MidAmerica Airport May Be Used
Company Wants To Build Air Network
BELLEVILLE, IL (August 25, 1999) -- The details are still shrouded, but a London-based real estate company wants to create an air cargo and passenger network using MidAmerica Airport.
A troupe of executives from Wiggins Group, a $250 million publicly traded company on the London Exchange, met with the St. Clair County Public Building Commission and other county leaders Tuesday morning. They outlined how the company wants to circumvent the U.S. "hub and spoke" system used by the major airlines, which they said can cause hassles and delays for travelers.
They want MidAmerica Airport, 19 other independent airports across the United States and 30 airports in Europe to form a new network.
"We've looked at the situation in Europe and the U.S." said Tony Freudmann, a senior vice president. "Here the independents (airlines) have been squeezed out by a monopoly, a cartel. If you're a stockholder in a major airline, you're happy, but if you're a passenger in an area not served, you aren't."
The plan is to unite all the airports under the same marketing umbrella and create a common brand. Right now, the company refers to the project as "Planestation."
But just what the county's stake will be in the project is unknown.
Public Building Commission members closed the meeting to the public when talk turned to specific details. They reconvened in public and voted to pursue formal negotiations with the company, work on contractual language and have executives return for a more formal presentation.
It's the second time in a week the commission has heard from a company that wants to manage the airport.
Airport Third Millennium came in last week to talk about combining marketing and management. On Tuesday, however, the commission also voted to stop negotiating with "another vendor." Whether that referred to Airport Third Millennium is unclear.
Freudmann acknowledged that the company's plan was out of the ordinary. "We realize this is all sounding a little mysterious," he said. Any specific details about promises and guarantees were discussed in private between the group and the commission.
Freudmann said the company is currently negotiating with eight of the 20 U.S. airports they want to use to create the network. The success of the plan depends on whether cargo carriers and travelers would want to use the secondary airports.
Wiggins executives said they think travelers have never been offered a realistic option of an alternate network of airports that would get them from plane to car in 20 minutes, both better and cheaper than what currently exists.
But aviation consultant and MidAmerica Airport critic Michael Boyd is highly skeptical.
"Scratch this one up as another crazy idea," Boyd said from his office in Golden, Colo. "People go to airports because that is where they want to fly." He also said the independent airlines would require a lot of revenue to come into these airports -- revenue Boyd said the airports don't have.
"It sounds like a grade B high school project to me," he said. But it's one Wiggins, not a fly-by-night company by any means, has been developing for two years.
Wright Investors' Service, which evaluates the performance of more than 18,000 companies, rated Wiggins' marketability "good" and its financial strength "outstanding." It also shows the company, which traditionally bought property around London and developed it, made $25 million last year and has $250 million in assets.
The company recently bought Manston Airport, a closed Royal Air Force Base south of London, and converted it into a cargo operation. It is the genesis of its Planestation project.
"We're not looking to take advantage of the fact that you have an airport with no business," Freudman said. But he later acknowledged some thing heard before in St. Clair County: "On your own, it's very difficult to market this airport. All you can do is look to the major carriers, and you have to offer them guarantees -- you have to offer them the world"
Information provided by the Belleville News-Democrat
Michael Shaw Article
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