NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Nothing fuels conversation about Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport more than high fares and potential new air service.
Both topics have been mentioned in the newspaper in recent weeks, and it’s time to respond to e-mail received from Dave Kinsey of Springdale and Norvil Lantz of Bella Vista.
Question: “Thanks for your information on the possibility of more airlines serving XNA,” Kinsey writes. “The April 8 article in the newspaper talked of the costs of flying out of XNA because of no competition.
“To me, it is a ‘tax’ to the common flier because of big businesses. Business fliers fill the planes, and the airlines can charge a higher fare. It’s not fair for Northwest Arkansas citizens to be forced to pay high amounts due to big businesses causing a majority of the passengers on the planes.
“We need to have the ‘tax’ reduced to compete with other airports.”
Answer: There is an unofficial premium paid at XNA, created by demand.
Demand drives everything.
It’s created unintentionally by businesses such as Bentonville’s Wal-Mart Stores and Springdale’s Tyson Foods, which leads to higher fares. It’s hard to fault the airlines for charging as much as people are willing to pay. Those businesses cause airlines to enhance air service fromXNA, and that’s important.
There are currently 48 daily flights to 12 cities from XNA, and Allegiant Air offers twice-a-week service to four other cities.
The Guru suspects XNA would have four or five destinations if the big businesses’ employees didn’t fly so much. There’d be 20 to 25 flights a day.
How much do the businesses fly? A bunch.
Wal-Mart didn’t respond to The Guru’s fabulous questions about employees’ flying, but Tyson Foods spokesman Gary Mickelson said Tyson books 9,300 flights a year through XNA.
Who says chickens don’t fly?
The fares can be high as New York Times blogger Nate Silver found when he examined airports’ average fares. XNA was among the most expensive in the nation, with a $527 average fare.
Q: “Had [Airport Director Kelly] Johnson asked people who drive to Tulsa why they drive, she could have saved $25,000,” Lantz writes. “It’s the price. I can drive to Tulsa and save at least $150 to $300. Look it up. XNA is that much higher on fares.”
A: Southwest Airlines competes with American Airlines in Tulsa, and American charges less there.
The Guru found an example last week. When he checked, a person could fly American from XNA to Dallas/Fort Worth on June 11 and return June 14 for $394. American sold Tulsato-Dallas/Fort Worth on those same days for $99.
The $25,000 being paid for a “leakage” study should show how many people leave the area closest to XNA and fly from other airports.
It should help show that there’s a need for American Airlines to have competition on flights to Dallas/Fort Worth, but it’s not clear which airline is best positioned to provide that.
Robert J. Smith’s column about people on the move in Northwest Arkansas appears each Monday. He can be reached at [email protected].
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 05/09/2011