May 27, 200817 yr Full story: http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/05/26/daily11.html Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 4:53 PM EDT Traffic dips nearly across the board at Port Columbus in April Business First of Columbus Without Skybus Airlines Inc. and deep in industry-wide troubles, Port Columbus International Airport in April recorded its first drop in passenger traffic in more than a year and a half. The Columbus Regional Airport Authority on Tuesday reported that 580,193 passengers used Port Columbus last month, down 6 percent from 618,156 a year ago. Skybus didn't begin flights at Port Columbus until May 2007, but April marks the first full month without the company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection April 5.
June 18, 200816 yr The cuts just keep coming for CMH. Delta's latest cuts include SLC, MCO and LAX will probably not return next year. Concourse C is going to be a ghost town. They ought to just shutter it and move DL and YX ops to B. AA cuts rumored include RDU, BOS and STL. Nothing confirmed. And there's no one to fill in any of the gaping holes. Depressing. Oh well, I guess we better get used to connecting through fortress hubs from now on.
June 25, 200816 yr Port Columbus' passenger traffic in May fell 8 percent from a year ago Tuesday, June 24, 2008 4:15 PM By Marla Matzer Rose THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Port Columbus recorded its second straight month of year-over-year passenger declines in May, the first full month without the presence of Skybus Airlines. A total of 594,247 passengers traveled through the airport last month, an 8 percent decline compared with May 2007. The decline reflected the absence of more than 12,000 passengers carried by Skybus last May plus the effects of flight cutbacks by major airlines, including Delta Air Lines and US Airways. US Airways, No. 2 locally with a 16 percent passenger share, had 15 percent fewer flights and 5 percent fewer passengers year-over-year in May. Read more at http://dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2008/06/24/airport_may.html?sid=101
July 23, 200816 yr Port Columbus says 2008 passenger totals will fall more than first thought Airport seeks $5.2 million from defunct Skybus Tuesday, July 22, 2008 3:48 PM Updated: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 09:12 PM By Marla Matzer Rose THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH The one-two punch of Skybus Airlines' demise and nationwide airline industry cuts continues to affect Port Columbus. The decline in passengers at Port Columbus accelerated in June, according to data released at the airport board meeting today. That prompted the airport to revise upward its expected passenger loss for the full year. Port Columbus had 631,029 passengers last month, 13 percent fewer than in June 2007. Overall flights were down 12.5 percent, to 4,602. Port Columbus officials now predict an 11.5 percent drop in passenger numbers for the full year compared with 2007. Last month, they predicted a 9.5 percent decrease. More at http://dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2008/07/22/port_columbus.html?sid=101
July 24, 200816 yr "Other markets, such as Washington, D.C., will be left with only one carrier providing nonstop service. A lack of competition on a route typically leads to higher fares." Ugh...another aviation story from a large city daily that is incorrect. I wish the subtle commentary would be pushed aside for simple accuracy. US Airways Express will have 4 non-stops from DCA to CMH and United Express will have 5 non-stops from CMH to IAD in January. With the internet there should be no excuse for errors like this.
July 27, 200816 yr Read the opening paragraphs of this story and listen to what Alvin Smith is saying: that not only has flying become too much of a hassle, but it leaves him with no choice but to drive his car to do his job. Another statement about why we need to develop intercity passenger rail. Airport cuts costs as traffic slows Passenger counts down, expected to fall up to 10% more Sunday, July 27, 2008 3:25 AM By Tim Doulin THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Alvin Smith was at Port Columbus last week on business, not to catch a flight. The 55-year-old Pittsburgh man, there to meet some people, had driven to Columbus instead of flying. Smith cited "the inconveniences currently in just going somewhere on an airplane" in explaining why he drives rather than flies on business trips when possible. "I hear a lot of guys complaining about missed flights, can't get somewhere." Read more at http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/07/27/AirportOp.ART_ART_07-27-08_B4_EEARU9D.html?sid=101
July 27, 200816 yr This has me thinking of the railroad equivalent. In the 1920's, the railroads built (overbuilt) huge passenger facilities for crowds they anticipated. Then the depression hit and the crowds never materialized and these marvelous facilities quickly became liabilities as the industry began its long decline. The same thing is happening today, as airlines cut back, leaving cities with overbuilt terminal facilities or abandoning service to smaller or secondary markets altogether. This is eerily similar to what happened to the railroads, except this time, we have publically owned facilties. Guess who picks up the tab? Noozer is correct to point out that we need rail service to make up the retrenchment of the airlines. One could say these are markets they never should have been in and probably would not have been in if government policy wasn't so skewed against railroads in favor of air and highway modes. So, here we have history repeating itself. I hope this time we wake up and do what should have been done decades ago: form a sane national transportation policy which is even-handed toward all modes and looks to a future when we may not have as much oil as we do now.
