Ups and downs at Columbia airport

Columbia Regional Airport may have dodged the bullet fired last month by its only commercial carrier if the pending negotiations with another carrier end in the airport’s favor.

On Feb. 8, Trans States Airlines announced that it would be discontinuing service to five airports in June. The company’s press release attributed the decision to aircraft fleet reduction. But a spokesperson for Trans State's partner, American Airlines, said in early February that the airline was working with another carrier, RegionsAir, to preserve service in Columbia and elsewhere.

But any small victories brought by the coming months will not hide the fact that passengers are turning their backs on the airport in record numbers—numbers that raise more questions than they answer.

In 1999, nearly 35,000 people left I-70’s traffic and stress behind by flying in and out of Columbia Regional. The year also marked the release of the airport’s lengthy master plan, which centered on the belief that demand for flights out of Columbia would double by 2007.

Just a year shy of that mark, Columbia Regional is coming up way short. The area has felt the full heat of travel declines from September 11, 2001, and the Asian SARS epidemic, and drastic reductions in Missouri air service in the wake of a merger between Trans World and American Airlines. TWA was headquartered in St. Louis and tended to take care of Missourians. Yearly passenger counts at Columbia are now around 20,000.

Numbers like that belie the charms that endear Columbia Regional to many frequent fliers.

“It’s a great convenience to be able to drive up to the door and drop your

suitcases off, park almost next to the door, go through security just one time

and it be a very short security line,” said Joe Moseley, vice president of

public affairs at Shelter Insurance. “And then when you return,

your luggage is there quickly and again within steps of where your car is parked.”

Moseley also said that for people spending a week or less away from Columbia,

flying is no more expensive than driving and parking at another airport. For

business travelers, who make up the bulk of American Airlines’ customer base,

the biggest concern may be the small number of flights in and out of the airport,

which sometimes make flying out of Kansas City or St. Louis a quick and more

convenient option.

Daily schedules made available by American Airlines show that long layovers

are more the norm than the exception. Making a weekday trip to New York’s LaGuardia

airport, for example, entails a layover of nearly four hours.

Columbia Regional has fallen victim to numerous forces outside its control.

Yet airports in similar situations have not all fared as poorly. South Bend

Regional Airport in Indiana serves a university town, two hours from a major

airport, with a population of about 100,000 people.

Facts like that should sound familiar. That South Bend serves 700,000 passengers a year should not.

While Columbia spent the late 1990s letting its airport stagnate with a short runway and just one gate for passenger aircraft, South Bend extended its runway and added passenger facilities, all before there was ever a need.

“Business moves so quickly now that a company can’t wait two years or five

years for infrastructure to be put in place,” said Michael Guljas, director

of administration and finance for South Bend Regional. “We found that having

the infrastructure in place and being proactive is very important in having

the proper business environment for new companies coming in.”

Whether it’s an airline offering more flights at better times or an airport improving its facilities, the answer to Columbia’s airport woes may lie in an old axiom: You have to spend money to make it.

“Hopefully there will be another airline out there that will see this as a profitable move for them and they’ll offer enough flights to maximize that potential,” Moseley said.

Missourian reporters contacted Trans States Airlines and RegionsAir. Both companies declined the opportunity to comment on the state of affairs at Columbia Regional Airport.