New airline can't keep passengers in the air
Published Feb. 13, 2007
Despite having a new airline with a new destination, the Columbia Regional Airport has seen a significant drop in the number of passengers traveling through the facility.
"We've seen a fairly steady decline," Airport Manager Kathy Frerking said.
According to passenger numbers released by the airport, 654 passengers boarded planes at Columbia Regional in January, which is down from 985 in October, when Air Midwest began flying out of the airport.
In January 2006, 1,339 passengers boarded planes at the airport.
The same figures show that 598 people arrived at Columbia Regional in January, down from 815 in October and 1,354 in January 2006.
Air Midwest, a subsidiary of Mesa Airlines, began flying out of the airport on Oct. 5 and operating under the name U.S. Airways Express. The airline flies from Columbia to St. Louis and Kansas City, with two flights per day to each location.
Frerking said the first option to boost passenger counts is to change the fight schedule.
"We've begun speaking about some options for that," she said. "We're looking into changing flight times into St. Louis or more frequent flights to one of the airports."
The schedule includes flights from Columbia to St. Louis at 6:35 a.m. and 3:25 p.m. and to Kansas City at 9 a.m. and 5:20 p.m.
Frerking said through schedule changes or increased flights, the airport hopes to cater more to travelers.
"We're hoping to definitely make it something that will benefit travelers more than it does now," she said.
Prior to the arrival of Air Midwest, Trans States Airlines operated flights between Columbia and St. Louis as American Connection, part of American Airlines. Frerking said since the introduction of flights to Kansas City, about the same number of people has flown to each destination.
"The numbers on a monthly basis have been about 50/50," she said.
Norm Ruebling, the owner of Mo-X, a service that shuttles travelers by van from Columbia to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and Kansas City International Airport, said his business has increased but he doesn't attribute it to a decrease in air travel.
"We average 25 percent growth each year, so I don't think we're affected by what's going on at the airport," he said.