July 27, 200816 yr This has me thinking of the railroad equivalent. In the 1920's, the railroads built (overbuilt) huge passenger facilities for crowds they anticipated. Then the depression hit and the crowds never materialized and these marvelous facilities quickly became liabilities as the industry began its long decline. The same thing is happening today, as airlines cut back, leaving cities with overbuilt terminal facilities or abandoning service to smaller or secondary markets altogether. This is eerily similar to what happened to the railroads, except this time, we have publically owned facilties. Guess who picks up the tab? [...] [...] BuckeyeB, as I started to read your post I felt an impulse to chime in, "But the railroads built their grand stations with their own money. The taxpayers bought extravagant facilities for the airlines to use." But I see you covered that. Not only did the taxpayers pay for the airports and terminals, either through local general obligation bonds or through FAA grants that came in part from the General Fund (your and my income taxes), but most, if not all, airports hosting scheduled intercity service, are municipal facilities and are exempt from local property taxes. Because the airports are exempt from local property taxes, the burden for making up the revenue from real estate they occupy falls upon local homeowners and businesses, who also foot the bill for the access roads and other infrastructure needed to accomodate the increased traffic. If commercial aviation had to pay the full cost of FAA programs like air traffic control, build their own airports and terminals, and pay taxes on them, the need to recover costs and turn an annual profit would have inhibited them from overexpanding and overextending themselves into the situation they've created for themselves. If municipalities, instead of cutting each other's throats competing for service, had required airlines to buy into the capital costs of their airports and pay an ongoing allocation of airport and terminal maintenance expenses, the industry would now be more stable and might be closer to operating on an economically-sustainable scale. Deregulation without the counterbalancing effect of fiscal accountability is the equivalent of giving someone a charge card with no limit and telling them, "Here. Do whatever you like, and don't worry about paying for it."
July 27, 200816 yr If commercial aviation had to pay the full cost of FAA programs like air traffic control, build their own airports and terminals, and pay taxes on them, the need to recover costs and turn an annual profit would have inhibited them from overexpanding and overextending themselves into the situation they've created for themselves. If municipalities, instead of cutting each other's throats competing for service, had required airlines to buy into the capital costs of their airports and pay an ongoing allocation of airport and terminal maintenance expenses, the industry would now be more stable and might be closer to operating on an economically-sustainable scale. Hell, if airlines had to do all that, there wouldn't have been any sort of air service, outside a few flights between some dusty, private airstrips! And there lies the rub. Railroads, built by private capital could not compete with the public purse. This is why they got out of the passenger trade and why they downsized and almost died in the 1970's. The far-right free market types always seem to omit or overlook that fact, either inadvertantly or by design. I believe it's the latter. A lot of the money that pays for them comes from the very organizations which like things the way they are. They are quite happy with us as an oil junkie nation. It's good business, never mind the implications.
July 28, 200816 yr It strikes me that air travel is among the least subsidized modes of transit out there. Airlines are private, taxpaying businesses (if they ever make money). They pay money to land and take off from the airport, and also collect various taxes and passenger facility charges which are used to pay for things like terminals. Most of the cost of air infrastructure in the US is borne by the flying public in the price they pay for their tickets.
