Archive for May, 2009

June may be a popular month for weddings, but each year about this time, air service development professionals across the country have a different type of courtship on their minds. Instead of worrying about where to seat the wedding party, most airport people are getting ready to sit down with airline planners for a round of speed dating at Jumpstart, part of Airport Council International-North America’s  (ACI-NA) annual communications and air service development conference. This year, Jumpstart is the first week in June and the “matchmaking” will occur in Montreal, Canada.

As at past Jumpstarts, I will be right there promoting Tri-Cities Regional Airport and our community. Recruiting air service is a tough business, especially for smaller communities, and success always comes down to timing, availability, and economics. Marrying what passengers want with what the airlines want can be delicate task. While an actual engagement doesn’t often occur there at the table, Jumpstart gives both parties an opportunity to introduce themselves, evaluate an existing relationship or decide to continue the courtship process at a later date. Sometimes the meetings help an airport or airline determine there is no match at all, and that’s okay. But you never want to completely shut the door on a prospect…you never know when a carrier may turn into prince charming for your community…I’ll keep you posted.

The recent merger between Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines is going to mean a change at the ticket counter at TRI come the end of June. While we don’t know exactly what will happen, it’s a pretty good bet that it will take a little getting used to. Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA), the long-time operator of TRI’s Delta Connection service, will be handing the reins to Mesaba Airlines (operator for TRI’s Nortwest Airlink service), so passengers will most likely see some new faces and new signage.  It remains to be seen how easily the carriers will merge work groups, reservations, websites and so on, but there seems to be a plan in place. I’ll keep you posted …