Springfield of all places would seem to have the political and financial clout to command air service. The seat of state government. Centrally located. Home base for the governor, the General Assembly, and assorted associations, lobbyists and state agencies.
Instead, city officials found themselves scrambling early this year to raise $8.2 million in travel pledges on the mere promise of two airlines to consider additional service at Springfield's Capital Airport.
Mayor Karen Hasara says the situation is indicative of the state of the airline industry and what has essentially become a bidding war among similar-sized communities striving to maintain minimal air service. "It doesn't matter that we're the state capital. The airlines want to see that they can make a profit." Hasara is quick to add that she understands airlines must make money and that the days of government-guaranteed air service for even the smallest communities disappeared with industry deregulation in 1978. But she says repeated trips to airline corporate offices during her six years in the mayor's office also have been an education. "We know the airlines are shopping around in other communities. It's the way it is right now in this country with air service."
Indianapolis-based American Trans Air sought the bulk of the travel pledges: $7.2 million. In return, the company offered the possibility of four daily flights from Capital Airport to Midway Airport in Chicago, possibly beginning this summer. The flights would be on ATA's Chicago Express commuter service.
Springfield already has agreed to pledge $1 million in travel guarantees to Minneapolis-based Northwest Airlines in return for considering three flights daily through its Express Airlines I commuter service to a connecting hub in Memphis. To get the flights that begin June 15, the Springfield Airport Authority also agreed to waive airport fees and fuel costs that eventually could mean savings of up to $650,000 for the airlines.
City and airport officials pitched the travel-pledge campaign as a last-ditch effort to reverse passenger boardings that fell to 74,269 in 2000, a 9 percent drop from the previous year and roughly half the number a decade ago. The stark image was that of a capital city without basic, reliable commuter connections to major hub airports.
"The drop in passengers has been a source of dismay for us. We do have a marvelous airport and air system in this city," says Ralph Hurwitz, chairman of the Springfield Airport Authority and himself a private pilot of 30 years.
Hurwitz says he has been encouraged by the response to the travel-pledge campaigns. He also rejects suggestions the community should not have to pledge $8.2 million just to get airlines interested. "Should we continue to fight and struggle for air service? The answer to that is, 'yes,"' he says.
A variety of tactics have been tried. There was even an ill-fated "Fly Spi" marketing campaign in 1998 - a promotion that was intended to appeal to civic pride, but did little more than draw attention to the airport's service problems.
An analysis of Springfield travel patterns done in cooperation with local travel agencies found 75 percent of airline passengers, many complaining of higher fares and unreliable service at Capital Airport, were driving to surrounding airports. Most were making the 90-mile drive to Lambert International Airport in St. Louis, though Springfield also faces increased competition from the rapidly growing Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington. Now, the pitch to airlines has turned to bottom-line cash and earnings. City and airport officials put the potential Springfield travel market at $123 million a year - if airlines provide service that is reliable, convenient and affordable.
But travel pledges, and even cash on the table, may not be the answer, says Jon Rector, marketing director for Willard Airport in Champaign. Airport backers in that community raised $500,000 two years ago to purchase frequent-flier miles on any airline that would bring jet service to the airport. There were no takers and the money eventually went back to contributors.
Last summer, American Eagle began daily, regional jet service from Champaign to Chicago. No incentives were necessary.
"What applies in Champaign, applies in Springfield. These people make decisions based on sound business principles," says Rector. "Incentives are nice, and you have to play certain games, but it has to make sense for the airlines."
It's a game airlines have grown accustomed to, says Michael Boyd of the Boyd Group, a Colorado-based aviation consulting firm that has done work for a variety of Illinois airports, including Springfield. "It's become common for airlines to say, 'What are you going to do for us?'"
Despite Capital Airport's struggles, Boyd says a state capital and travel pledges do count for something, even in the profit-driven airline business. "It is the capital of the state, it is a vibrant region, but there are no guarantees anywhere."
Tim Landis is business editor of The State Journal-Register in Springfield.
An analysis of Springfield travel patterns done in cooperation with local travel agencies found 75 percent of airline passengers, many complaining of higher fares and unreliable service at Capital Airport, were driving to surrounding airports.