July 28, 200816 yr It strikes me that air travel is among the least subsidized modes of transit out there. Airlines are private, taxpaying businesses (if they ever make money). They pay money to land and take off from the airport, and also collect various taxes and passenger facility charges which are used to pay for things like terminals. Most of the cost of air infrastructure in the US is borne by the flying public in the price they pay for their tickets. My figures are several years old, from before 9/11/2001. I recall reading that FAA operating expense associated with the air traffic control system alone was more than $3 billion/year, and that federal statute capped the amount of FAA operating expense that could be paid from ticket tax revenue at 27%, requiring more than $2 billion/year subsidy from the General Fund just for air traffic control. The General Fund is made up largely of the taxes you and I pay on Form 1040. If I understand correctly, the added cost of security since 9/11/2001 is paid entirely from General Fund revenue by the federal government. The bulk of ticket tax revenue was reserved for capital improvements, primarily construction and expansion of airports. The consequence of building and expanding airports is to remove real estate from local tax bases and increase maintenance expense, shifting more burden onto taxpayers at various levels of government. So far as airport authorities' recovery of operating costs from airlines' landing and takeoff fees and terminal space rental, I think that ranged from a typical 10 percent to a high of around 50 percent in a small number of exemplary cases. Since the time that I read that info, federal law has been changed to allow local airport authorities to levy boarding surcharges to fund some local capital improvement projects. As time permits I'll try to research this further and come up with some current figures. I'm still pretty sure, though, that a large chunk of the cost of commercial aviation still comes from taxpayers pockets. The passenger transport mode that receives the least public subsidy is the intercity motorcoach industry. The intercity bus lines benefit from the use of local, state and federal highways just as you and I do when we drive our cars, but any passenger stations they use are in almost all cases paid for with their own money, and in the few small towns that still have bus connections with bigger cities there are no stations or sheltered waiting areas; you buy your ticket at a gas station, pharmacy or card-and-gift shop during business hours and hope the bus is running close to schedule as you wait in the rain, snow, or sweltering heat. If you're lucky, there might be a bench that hasn't been destroyed by skateboarders or other vandals.
August 20, 200816 yr Port Columbus lands AirTran Wednesday, August 20, 2008 3:14 AM By Marla Matzer Rose THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Local travelers still stinging from Skybus Airlines' demise are expected to get a welcome piece of news today, as discount carrier AirTran Airways announces it will begin flights from Port Columbus in November. The Orlando, Fla.-based airline will offer nonstop flights to Atlanta and Orlando and Fort Myers, Fla., beginning Nov. 6. Atlanta service will be twice daily, while service to the Florida destinations will be once daily. AirTran's Atlanta hub offers connections to more than 40 other cities, including Miami, Houston and Los Angeles. The announcement comes after a string of setbacks for Port Columbus and other airports. In addition to losing service from JetBlue Airways and Skybus this year, Port Columbus has faced deep flight cuts from other airlines, including Delta Air Lines and American Airlines, as they've struggled with skyrocketing fuel prices. Read more at http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/08/20/airtran_columbus.ART_ART_08-20-08_A1_DKB35DL.html?sid=101
August 20, 200816 yr Thanks Noozer, this is great news because now I can get down to Atlanta a lot easier
August 20, 200816 yr Definitely fantastic news. Coming off the heels of loosing jetBlue and cuts from the network carriers, this is certainly welcome and needed new service at Port Columbus. The arrival of AirTran in CMH is especially important due to the fact that it will finally alleviate fares between Columbus and Atlanta, which have long been under Delta's control. AirTran also heralds low fare connections to the Southeast, full-sized planes, and affordable business class. Here's hoping that AirTran sees success in the Columbus market.
August 20, 200816 yr I hope they're treated better than JetBlue apparently was. Hopefully they see success and can open FLL back up for CMH flyers. Some have stated that WN will crush them. I highly doubt WN will do anything to stand in their way. They like CMH at its current size (approx 30 flights/day).
August 27, 200816 yr July airport passenger count dips 16% Wednesday, August 27, 2008 3:06 AM By Marla Matzer Rose THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Passenger numbers for July were down 16 percent from July 2007, Port Columbus officials said yesterday. The total declined to 612,919 from 727,953 for the previous July, members of the Columbus Regional Airport Authority board were told. Port Columbus continued to feel the fallout of Skybus Airlines' demise as well as double-digit cuts in flights by Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Midwest Airlines. Declines could reach 20 percent or more during the next several months, said Elaine Roberts, president and chief executive of the airport authority. For the full year, she stuck with the airport's projection of an 11 percent decline in passengers from the record 7.7 million in 2007. The arrival of AirTran Airways in November could cushion the blow. Read more at http://dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2008/08/27/airport_july.ART_ART_08-27-08_C7_OOB58FA.html?sid=101
September 2, 200816 yr Does anyone know if the flights to MCO and RSW on AirTran will be seasonal? They're bookable up until May 2009, which is the farthest in advance that one can purchase a ticket at this time. As far as I know, both will be year-round service, however AirTran is known for making routes seasonal depending on their performance.
