Smaller airports compete for flights

Little Rock's Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field is hardly alone in feeling the impact of canceled routes and scaled-back service from major airlines.

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Mead & Hunt consultant Joseph Pickering offered Little Rock Airport Municipal Airport commissioners and other local stakeholders words of encouragement during his portion of a four-hour workshop at the airport. Pickering was addressing flights lost over the past year and the potential for additional changes in service in Little Rock and other markets of similar size.

"It's not local," Pickering said. "It's not just the Little Rock market."

As an example, Pickering pointed to the recent loss of Frontier Airlines service to Denver. Little Rock was one of 19 markets to lose flights to Denver as a result of Frontier Airlines shifting its business model.

These cuts come as the airline is looking to become less "Denver-centric," Pickering said during the presentation to a group that included airport directors from Little Rock, Northwest Arkansas and Shreveport. Consolidation by major carriers has opened up additional markets for Frontier and others.

Southwest Airlines is undergoing similar changes to the markets it services. A desire to add international routes and major markets has led to fewer flights out of Little Rock and similar-sized airports.

Little Rock lost a pair of daily Southwest flights to Dallas as a result of the changes. Albuquerque and Houston each lost four Southwest daily flights to Dallas, while Tulsa, St. Louis and Kansas City each lost two.

Loss of direct service is one of the more common tweaks that Little Rock and other airports are seeing. While the direct routes are more convenient, the elimination of those routes have not necessarily eliminated the options that exist for Little Rock passengers.

Pickering, who consults for the Little Rock airport, said the city is a connector to more than 330 locations.

"People mistakenly feel if you don't have a direct flight there, you can't get there from here," said Ron Mathieu, the executive director of the Clinton airport. "That's not true at all. I think we put that issue to bed here today."

Traffic through August is down 4.9 percent for the year at the airport with 1.4 million total passengers. Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport has seen traffic growth of 10.7 percent with 859,228 passengers during that period.

Despite the increases and proposed future traffic growth at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, airport director Kelly Johnson said the fight for her airport is the same as anywhere else. Officials from Northwest Arkansas are actively pursuing new carriers and additional flights while working to retain the ones they have.

"This industry is in a constant state of evolution," Johnson said. "We've got to be very vigilant to make sure we're offering the best service we can, the best business deal we can to all our partners and customers"

Attracting new business and retaining current routes are becoming increasingly competitive. Ultimately, Pickering said, it comes down to basic economics. Airports have to prove that airlines are wisely investing their time and equipment in the markets.

American, Delta, United and Southwest -- the four major airlines in the U.S. -- control 85 percent of the domestic market. Much of their traffic is now being routed through major airline hubs such as Atlanta and Chicago. Memphis, Cleveland and other cities have lost their hub status as a result of consolidation.

"In this environment, you have to be able to make the economics work," Pickering said. "Are there enough people going from A to B to make the economics work?"

Business on 09/17/2014

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