Airline extends flights scheduled at MidAmerica
By Elisa Crouch
Of the Post-Dispatch
01/24/2005
For the first time, MidAmerica Airport will keep an airline longer than its initial agreement with the carrier, fueling hopes that it is moving away from the empty gates and multimillion-dollar operating deficits that have plagued it since it opened in 1998.
TransMeridian Airlines is about to launch its summer flight schedule from MidAmerica and is working on a fall lineup, says Colin Wheeler, the airline's vice president of marketing and scheduling. If the airline follows through, it would give the airport its first 12 months of consistent - although limited - passenger service since Pan American Airways dropped the airport in late 2001.
On Friday, passengers crowded around the luggage carousel after their flight from Orlando, Fla. Tim Cantwell, airport director, mingled with passengers and asked them what they thought of the airport. He told some that he's working to add flights and destinations.
"That would be convenient," said Pam Kromidas, 49, of Edwardsville, as Cantwell worked the other side of the terminal.
Depending on the week, TransMeridian operates only two or three flights from MidAmerica, which is next to Scott Air Force Base. Those flights go to only one destination: Orlando Sanford Airport, about 18 miles northeast of Orlando.
"Success always builds success," Cantwell said. "When I talk to carriers who provide service in our top five markets . . . I can point to TransMeridian."
This glimpse at stability offers MidAmerica and area officials hope that the airport is on the road toward more regular passenger use. Last spring, the airport began turning its lights out at night to cut costs. Since the airport opened eight years ago, St. Clair County has covered its annual operating deficit, which generally runs $2 million to $2.5 million.
Some officials believe the key to MidAmerica's success lies in cargo. A 50,000-square-foot cargo facility is being built near the terminal, and Cantwell is working to get international flights there.
But passenger traffic remains a vital piece of the airport's potential success. The county, which owns the $213 million airport in Mascoutah, agreed to a $310,000 marketing campaign with TransMeridian to share in the airline's risk of flying out of MidAmerica. Included in that is $45,000 to pay Cardinals announcer Mike Shannon to serve as the spokesman for the airport and TransMeridian in radio spots.
"In an unproven market, you've got to have incentives," Cantwell said.
In August 2000, Pan Am became the first airline to use MidAmerica but dropped the airport and others from its schedule in December 2001. Great Plains Airlines, based in Tulsa, Okla., began flying to Chicago and Washington from MidAmerica in October 2003 but grounded its fleet last January. It later filed for bankruptcy protection.
TransMeridian flights have been about 81 percent full, Wheeler said.
"We're fairly happy with where we are at this point in time," he said.
Based in Atlanta, the airline operates as a charter airline and low-cost carrier, advertising $77 flights on billboards in the Metro East area.
"We're having to do a lot of discounting," Wheeler said. "You do what it takes to fill the airplane."
James Molinarolo, 34, who owns several small bars in Southern Illinois, said the price was the reason he could afford a business trip to Florida.
"I don't know how long those prices will last, but at this price, I could commute," he said.
Passengers said on Friday they chose the airport out of convenience, shorter lines at security, free parking and cheap ticket prices.
"It served our purpose," said Pat Oberholtzer, 71, of Belleville, who was returning from her granddaughter's soccer tournament in Florida.
Traffic has become stable enough that International Restaurant Management Corp. plans to open the airport's first deli counter this spring, offering a dining option beyond the airport's only soda vending machine.
The company wanted to watch passenger traffic for a few months before making the investment. "We're kind of betting that things will get better," said Peter Wenzell, president of International Restaurant Management.
Dan Maher, St. Clair County administrator, said he was betting the same. He plans to hop a flight on TransMeridian this winter.
"I hope it's crowded," he said.
Reporter Elisa Crouch
E-mail:
ecrouch@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-340-8119