September 5, 200816 yr Full Story: http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/09/01/daily21.html Thursday, September 4, 2008 - 4:14 PM EDT Southwest traffic down in August Business First of Columbus Port Columbus International Airport’s busiest carrier on Thursday reported another month of declining passenger traffic. Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. said traffic in August declined 5 percent to 6.63 billion revenue passenger miles, down from 7 billion a year ago. A revenue passenger mile represents one paying passenger flown 1 mile. The August decline follows a 2 percent drop in passenger traffic in July. Full Story: http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/09/01/daily20.html Thursday, September 4, 2008 - 11:38 AM EDT More American Airlines job cuts headed for Columbus Business First of Columbus A second wave of job cuts for American Airlines Inc. is hitting several more employees at Port Columbus International Airport, the carrier said Thursday. Tami McLallen, a spokeswoman for the fourth-largest passenger carrier at Port Columbus, said reductions are expected to be made to the ranks of the airline’s service employees – mostly agents and fleet service clerks – in Columbus, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
September 30, 200816 yr Full Story: http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/09/29/daily17.html Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - 5:02 PM EDT Port Columbus traffic drops for 5th straight month Business First of Columbus Passenger traffic at Port Columbus International Airport dropped more than 20 percent in August, the steepest drop yet in a five-month string of declines. The Columbus Regional Airport Authority on Tuesday reported that 566,550 travelers passed through the airport last month, down 21.5 percent from 721,280 in August 2007. Traffic year-to-date has fallen about 5 percent to about 4.8 million passengers.
October 7, 200816 yr Guess that 2nd terminal will be put off another 20 years! On another note, did anyone notice in the Sunday Travel section the Dispatch that Apple Vacations now offers packages to Cozumel via Continental Airlines? That would make this the 2nd Mexican destination. I don't understand how places like Cleveland and Pittsburgh have service via USA3000 to places like Montego Bay and Puerto Vallarta but CMH doesn't. Maybe CLE has more demand but surely PIT doesn't despit what PITers like to believe. PITers think they should have service to several European cities and multiple west coast. I have family in and around PIT. That area just can't support that kind of service, not without the hub. Anyway, that was way off topic....
October 7, 200816 yr I was told a while ago that most of USA3000's cities also doubled as crew bases, except for Columbus. USA3000 operated similar to Skybus in that trips lasted a day for these crew members. So crews would fly trips along the lines of CLE-CUN-CMH-CUN-PIT, which limited the amount of service the airline would fly in CMH. However, due to the tough economic times, USA3000 has cut back significantly, and now only flies from CLE and PIT to CUN, PUJ, and RSW. I noticed the packages to Cozumel via Continental, but I'm not sure whether it's going to be nonstop from CMH or not. The advertisement only says "roundtrip via Continental Airlines" as opposed to the Cancun ad that says "nonstop roundtrip via USA3000." The fine print at the bottom doesn't specifically say "nonstop" either.
November 6, 200816 yr Give me Paris and then I'll be happy. You might get your wish. More non-hub cities in the U.S. are rumored to be in the pipeline. Could CMH be next? Press Release Source: Delta Air Lines, Inc. Delta Plans Trans-Atlantic Service Between Paris and Raleigh-Durham, Pittsburgh Thursday November 6, 10:00 am ET Service made possible through successful Delta-Air France joint venture Pittsburgh, Raleigh-Durham customers to enjoy connecting opportunities to more than 90 cities in Europe via Paris hub ATLANTA, Nov. 6, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - News), the world's largest airline, today announced the start of two additional nonstop flights between France and the United States with the airline's first-ever nonstop service between Paris-Charles de Gaulle International Airport and Raleigh-Durham, N.C. and Pittsburgh. The new routes, enabled by Delta's successful joint venture with Air France, will offer customers in both cities convenient connections to more than 90 cities in Europe via Air France's Paris hub. http://biz.yahoo.com/pz/081106/154020.html
November 6, 200816 yr I wish, but it appears CMH will get the shaft once again. How does such a depressed region like PIT get a nonstop to Paris? Delta isn't even very big there. Oh well, CMH can't even get west coast flights so how will they land a trans-atlantic flight? I for one keep hoping WN will take all of Concourse A and expand. I can dream, right?
