Airport officials face leakage problem

The airport loses about 30 percent of its would-be passengers to other airports within driving distance, according to research by Colorado-based aviation consulting firm The Boyd Group in late 2005.

Of that so-called “leakage” – roughly 182,000 people annually – the majority drive some three hours to Kansas City International Airport, according to random telephone surveys conducted by Nixa-based Jerry Henry and Associates in September 2006. The second most popular airport for defectors is Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, and Tulsa International Airport is third, according to research. A small number of people surveyed even said they flew out of Northwest Arkansas International Airport in Benton County, Ark., to save money or fly direct to their destination.

The Boyd Group is scheduled to conduct another leakage study later this quarter or early next year, but Springfield-Branson National Airport spokesman Kent Boyd isn’t expecting a miraculous turnaround. Boyd routinely explains the airport’s dilemma when asked why airfare out of Springfield costs so much.

Simply stated, prices are higher when supply is lower. And conversely, fares are cheaper when more seats are available.

“The solution to the problem is to get more people to fly from here,” said Boyd, who quickly acknowledged that steep fares prevent many travelers from flying out of Springfield. “The bottom line for the airlines is the number of rear ends they can get in seats or how many they think they can get before they enter the market.”

Lively dialogue

Pricing by major airlines serving the Springfield area has long been a sore spot for locals, and a blog on the airport’s redesigned Web site, www.flyspringfield.com, has emerged as a forum for cost-related complaints. The average ticket price to fly out of Springfield was $433, based on phone survey results.

Robert F. Smith of Nantero, a Massachusetts-based nanotechnology firm and senior corporate research partner at Jordan Valley Innovation Center, recently learned the cost of flying into Springfield. Roundtrip airfare from Boston was more than $700, but he recently flew from Tampa, Fla., to California for less than $300. Smith was in town to speak on the New Economy panel during the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Outlook Conference

“Springfield is very expensive to fly into,” he told the crowd at University Plaza Convention Center.

On the airport’s blog, Boyd has addressed points raised by a disgruntled area resident who suggested leakage at the airport was higher than 30 percent. Another visitor to the site expressed displeasure with new TV commercials featuring local businesspeople, including Doug Pitt, Sally Hargis and Tim Rosenbury, who say they prefer to fly out of Springfield, despite higher airfare.

Michael Boyd, president of The Boyd Group, applauded the airport for its open-dialogue approach, but he said airfares out of Springfield aren’t going to drop anytime soon.

“Everybody out there is an expert on air service, but an airport that reaches out to the community is in a better position than one that doesn’t do anything,” he said. “You’re going to have people driving no matter what you do. This is happening all around the country.”

In Florida, airports in Daytona Beach and Melbourne compete with nearby Orlando International Airport, Michael Boyd said. And the Colorado Springs, Colo., airport frequently loses business to Denver International Airport, he said.

“You circle the wagons around those segments of the passenger base you can retain, like business travel,” Michael Boyd added.

Reducing leakage

Kent Boyd said one factor that could reduce Springfield’s airport leakage is the presence of Allegiant Air, a low-fare carrier that flies to Las Vegas, Orlando and Tampa. Allegiant has lowered the average fare paid by Springfield-Branson area customers more than 25 percent since arriving in the market two years ago, according to an Oct. 4 company news release.

“I’m sure that Allegiant has helped us capture customers that would have left the market otherwise,” Kent Boyd said.

Luring other low-cost carriers, such as Southwest, AirTran and JetBlue, to the airport also could help prevent leakage, but Kent Boyd said those airlines typically serve metropolitan areas with 1 million people or more.

For now, airport board member Lee Gannaway, a Springfield attorney and former mayor, said the key is to educate people about the costs of traveling to other airports, paying for parking and possibly spending a night in a hotel.

“Gasoline’s not cheap anymore,” Gannaway said. “It seems like our best avenue is to educate people what it’s costing them to drive to these other places. … It’s not always a savings.”

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