It was only a couple years ago when Mayor Richard told us when flying we needed to use Fort Wayne International Airport. That Fort Wayne airplane tickets where ALMOST competitively priced with Indianapolis. He went on, how the Fort Wayne Allen County Aviation Authority was working so hard to make sure the prices where as low as possible. Then he said how the airport was our SHOWCASE to the outside business community.
Now we have Harrison Square, which is promised to be the SHOWCASE of our downtown. It will be a focus of downtown. The claim is, everyone will want to go downtown.
I figured the SHOWCASE at Fort Wayne International must be complete, and it is the best it could be. So, the first thing that I wanted to see how much the enplanement (people getting on and off airplanes) count went up from 2005 to 2006.
I decided to use FFA reported numbers. Indianapolis is ranked 45th in the nation, in airport enplanements. They had nearly eight million people flying in and out of their airport. Fort Wayne came in at 155th, with about 575,000. Wait, who is ranked up there at 135th? Oh, it is South Bend with over 720,000 enplanements. How could a little airport like South Bend draw nearly 25% more enplanements then the SHOWCASE? They don't have a showcase!
When compared to 2005, 2006 enplanements where down -12.86% for Fort Wayne. South Bend must have cheated, as they where up 8.11% when comparing year to year figures. How can a small airport go up so much when a SHOWCASE droped?
I bet our airfares are cheaper from Fort Wayne! We have the Air National Guard and Kitty Hawk to help in defraying some of the operational costs. South Bend does not have these other sources to help offset their costs.
For the sake of fun I selected Seattle, Washington for a place to visit. I decided, I would fly out on Wednesday, October 17th and return a week later. From Fort Wayne you could select from any of five airlines and would pay $406 to $506 for a ticket.
South Bend has four airlines and the cost would be $318 across the board. Three of the airlines in South Bend are the same that serve Fort Wayne.
Now if I wanted to go to Indianapolis, I could make the same trip for $319 to $435. Using the same airlines that fly into Fort Wayne.
South Bend beats Fort Wayne by $88 per ticket. Indianapolis beats Fort Wayne by $87.
Thinking it would be only fair to try some other city since all the air carriers out of South Bend. Let us fly to the flashing neon signs of Las Vegas. Fort Wayne to Las Vegas will cost between $233 to $798. Low cost carrier Allegiant was the $233. To use Allegiant we had to change our flight date to Monday, October 15th and return on the 24th. The next lowest fair was $298 from American.
South Bend has five carriers providing service to Las Vegas. Using the same dates as above it would cost a person $304 to $386.
If I wanted to travel to Indianapolis I could make the trip for between $216 to $393. Pretty decent fair.
Fort Wayne wins this one if you want to only fly on these limited days of the week. Fort Wayne and South Bend are within $6, so it is a wash.
The next sample I checked is flying into JFK airport, in New York City. This would be a business destination for many. We used the same dates of October 17th and 24th.
Fort Wayne to JFK will run between $276 and $395. You could pick from five airlines.
South Bend to JFK a ticket price of between $184 and $378. Only four airlines are available but three of them have ticket prices under $200.
Indianapolis to JFK must be off the beaten path as the ticket price scale is $307 to $416.
South Bend beats Fort Wayne by $92 a ticket. Fort Wayne gets a win over Indianapolis by $123. The Fort Wayne wins seems out of line but that is what Yahoo Travel provided.
Overall Fort Wayne finishes third, for the second largest city in the state. The nice thing is Fort Wayne will not slip further down, as there are only three cities in Indiana to provid full time commercial air service.
Maybe the Mayor should think again about his appointments to the Fort Wayne Allen County Aviation Authority. This appointed board has complete control over the airport, including setting tax rates. Average business people and vacationers just cannot afford this SHOWCASE!
The thought is Michael Gouloff and Jerry Henry, Jr, have their plates pretty full owning their own businesses and being board members for Tower Bank. Richard "Barry" Sturges has to be pretty well spread out trying to lease the condo and retail space for the new Harrison Square project, selling parcels of the old City of Fort Wayne Southtown Mall property, and City of Fort Wayne owned Summitt Industrial Park.
Then again, as they relax in their three luxury suites at the Harrison Square ballpark they can kick around some ideas. Like, how they can reduce the landing/take off fees they charge so the airplane ticket prices can be lowered. We may have the SHOWCASE but we do know we have the HIGHTEST PRICES!
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2 comments:
JQ - Just curious here. . .as someone who has flown from both FW and SB in the last few years, and on Allegiant. . .did you consider the fuel costs to and from SB, et al, as well as the long-term parking fees.
I've found that those factors even things out, as well as the relief of actually flying into "home" and not having to drive an hour or two after your flight.
Just my two cents, man.
Like you, I have used Indy, SB, and Fort Wayne to fly out of. I do consider the gas and parking fees into the "true cost" of an airplane ticket.
The point being made is if everything is equal I can fly cheaper from South Bend then Fort Wayne. If I lived 10 miles from either SB or FW I could fly cheaper, on the average, out of SB.
Our local talking heads love to blame the airlines for the higher ticket prices we face here. What they do not talk about is the fees they charge the airlines to do business here.
You do make a valid point, to which I have agreed, that a person needs to add gas and possible higher parking fees into the true cost of their ticket.
A few weeks ago I needed to travel on four day notice. Fort Wayne was the highest of the three. When I factored in nearly $40 for extra gas and $26 dollars extra for extended parking, the "true value" was only $33. Hence, I flew from Fort Wayne!
I do not believe we will ever equal Indianapolis in airfares and can understand that. But we should be able to compete and beat what South Bend does.
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