November 6, 200816 yr Living in Pittsburgh, I can say that the amount of business generated by UPMC may play a big part in that.
November 26, 200816 yr Full Story: http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/11/24/daily15.html Tuesday, November 25, 2008 - 5:27 PM EST Port Columbus traffic down 19% in October Business First of Columbus The Columbus Regional Airport Authority reported another double-digit percentage drop in traffic at Port Columbus International Airport last month, the latest in a string of declines brought on by industry and economic troubles. The authority late Tuesday said 551,861 passengers used the airport last month, down 19 percent from 682,342 a year ago. David Whitaker, the airport authority’s vice president of business development and communications, said in a release that traffic declines are expected for the “foreseeable future.” The drop in traffic is amplified by the absence of Skybus Airlines Inc., the Columbus startup that folded in April 2008 after launching in late May 2007.
January 6, 200916 yr Hopefully they see success and can open FLL back up for CMH flyers. Ask and yee shall receive: AirTran Airways Announces New Service Between Columbus, Ohio, and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Tuesday January 6, 6:00 am ET -New Service begins March 5, 2009- ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AAI - News), today announced plans to begin flights between Columbus, Ohio, and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., effective March 5, 2009. The expanding carrier will be the only airline to offer nonstop daily service between Port Columbus International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Rest of the story: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/090106/ny55610.html?.v=1
January 7, 200916 yr Great news! Glad to hear they are doing well at CMH! Does anyone have any ideas as to where they could expand in the future? What about BOS or LGA? I could see TPA soon. WN doesn't appear to care right now it seems so FL adding TPA probably wouldn't worry them any. In fact, maybe they'd just drop TPA.
January 28, 200916 yr As expected, traffic down at Port Columbus in 2008 Posted by Walker at ColumbusUnderground.com January 27, 2009, 5:13pm Press Release from ColumbusAirports.com 2008 Activity at Port Columbus, Rickenbacker Down From 2007 Thanks to a record first quarter, Port Columbus reported its second busiest year in 2008 despite a significant drop in passengers after the first quarter. A little over 6.9 million passengers used Port Columbus in 2008, making it the second busiest year in the airport’s history behind the 7.7 million passengers who used the airport in 2007. “Skybus passengers resulted in abnormally high traffic figures for 2007,” explained David Whitaker, Vice President of Business Development & Communications. “As a result, while 2008 passenger numbers were significantly lower than 2007, when you look at a longer history of passenger traffic you see that Port Columbus fared reasonably well in 2008.” Below is a chart outlining the top five years of passenger activity at Port Columbus: 2007-7,719,340 2008-6,910,045 2000-6,882,485 2002-6,741,353 2006-6,733,990 As a result of a sluggish national economy, passenger numbers in the latter months of 2008 often dipped 15 to 20 percent compared to the previous year. In December Port Columbus served 518,181 passengers which is an 18.4 percent drop compared to December 2007. Year-end numbers for 2008 equated to a 10.5 percent drop compared to 2007. “We expect that the decline in passenger numbers experienced during the latter part of 2008 will continue into 2009,” said Whitaker. Port Columbus provides 152 daily departures to 33 airports. The 11 air carriers at Port Columbus include Apple Vacations, Air Canada Jazz, AirTran, American, Continental, Delta, Midwest Connect, Northwest, Southwest, United, US Airways and the regional affiliates associated with many of these major airlines. Rickenbacker International Airport, a multi-modal cargo airport that features an impressive network of freight forwarders and cargo airlines, reported that nearly 200 million pounds of cargo moved through the airport in 2008, a nine percent drop compared to 2007. This decrease is attributed to sluggish national and international economies that had a dampening effect on consumer demand and, therefore, movement of cargo. Below is a recap of cargo tonnage over the last five years: 2008-199,814,163 2007-220,529,131 2006-250,748,061 2005-248,917,975 2004-215,926,925 “The decline in cargo activity is also expected to negatively impact 2009,” said Whitaker. For additional information, visit www.ColumbusAirports.com. http://www.columbusunderground.com/as-expected-traffic-down-at-port-columbus-in-2008#more-5353
January 28, 200916 yr ^^ The 15-20 percent decline had more to do with Skybus folding than the national economy. I don't get why they didn't mention that in the release.
