Surveys of passengers in Bangor, Maine and Aspen, Colo. confirm reports from other parts of the country that high fares are driving passengers to other airports. The fares are compounded by frequency levels and reliability.
Unfortunately, regional airline service, controlled by their major partners, now begin to take on the same reputation amongst passengers as the local service carriers had at the dawn of deregulation; reputations that prompted many small start-ups such as SkyWest (SKYW) to launch service to address reliability and frequency issues. Business passengers especially dislike the frequency levels which have precluded the out-and-back-in-one-day business trip.

Bangor
Bangor is the latest airport to face passenger erosion resulting from high fares. Fares were cited as the reason most flyers drive to catch their flights at other airports, in a report by the Bangor Daily News. The information resulted from focus groups in Bangor, Belfast and Ellsworth. It also comes on the heels of strong efforts to Senator Olympia Snowe to maintain essential air service in Maine. Related Story
Airports have long cited the disparity in fares between smaller airports and local regional airports as reducing their competitiveness. Related Story
Friendly service, short security lines and close-in parking do not make up for the high fares, according to the BDN, who said Maine residents drive to Portland, Boston or Manchester, N.H. High fares were also cited by several witnesses before the Senate Committee on Commerce Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security Subcommittee, who testified about reforms they would make to the essential air service programs. Related Story
The paper cited American Eagle’s Bangor-New York service saying it typically costs $700. Instead, travelers take the bus to JetBlue’s (JBLU) Portland flight which costs half as much. American (AMR) announced it is dropping Bangor in November. Meanwhile, Delta (DAL) is replacing larger aircraft with 19-seat Beech 1900Ds flown by Big Sky as part of its new code-sharing service with the major carrier.
The newspaper cited a letter last January to the Bangor Daily News from Jon Davis of Brewer, a former Delta employee, noting air service depends on profitability and urging travelers to use the local airport to “demonstrate that a market is here.” While that may be so, it is the combination of high fares, frequency and reliability that drive passengers out.
In addition, the airport is seeking an advertising agency to help promote Bangor’s service. It is also seeking service from JetBlue and Southwest (LUV), which already has service to Manchester. For now, however, it is banking on Allegiant’s Bangor-Orlando service to retain passengers. The service began last year and airport officials hope to attract passengers from the Canadian province of New Brunswick, which has no cheap flights. The report also noted an up-tick in the number of private aircraft and cargo flights. It also cited the airports European flights.

Aspen
To its benefit, Aspen has a geographic barrier which can be equally unreliable, especially during winter – the Rocky Mountain roadways – but that has not stopped the percentage of resident from naming Denver International Airport (DIA) as their primary airport to climb 11 points to 36 percent. Still the survey of 1,239 visitors as well as full and part-time residents revealed while the ease of the Aspen Airport is a plus, major problems remain with fares, frequency and reliability, according to a report in Aspen Daily News.
Local officials conducted a similar survey in 2004 which came to the same conclusion that the community needs more airline service, direct flights instead of connections over Denver and cheaper fares. Residents said they opted for Aspen for its convenience. The Aspen airport experienced a six percent drop to 65 percent for full-time residents using the local airport, largely owing to the 30 percent drop in fares as United (UAUA), Southwest and Frontier (FRNT) fight a pitched battle there. The Eagle airport is an alternative airport with 12 percent of residents listing that as their primary airport, up from five percent in 2004. Flight reliability was cited as good by only 12 percent of homeowners and 33 percent of visitors. Grand Junction is also an alternate airport to Eagle, Aspen and Denver.
Aspen, no doubt, is one of the 65 communities queried by Frontier in its requests for proposals for service issued as part of its development of Lynx Aviation, its new regional subsidiary. Aspen was not in the first round of announced routes for the new Q400 service. Related Story