Flying High: Springfield-Branson airport changes

What it is, is change.

Change is everywhere at the facility: a changed name to go along with a change in purpose and perception, along with plans for a change to the facility with the new $119 million midfield terminal, for which airport officials hope to break ground in June.

Kent Boyd, director of public information and marketing for the airport, said all of the changes are part of an airport evolution.

“The reality of the situation is that we are a national airport now, in that we have connections to major hubs across the country,” Boyd said.

“It’s truth in advertising. People see regional and subconsciously think they can’t go as many places, and hopefully, if they see national, they’ll think ‘Oh, I can go more places.’ It’s really that simple.”

Gary Cyr, the airport’s director of aviation, said customers can get to just about anywhere they’d want to go from Springfield.

“We’re now flying to seven of the 11 major hubs in the United States,” Cyr said.

“We started out as Springfield Municipal Airport, and then changed to Springfield Regional, and then to Springfield-Branson Regional, and now we’ve moved up a step in the scheme of things.”

More passengers

The passenger numbers bear out that expanded reach.

In 2005, 888,738 passengers passed through the Springfield airport, up 23 percent from the record 722,000 passengers in 2004.

Year-to-date through March, 185,838 passengers have passed through the airport.

By month, the numbers are: 60,010 in January, up 15 percent from January 2005; 54,416 in February, up 12 percent from February 2005; and 71,412 in March, up 10 percent from March 2005.

Cyr pointed to the flourishing southwest Missouri economy as one of the reasons for growth.

“One of the assets that we have here is the diversity of our customer base, in business activity, recreational activity (and) educational institutions,” he said. “That’s a healthy type of diversity.”

Dropped flights

But not all signs of change are due to growth and expansion.

As of Dec. 1, Delta discontinued its flights between Springfield and Salt Lake City, which began in July.

Direct service between Springfield and Lambert-St. Louis International Airport will be discontinued in June. Boyd said that the reduction in service is a result of decreased business in St. Louis.

“There are two flights to and from St. Louis every day, on a 30-passenger aircraft,” Boyd said.

“On a good day, the aircraft is half full. From an economics point of view, the airline can’t justify that. In the travel world, the truth is people don’t need to go to St. Louis to make a connection – they’re going to Dallas, Denver, Chicago.”

Officials don’t expect to take much of a hit from the loss of St. Louis service; the airport added service to Las Vegas and Orlando in 2005 through low-cost carrier Allegiant Air, and though no deals are currently on the table, Boyd said additional destinations are always a possibility.

“It’s sort of like courting. Airports go out and court airlines and try to make a case to an airline that they should provide service,” Boyd said. “We’re actively doing that all the time. There’s always a chance that tomorrow I could be jumping up and down.”

Foreign trade zone

One aspect of the facility that hasn’t grown as quickly is the U.S. Foreign Trade Zone housed at the airport; only one company – Bass Pro – has taken advantage of the zone since it was made available in the beginning of 2002.

Cyr said the zone was originally created as a “résumé item.”

“We looked at the foreign trade zone as an item for the community that the chamber could use when prospective businesses came in and asked, ‘Do you have an airport? Do you have transportation? Do you have a foreign trade zone?’” he said.

“At that time, having a foreign trade zone was in the top eight items that companies were looking for, so we filled that gap.”

There is still interest in the zone, though; Cyr said five companies have expressed interest in using the trade zone. While he declined to say which companies are interested, he added that that the application process to use the zone can take as much as a year to complete.

Cost factors

One change that hasn’t happened as fast as airport officials would like is the change in the perception of the Springfield facility as a “high-cost” airport.

With the addition of offerings from low-cost fares from Allegiant, Springfield’s airport is more competitive now than ever.

“We’ve been at a little bit of a disadvantage over the years, because we’re known as a costly facility for airline tickets. That moniker is not entirely true anymore,” Cyr said. “Prior to (Allegiant), if you wanted to go to Las Vegas on a low-fare trip you went to Tulsa or Kansas City. There’s not a lot of reason to drive to Kansas City to fly Allegiant when you can fly out of Springfield.”

He added that some fares are always going to be less expensive in larger markets, but even those differences are shrinking.

“If the difference is $100 between Kansas City and Springfield, you’re going to be spending that much on gas, time, parking,” he said.

“We need to have a billboard coming from Kansas City or Tulsa that says ‘If you flew Springfield, you’d be home now.’”

How much to fly?

Buying tickets same-day

Springfield-Branson National

to Chicago O’Hare International $776

Lambert-St. Louis International to Chicago $216

Kansas City International to Chicago $244

Tulsa International to Chicago $440

Springfield to Dallas-Fort Worth

International $805

St. Louis to Dallas-Fort Worth $258

Kansas City to Dallas-Fort Worth $258

Tulsa to Dallas-Fort Worth $218

Springfield to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International $1,298

St. Louis to Atlanta $1,298

Kansas City to Atlanta $488

Tulsa to Atlanta $1,298

Buying tickets in advance

(Researched April 18, leaving May 29, returning May 30)

Springfield to Chicago $183

St. Louis to Chicago $138

Kansas City to Chicago $150

Tulsa to Chicago $243

Springfield to Dallas-Fort Worth $228

St. Louis to Dallas-Fort Worth $98

Kansas City to Dallas-Fort Worth $98

Tulsa to Dallas-Fort Worth $98

Springfield to Atlanta $807

($347 with one stop)

St. Louis to Atlanta $183

Kansas City to Atlanta $218

Tulsa to Atlanta $807

($311 with one stop)