February 3, 200916 yr Green roof a part of airport wish list Low-emission shuttle buses also sought Saturday, January 31, 2009 - 3:05 AM By Debbie Gebolys, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Port Columbus' leaky roof creates a green possibility. Airport officials are asking for a $1.5 million green roof in its place. It's one project among several that they hope will qualify for President Barack Obama's economic-stimulus package. Green roofs use landscape plantings atop water-resistant membranes to deflect heat, absorb noise, reduce storm-water runoff and extend the life of the roof. http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/01/31/GreenPC.ART_ART_01-31-09_B5_HPCOGD0.html?sid=101
March 1, 200916 yr 35 houses to be razed for new runway, wall $178 million project will allow planes to take off, land simultaneously Friday, February 27, 2009 - 5:56 AM By Debbie Gebolys, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Moving the south runway at Port Columbus farther south will cost $178 million, the most expensive capital project ever at the airport. To accommodate it, 35 homes, most of them four-room boxes that people bought 30 or more years ago, some for $15,000 or less, are being demolished. The homes, on 13th Avenue west of Stelzer Road, must go to make room for the airport's first sound wall. The 2,000-foot-long wall will be built atop an earthen mound and, ideally, will deaden the noise of planes taking off on the relocated runway. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/02/27/AWall.ART_ART_02-27-09_B1_CED26GV.html?type=rss&cat=&sid=101
March 5, 200916 yr Thursday, March 5, 2009, 9:49am EST AirTran’s Ft. Lauderdale flight ready for takeoff Business First of Columbus AirTran Airways is set to take off for its fourth destination from Port Columbus International Airport. The discount carrier said its daily nonstop flight to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., begins service Thursday. The Orlando-based airline, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings Inc, said it’s the only carrier to offer nonstop daily service between Columbus and Fort Lauderdale. Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/03/02/daily32.html
March 9, 200916 yr Pretty good story about Southwest Airlines, their culture, their future, and how it's intertwined with Columbus: Right on course Despite changes elsewhere, Southwest will fly steady path at Port Columbus Sunday, March 8, 2009 4:05 AM By Marla Matzer Rose, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH DALLAS -- Southwest Airlines is flying into the future, and that means change for the company that carries more passengers than any other U.S. airline. Fortunately for Columbus, where the airline has the largest market share of any carrier, the airport has been spared flight cuts. Southwest expects to remain "status quo" here, said Elaine Roberts, chief executive of the Columbus Regional Airport Authority. But how Southwest is changing to address challenges in the industry is being watched closely at Port Columbus because air service is important to a city's health and status. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2009/03/08/southwest_changes.ART_ART_03-08-09_D1_DDD4Q5I.html?sid=101
March 10, 200916 yr "We would love to have a dozen more markets like Columbus -- 25, 30 flights a day, a stable economy. It's a pearl." Love that quote. Great article.
