WEST POINT – The airline industry has gone through a major transformation over the past three decades, a change that is likely to mean modest, slow growth for the Golden Triangle Regional Airport.
That’s what air service consultant Mike Boyd said during the GTRA’s Open Forum held Thursday at The Ritz.
Meanwhile, GTRA Executive Director Mike Hainsey said efforts to add west-bound service are in a holding pattern as American Airlines continues merger talks with U.S. Airways.
At first blush, the portrait painted during Thursday’s forum might seem like bad news.
But in context, GTRA finds itself well-positioned as the airline industry moves quickly toward major changes that is expected to reduce the number of the state’s viable passenger service airports from seven to three.
“Within 10 years, only three airports in Mississippi will be able to support full-scale passenger air service,” said Boyd, an nationally-known expert on the field. “You will have Jackson, Gulfport and GTRA. That doesn’t mean the other airports will close: It means they will rely on something other than passenger service.”
Boyd listed a long list of developments that have changed the nature of the industry, including mergers, a major change in how airlines define success, a major change in fleets and the continued globalization of the industry.
“In 1983, there were 21 major airlines and more than two dozen smaller, independent carriers,” Boyd said. “Today, there are nine major airlines and almost all of those independent carriers are gone.”
The consolidation of the industry is just one of the many changes that have a critical impact on the state’s seven regional airports.
“It’s not about how many passengers an airline can get anymore,” Boyd said. “Now, it’s a matter of maximizing revenue … Airline strategies have changed. It used to be that airlines needed communities. Now, communities need airlines and just saying you need air service isn’t an effective strategy.”
Boyd said that another major change is the fleets the airlines operate.
“Once, you could get on an eight-seat plane at a regional airport, but those days are long gone,” he said. “Right now, the smaller planes are 50-seats, which is what you have here. But in three-to-five years, Delta will be changing its fleet. Instead of those 50-seat planes, they’ll have 75-100 seat planes. The question then becomes, does an airport have the ability to put 100 passengers in those seats for three scheduled flights per day?
“You can do that in Columbus, but for most of the other regional airports in the state, that’s not likely.”
GTRA’s greatest asset, Boyd said, is its accessibility to global travel.
“Just think: What would you have said 10 years ago if someone had told you there would be companies from Russia, France, Israel and, now, Japan operating here? That’s huge because of today’s global economy.”
“There are a lot of factors in determining the future of regional airports,” Boyd said. “When you look at those factors, you realize that GTRA is equipped to meet those needs. That means slow, steady growth.”
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.