urbanSTL

arch city wrote:LOOKING UP: MISSOURI’S MAJOR AIRPORTS WEATHER STRUGGLES, SEE CLEARER SKIES AHEAD
Missouri Business
Posted on June 25, 2014 by Jacob Luecke


Lambert International

Missouri’s blue skies were once among the busiest in the nation.

In 2000, a combined 21 million people boarded planes at Missouri’s two cross-state international airports. At the time, air travel was relatively easy and convenient.

And with global access from St. Louis and Kansas City, Missourians were just a flight away from much of the world.

But then dark clouds began to gather. The 9/11 terrorist attacks brought new security hassles. Then came major airline consolidations, hub closures, and, finally, the prolonged economic recession. All told, Missouri’s airports have endured a decade-long storm. It’s more than a metaphor. Mother Nature even got in on the pummeling, sending a violent EF4 tornado into St. Louis’s main terminal in April 2011.

In the wake of all this, the number of air travelers boarding planes in St. Louis and Kansas City has dropped by nearly half since 2000, largely due to passenger decline in St. Louis. Although there’s been a rebound in recent years, the earlier passenger volume is likely never coming back.

However, despite these challenges, airport leaders in both cities say that their facilities are on the verge of a rebirth. Although neither airport is among the nation’s elite for passenger traffic—St. Louis ranks 31st and Kansas City is 34th—airport leaders today envision a different future.

They foresee their airports as becoming homes to major new industrial developments, such as international trade depots and cargo hubs. At both airports, the transformation has begun. There are early signs of progress.

“We see a lot happening here that’s not really related to the airlines themselves,” says Mark VanLoh, director of aviation for the Kansas City International Airport.

The outlook is similar in St. Louis.

“We haven’t given up on passenger business, but there are other facets that can bring phenomenal revenue into our airport, which can make us more cost effective and competitive,” says Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, director of airports and chief executive officer at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.

With new ideas and new support, both airports say things are starting to look up.

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gregl wrote:

imperialmog wrote: I did see the British Airways route to Austin is doing quite well ....

BA has announced they plan to upgrade the LHR-AUS flights from a Boeing 787 to a Boeing 777 starting next winter (2015).

Greg

MarkHaversham wrote:

gregl wrote:

imperialmog wrote: I did see the British Airways route to Austin is doing quite well ....

BA has announced they plan to upgrade the LHR-AUS flights from a Boeing 787 to a Boeing 777 starting next winter (2015).

Greg

Is there any chance that 787 gets moved to an STL route?

imperialmog wrote:Speaking of 787, I saw somewhere that AA is test running their first ones and was actually using St. Louis as part of it? It was strange since it is the only place that isn't an AA/US hub and they weren't even having it test in all of their hubs. Its just odd they would run a 787 since they wouldn't fly it to one of their hubs from here since widebodies are very rarely used on domestic routes anymore. Since wouldn't it be a challenge for the crew here to deal with a new plane type, meaning it would be odd to do this if they (or one of their partners) aren't considering 787 operations here at some point.

imperialmog wrote:Also with Alaska starting service to Portland, will it end up with a flight schedule similar to the existing Seattle flight?

dweebe wrote:

imperialmog wrote:^ I was curious if they were going to fly Seattle again next summer since Alaska announced more frequency there next summer. I know Southwest has a lot of seasonal routes from Seattle due to cruise season there, and that flight is similarly times to the Alaska flight in operation now so adding a morning flight was unlikely to affect it. What I would really like is if Southwest finally decides to make the seasonal San Diego route year-round since that is the busiest route from here that lacks year-round service at this point.

That is really good that there will be an Austin non-stop, it sounds like from a lot of the stories on it that it was a priority route for the airport to get and that there were a number of people in the community clamoring for it. It sounds like it was the startup and tech community here played a role. Its good seeing next summer both Austin and Portland non-stops will start here since that fills in two of the largest holes in nonstop service left, not sure what is really left in feasible routes domestically at this point. It might be near the point where most of what could work already exists and now the focus would be international service and increase in service to existing routes. The steady growth of passenger numbers will help out on this. (the numbers look even better when you consider there is negative growth in short-haul passengers due to less sense in flying short-haul over time)

Looks like more and more of the missing non-stops to/from St. Louis are filling in. Getting and keeping those Seattle and Austin non-stops is important.

From a personal point of view I'd like to get that St. Louis to Jacksonville Florida non-stop back. American used to have one and I'm not a fan of now having to connect through CLT, ATL or MCO.