March 24, 200916 yr Southwest sale sparks airfare war at Port Columbus Business First of Columbus Friday, March 20, 2009, 11:13am EDT Southwest Airlines Co. launched a nationwide fare sale Thursday, with prices starting as low as $49 one-way between some cities. The promotion from the Dallas-based carrier, the busiest at Port Columbus International Airport, was matched quickly by rival airlines that offered their own deals at a time when the airline industry is suffering from declines in traffic and the effects of the recession. http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/03/16/daily41.html
March 31, 200916 yr Altitude adjustment Area's private-jet industry buffeted by recession, public backlash Sunday, March 29, 2009 By Marla Matzer Rose, The Columbus Dispatch From Capitol Hill to the heartland, private jets have become shorthand for everything that caused the decline and fall of the U.S. economy. Detroit auto chiefs were vilified for flying in style when they went to Washington with their hands out. Several major public companies, including the automakers, Sears and Starbucks, have been pressured to shed their corporate fleets. But thousands of rank-and-file workers in Ohio would like to remind you: Be careful what you wish for. Private jets generate thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in the state. "The three largest (private-jet) fleets in the country are based here in Ohio. You have NetJets in Columbus, Flight Options in Cleveland and Executive Jet (NetJets' charter unit) in Cincinnati," said Scott Liston, the Columbus-based executive vice president of Aviation Research Group/U.S. "All the nonsense coming out of Washington about private jets is really affecting people, here in a state where we've already been hit hard. If they don't think it's hitting home, they're wrong." Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2009/03/29/private_jets.ART_ART_03-29-09_D1_F5DC6KR.html?sid=101
April 1, 200916 yr Why are executives apparently so pressed for time that they have to fly on a private jet? Is it really counter productive for a CEO to take a commercial flight? Is time really that important?
April 1, 200916 yr Why are executives apparently so pressed for time that they have to fly on a private jet? Is it really counter productive for a CEO to take a commercial flight? Is time really that important? In many cases, yes, it is. And it's not just executives that make use of private jets for business purposes. For example, let's say you have a factory in Texas that makes colored widgets. The coloring machine breaks down. It's costing you $100,000 in lost revenue every hour that machine is down. You need to bring in a specialist from the widget coloring device manufacturer's facilities in Colorado to fix the machine. It's far more cost-effective to get the specialist down to Texas via a private jet than it is on a commercial carrier. Another example is sales. Company A and Company B have sales meetings scheduled in the same 6 cities. Company A charters a private jet, visits all 6 cities in 2 days, and has 3 days left in the work week to compile reports and also can conduct business while in flight. Company B flies a commercial carrier, schedules meetings over 3 days, misses a connection in Philadelphia, has to reschedule 3 meetings, and pay for extra overnight hotel stays. As you can see, on a private aircraft a company can hit up multiple destinations in far less time than flying a commercial carrier. Also, a company can usually get into smaller airports and avoid the hassles of security lines and delays by flying into non-commercial airports (i.e. flying into Burke Lakefront for a sales meeting with Key as opposed to having to fly into Hopkins). These combined conveniences usually end up saving the company money in the long run or give the company an edge over the competition. There are multiple other examples where time is such a large factor that flying via a private aircraft is the most effective means of transportation.
April 2, 200916 yr I don't really understand the demonization of private air travel, especially of the NetJets style. Owning a plane whole hog seems like a luxury, but having access to point to point travel very easy would seem like a duh for a business, especially as the commercial system slowly disintegrates.
April 2, 200916 yr I know people at Limited Brands, and they have a shuttle everyday from Columbus to NJ Teterboro, back and forth each weekday morning and each weekday evening for the folks in the HQ to go to NYC and the folks in the design center in SoHo to come to Columbus (I think they use Lane Aviation). It's usually full, so it must be cheaper than having all those people fly commercial at the last minute. And, nobody misses a flight, because they will wait if you are stuck in traffic. They feed them, and treat them well, so they arrive relaxed and ready to work. They can be out of bed in NYC at 6 am, at teterboro by 7:30 and in the Columbus office by 9am ready for work...then back on the shuttle at 5:30pm and home in NYC for dinner. These are mostly just regular workers too, not just Les Wexner and the higher ups. I could also see a benefit if you were transporting lots of stuff (like material samples) for work since there is no security or baggage restrictions. Also, they probably fly interoffice paperwork between the 2 offices and save on FedEx. That's one example, but it makes seems to make sense.
