Trans States Airlines flies out of Columbia airport
The city found out about the airline's decision through a news release.
Published Feb. 10, 2006
After Trans States Airlines announced Tuesday that it will leave Columbia Regional Airport on June 7, sophomore Kris Hodge said she wondered how much more expensive it would be for her to get home to Dallas.
"My dad works for American Airlines, and I have flight benefits," Hodge said. "I will need to get a ride to the airport in order to get a larger flight in St. Louis or Kansas City to my home in Dallas. I probably won't go home as often because it is more expensive."
Mayor Darwin Hindman said he was not aware of the airline's plan to discontinue service until Tuesday when it issued a news release. He said the city already has started searching for a new carrier and has received interest from several airlines.
"Our population has a high percentage of travelers and we have good airport facilities," Hindman said. "We are going to try and show an airline that if they were to have service here they would make some money."
When looking for new commercial airline carriers, Interim Airport Manager Ken Koopmans said he hopes the airport could have an airline that flies to additional cities besides St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo.
"When we find another air passenger service, we want to look at it possibly having additional hubs with service to Chicago and Dallas," Koopmans said. "This would be really beneficial, with St. Louis cutting flights."
Hindman said the city cannot predict the impact of TSA leaving Columbia because it does not know which airline will replace TSA.
Columbia's airport is big enough to require service from a commercial airline, Koopmans said. If the free market does not produce a commercial airline, the governor would have to put out a request for a subsidized service.
Hindman also said the airport will continue to have two commercial flights per day after TSA leaves because the federal government will assign Columbia a provider.
"Our community would prefer an unsubsidized airline because we would have more of a say in what time the flights were and how often they were," Koopmans said.
Last year, the airport serviced a little fewer than 20,000 passengers, and the number of airline passengers has decreased since Sept. 11, he said.
Compared with other similar-sized airports in the area, Columbia has higher numbers. Koopmans said Columbia has higher airline numbers than Springfield, Ill., Springfield, Mo., Decatur, Ill. and Joplin.