Workplace Calisthenics: Stiff Passenger fares limit Springfield's potential

Cal LeMon, of Executive Enrichment Inc., solves organizational problems with customized training and consulting.

I like Tulsa, Okla.; it's a nice city. I just do not want to fly from Springfield by leaving from the Tulsa airport.

If you are a business traveler, I bet you have become a "frequent driver" heading west on Interstate 44 for the Tulsa airport or up Highway 13 to KCI.

This inane travel situation falls into the same category of repeatedly being asked, "Did you pack your luggage yourself"? (I always wanted to give a flip response like, "No, after my dog went out to get the newspaper, I had him do it.")

The second week in January I have to make a two-day trip to Tucson, Ariz. I will be leaving on a Monday and coming back on Wednesday. Simple trip.

When I asked my travel agent what this trip would cost, I teetered on the edge of a coronary attack when I heard, "$1,100."

The problem is that this trip does not include a Saturday night stay. For those of you who only fly to tan your skin and titillate your palate, this insanity probably does not affect you.

When you fly to conduct business, staying over the weekend is not only a waste of your life, but you also have the potential of becoming John Candy in your own "Planes, Trains and Automobiles."

If the only people who greet you by using your first name are flight attendants, cab drivers and bellhops, you have been on the road too long!

So, I said to my travel agent, "What are my options?" She responded, "Well, you could drive to either Tulsa or Kansas City and save a lot of money."

I asked, "How much is a lot?"

From Tulsa the round-trip coach fare was $292 and from Kansas City it was $224.

Since I did not win the recent Power Ball Jackpot and my clients would never hire me again if I submitted an invoice for airfare of $1,100, I will be hitting Highway 13 before I am lofted into the increasingly unfriendly skies.

I want to congratulate the director of the Springfield-Branson Regional Airport, along with the airport board of directors, for creating a world-class facility in the Queen City. The only problem is that business travelers may not be able to afford to fly out of here.

The greatest threat to the economic development of this community is a lack of comfortable, affordable air service.

Using a frenetic system of fares, smaller communities in this nation are regularly penalized by the major air carriers. If you have not noticed, we are flying in smaller planes and being charged larger ticket prices.

As of Dec. 1, Springfield lost its last full-sized plane service (DC-9) on American Airlines.

If you put on some extra weight over the holidays, you may want to wait for your next trip. Think small and then pray to any god you know that the person assigned to the seat next to you has also been practicing food discipline. If you are a gnome, you will love the new planes!

There has to be some common-sense approach to this patchwork of airfares and continually declining service.

I am recommending, first, that the Springfield-Branson Airport Board collect the data that proves the economic victimization of the business traveler in southwest Missouri and present it to our elected officials in state and federal government.

Second, I am suggesting the Airport Board put the major airlines that serve this community on notice that, unless there is some effort at price parity, the airport will begin regular coach bus service to Tulsa, Kansas City and St. Louis.

Finally, I am asking every business traveler who is tired of driving three to five hours in order to get reasonable fares to write a letter to the Airport Board expressing his/her thoughts and feelings about trying to conduct business flying in and out of Springfield.

Why would new businesses consider Springfield as a desirable location if the service and fares make getting in and out of this community a trial by endurance?

We cannot do anything about the weather, our relatives or the number of commercials in a Super Bowl, but we can do something about the air service in our community.

I really do like Tulsa. I just do not want to drive there every time I need to fly in and out of Springfield.