April 2, 200916 yr I know people at Limited Brands, and they have a shuttle everyday from Columbus to NJ Teterboro, back and forth each weekday morning and each weekday evening for the folks in the HQ to go to NYC and the folks in the design center in SoHo to come to Columbus (I think they use Lane Aviation). It's usually full, so it must be cheaper than having all those people fly commercial at the last minute. And, nobody misses a flight, because they will wait if you are stuck in traffic. They feed them, and treat them well, so they arrive relaxed and ready to work. They can be out of bed in NYC at 6 am, at teterboro by 7:30 and in the Columbus office by 9am ready for work...then back on the shuttle at 5:30pm and home in NYC for dinner. These are mostly just regular workers too, not just Les Wexner and the higher ups. I could also see a benefit if you were transporting lots of stuff (like material samples) for work since there is no security or baggage restrictions. Also, they probably fly interoffice paperwork between the 2 offices and save on FedEx. That's one example, but it makes seems to make sense. Not in a pefect life. Our planes are at Teterboro as well and if traffic is bad or there is an accident, all bets are off. Like yesterday when I had to unexpectedly go to ATL. There is security, there are manifest. I don't know about the Limited, but in general those planes are too small to ship cargo and passengers. Also, most of the limiteds offices are in midtown near Bryant park.
April 2, 200916 yr ^ Ok yes there will be times when it doesn't work out as planned. And the situation I described is what my friends have told me, they hop out of the car and onto the plane....maybe they already have security clearance through their job, and since the plane is all Limited employees they are clear. It's not neccesarily huge cargo, they carry architectural material samples for the design of the stores...glass, resin...etc that might be hard to get through security as a carry on or broken if checked. The offices I was at were in SoHo across from Bloomingdales and had VS and Bath and Body. I am sure they have other ones throughout the city, that is just the one I am familiar with. I was just giving an example of a way that these chartered planes can benefit the day to day operations of a company and not just for CEO's.
April 2, 200916 yr ^ Ok yes there will be times when it doesn't work out as planned. And the situation I described is what my friends have told me, they hop out of the car and onto the plane....maybe they already have security clearance through their job, and since the plane is all Limited employees they are clear. It's not neccesarily huge cargo, they carry architectural material samples for the design of the stores...glass, resin...etc that might be hard to get through security as a carry on or broken if checked. The offices I was at were in SoHo across from Bloomingdales and had VS and Bath and Body. I am sure they have other ones throughout the city, that is just the one I am familiar with. I was just giving an example of a way that these chartered planes can benefit the day to day operations of a company and not just for CEO's. I understand. Some company's have a fleet of planes. We have a shuttle that flies 2 to DC and NY because we have so many employees (from all divisions) flying that route, its more economical to use our own planes. My old boss had to take the plane as it was a security clause. And you still have security its an FAA rule. It's just done differently than at a commercial airline.
April 3, 200916 yr I like how in Cincinnati most of the corporate and private jets fly out of Lunken, meaning that CVG can be purely commercial and freight. I think Cleveland is like this too with their airport on the lake. Is this correct?
April 3, 200916 yr I like how in Cincinnati most of the corporate and private jets fly out of Lunken, meaning that CVG can be purely commercial and freight. I think Cleveland is like this too with their airport on the lake. Is this correct? For the most part. The same goes with Don Scott Field in Columbus, which is the base for the corporate aircraft of Wendy's, Cardinal Health, Worthington Industries, and others. While Lunken does get the majority of corporate air travel in the Tri-State, executives visiting Toyota's operations in NKY will likely fly into CVG, since it's a closer airport that also has a local Fixed Base Operation (FBO) available.
April 4, 200916 yr Fewer fly at Port Columbus Wednesday, April 1, 2009 - 3:17 AM Port Columbus served 24.4 percent fewer passengers in February compared with the same month a year ago, according to the Columbus Regional Airport Authority. A total of 433,938 passengers used the airport in February, the group disclosed during its board meeting yesterday. One reason for the decline is that February 2008 totals included close to 100,000 Skybus Airlines passengers. That carrier ceased operations in early April 2008, so Port Columbus will have one more full month of year-over-year comparisons that include the effect of the Skybus loss. http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2009/04/01/airportstats_feb.ART_ART_04-01-09_C7_SRDDTAU.html?sid=101
April 4, 200916 yr 5 Port Columbus hotels for sale Thursday, April 2, 2009 - 3:22 AM By Marla Matzer Rose, The Columbus Dispatch The five hotels closest to Port Columbus have been put up for sale by their owner, Dublin-based Platinum Ridge Properties, which owes the airport's management group more than half a million dollars in back rent and taxes. http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2009/04/02/airport_hotels.ART_ART_04-02-09_C8_VHDEB8E.html?sid=101
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