Deregulation prelude to airport's growth in '80s and '90s

In 1980, Springfield Municipal Airport Director of Aviation Rob Hancik's main concern was not the effects of the airline deregulation that caused Delta Airlines to pull out of the Springfield market the year before, but the airport's 33 percent revenue loss from the airline flight attendants' and mechanics' strikes earlier that year.

The revenue loss from the strikes, combined with an 8 percent revenue loss from Delta's withdrawal, caused construction delays for a new airport entrance and parking lot that year.

When Delta withdrew, the airport was left with only Ozark Air Lines' service to St. Louis. However, Hancik said in the first issue of the Springfield Business Journal, then TOP's Executive Journal, the 1978 Congress-mandated deregulation actually increased air service to Springfield after Delta pulled out and Air Midwest began service out of Springfield. Scheduled Skyways and Century temporarily stepped in after Delta's withdrawal, but all three new carriers' ticket prices were higher than Delta's.

Hancik and the Airport Board worked to entice more airlines to enter Springfield's market, and Frontier Airlines began service to the renamed Springfield Regional Airport in December 1982.

Hancik said in the past 15 years, the airport has reached a point of stability with its carriers.

"(Nearly) All the airlines that we have today, with the exception of the United Express carriers, have been here for around 15 years; American Eagle has been here 15 years, TWA has been here 14 years, Express Airlines has been here 14 years and TWE has been here 16 years we've had a good stable of carriers for a while now," Hancik said.

Trans World Express/Trans World Airlines followed Frontier, and American Eagle began service between Springfield and the Dallas/Fort Worth airport in May 1985. In 1986, TWA bought Ozark Air Lines and took over its Springfield operation.

America West Airlines became the seventh airline at the airport in March 1986 and provided service to Phoenix, Ariz. via Wichita, Kan. Because terminal space was not available at the time, the carrier was housed in a mobile building connected to the terminal.

Frontier Airlines, which had transported 12,000 to 14,000 passengers to and from Springfield each month, shut down in August 1986 when the company declared bankruptcy. Continental Airlines took over Frontier's assets and some of its routes and began providing service from Springfield to Denver in November 1986. The airport experienced record passenger growth in 1986 when it served 500,000 passengers traveling to and from Springfield.

In January 1988, America West announced it would end service in Springfield. United Airlines began offering jet service from Springfield to Chicago and Denver in August of that same year and allowed Springfield travelers to connect to nearly 200 flights at the Denver and Chicago airports. Northwest Airlink began providing service to Memphis in 1988. In 1989, Continental withdrew from the Springfield market.

In 1990, the Springfield Regional Airport began planning a major terminal expansion. The existing terminal was built in 1964 and was expanded several times, but was still struggling to accommodate the 250,000 passengers the airport boarded each year. Six airlines had counter space, but one had to make do with limited space in a corner of the lobby, and most carriers had to share baggage-handling facilities in the 55,000-square-foot terminal.

A $9 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration provided nearly 60 percent of the funding for the terminal work and additional financing for related expansion of taxiways and ramps. One-third of the existing terminal was razed, and about 53,000 square feet of new construction was added. The result was a 93,000-square-foot terminal and 225 feet of ticket counters, as well as expanded passenger-boarding areas. The waiting area was expanded, as well as the restaurant and lounge. By the time the $13.5 million expanded terminal, ramps, taxiways, fuel farm and related improvements were completed in 1992, the airport provided 34 flights a day. United and TWA provided jet service, while American, Northwest and U.S. Air provided turboprop service.

In July 1993, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, known as the Delta Connection, announced plans to enter Springfield's market and link local passengers to its Dallas/Ft. Worth hub and all Delta Airlines flights from there. In November 1994, the Springfield Regional Airport was renamed to include the city of Branson, which allowed Springfield and Branson to be identified together, and therefore bring more tourist dollars into the airport and the area. In 1996, the airport was ranked as the second-fastest growing airport in the United States by the trade journal Aviation Daily, which prompted airport officials to plan another expansion in 2000.

Hancik credits the Airport Board for maintaining a vision for the future of the airport and for a willingness to take risks to allow the airport to grow and meet the passenger demand.

"We've lived in a stable political environment in Springfield over the last 20 years many times airports become political footballs to city governing boards our airport has not been influenced by politics," he said.

Hancik said several factors influenced the rise in passenger demand over the years, including Branson's rise in popularity as a vacation spot, and increased industry and business in southwest Missouri.

Hancik said the greatest improvement for passengers to the Springfield-Branson Regional Airport is the physical layout of the terminal, which is now more user-friendly.

"The terminal is close to rental cars, there are no long walks to get to gates and baggage claim, and our location in northwest Springfield has always been out of heavy traffic patterns," he said.

Twenty years after strikes and deregulation provided multiple challenges to overcome for the airport staff and the Airport Board, the Springfield-Branson Regional Airport is moving ahead with several major improvements.

Construction began in March on a $9.2 million expanded terminal to be finished next year. Plans are in place for a $35 million project to replace the airport's main runway in 2002, and for a new terminal to be constructed in the next 10 to 12 years. The airport recently gained regional jet service to Memphis via Northwest Airlink, and Dallas via American Eagle, leaving U.S. Airways and TWE as the only exclusively-turboprop carriers out of Springfield.

Hancik said while the airport overcame the adversity it faced after deregulation and strikes took place in the late '70s and early '80s, his greatest challenge continues to be maintaining airport financial stability without tax support and finding capital to pay for its operating expenses as well as the improvements its growth has required.

"We're fairly adept at seeking federal grants for capital improvements now, and we still work to maintain a positive image of the airport for all of southwest Missouri we've learned that 75 percent of the airport's users don't live within the city limits of Springfield," he said.