LCCs Fuel Expansion Of Smaller Fields

As congested as major US metropolitan airports have becomes, it could have been much worse. A USA Today analysis of federal data shows the fastest growing airport traffic in the country is not happening at JFK or LAX, but at midsized airports an hour or more outside major cities.

Airport consultant Mike Boyd told the paper volume at these airports has jumped by up to 400% in the past decade, driven by discount airlines moving to cheaper secondary airports, and population growth in regions located about an hour from New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Washington.

The trend has helped alleviate strain on major metro airports, but has also stimulated development around the smaller, more distant airports.

Southwest Airlines had a major impact on Long Island MacArthur Airport, about 75 minutes from Manhattan, after arriving there in 1999. Phil Nolan, supervisor of the town of Islip, says the number of departing passengers grew from 240,000 in 1998 to 1.2 million last year, and more than 100 commercial buildings sprouted nearby.

In Manchester, NH -- about 55 miles from Boston -- low rents and landing fees were used as incentives to attract Southwest. Airport deputy director Brian O'Neill says Southwest's 1999 arrival there brought not only tens of thousands of new travelers, but new service from competing airlines.

So, how does the trend play with suburban NIMBYs, who often tell local planners they view development and growth just as dimly as they do airport noise?

The politics vary from place to place, but hard work and creativity can win out. In California, Long Beach Airport sits in the center of the fifth-largest city in the state, yet had flights only to Phoenix and Dallas/Fort Worth in the 1990s. Today, JetBlue has expanded that menu to 15 cities, requiring good public relations skills by airport management.

Airport spokeswoman Sharon Diggs-Jackson says, "...there were some community concerns about our rapid growth. We had to do a lot of outreach," and work within a limit of 66 flights a day set by a 1985 ordinance.

Despite the NIMBY battles which seem to dominate the headlines, aviation consultant Patrick Murphy told USA Today that in most suburbs where airports are expanding, "...the local citizenry is delighted with the air service they can obtain."

FMI: www.aviationplanning.com, www.jetblue.com, www.southwest.com