back at square one.
Industry experts said the move would hamper efforts to attract another passenger or cargo carrier to the airport.
"It's clearly a huge loss for MidAmerica," said Steve Lott, business editor of Aviation Daily, a trade publication. "The hope when Pan Am went in was 'if you build it they will come.' With Pan Am starting service at that time, maybe other low-fare carriers and niche carriers would follow. Clearly, that didn't happen."
Lott said Pan Am, like airlines large and small, was affected by the terrorist attacks and a faltering economy, with particular consequences for the struggling airline industry.
He added that MidAmerica's supporters may find it more difficult to pitch the airport as the region's long-term solution for delays and overcrowding at Lambert Field.
"After September 11, no airline is going to start or expand into a new market unless there is a clearly strong demand," Lott said. "Unfortunately, this could send a signal to the market that it's a struggle to make a market out of MidAmerica."
MidAmerica Director Rick Hargrove and Terry Beach, St. Clair County's economic development director, could not be reached Thursday. They were attending a trade show in Miami.
John Baricevic, the St. Clair County Board chairman, said the news had come as a "complete surprise."
"Pan Am had told us all along that in January they would be reassessing routes," Baricevic said. "Airlines redo their routes all the time, maybe every 90 days, and we were expecting a review of our routes. But we very much expected a dialogue. That didn't happen."
Baricevic said Pan Am's decision to erase MidAmerica from its itinerary would not change the overall long-term goals for the airport.
"Obviously, it's not good news," Baricevic said. "But the long-term picture doesn't change. MidAmerica was built for the future, to increase aviation capacity in the region."
Information provided by the St. Louis Post Dispatch
William Lamb Article © the St. Louis Post Dispatch
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