Travel agents warn against local flights’ uncertainty

Book flights out of Columbia Regional Airport this summer at your own risk.

That’s the advice travel agents are giving passengers who don’t want to encounter delays or miss flights when the new carrier chosen by the U.S. Department of Transportation begins service.

A spokesman for the federal agency said officials decided on Monday to extend Trans States Airlines’ contract for service from the previous deadline of June 10 to July 12, because the decision on Columbia Regional’s new carrier could take longer than expected.

Travel agent Colleen Taylor books flights for travelers through her office, Midwest Travel Consultants, in Jefferson City.

“I’ve got people asking what’s going to happen in July or September, and we don’t know,” Taylor said. “They have to worry about whether they’ll miss their connection or have a significantly long layover. No one is booking too far out.”

Taylor said she recommends travelers fly out of Kansas City or St. Louis if they need to fly after the July 12 deadline, especially if they are business travelers who have an urgent meeting they can’t miss.

Taylor said her agency’s bookings out of Columbia Regional for flights after the summer deadline have dropped at least 50 percent.

“We’ve had some people who have decided not to travel because they don’t know what the arrangements are going to be or if the connections are going to work,” Taylor said. “A lot of people who are going later this fall or summer are deciding to go out of Kansas City or St. Louis instead, because they don’t know what the schedule is going to be.”

But using Columbia Regional may be easier for some business travelers, said Taylor. She cites traffic on Interstate 70, long security lines and crowded airports during holidays and the summer as reasons passengers prefer to fly out of Columbia Regional.

Dan Stookey, travel agent at Summit Travel in Columbia, has been in the travel industry for 31 years. Like Taylor, he has advised passengers to fly out of Kansas City or St. Louis instead of Columbia Regional until there is a working and definite flight schedule.

As for what might happen to travelers who book flights out of Columbia Regional and then encounter schedule changes, Stookey said he would warn customers that their schedules could change.

“I would tell the customer that really we don’t know what the schedule is going to be,” Stookey said. “You can buy this, but if the schedule isn’t very good, probably what will happen is that they’ll refund the ticket and let you buy a new one at whatever it costs.”

Kathy Frerking, airport manager for Columbia Regional, said the airport has seen fewer passengers since Trans States’ February announcement that it would discontinue service to the airport.

“We’ve seen a drop in comparison to last year,” Frerking said. “We’re about at the same level as we were in the first five months of 2004.”

Frerking added that Trans States is responsible for dealing with any changes in scheduling or ticketing that may occur during the transition.

“We are just waiting, as is the airline, at this point,” she said.

Trans States Spokesman Bill Mishk said Wednesday it was too early to predict when the new carrier could be in place.

“Our intention is to work with whichever carrier is selected,” he said. “My expectation is that the transition will go smoothly with whatever carrier is chosen.”

Until the new carrier is chosen, mid-Missouri travelers must play the waiting game.

“People are uncomfortable with not knowing,” said Taylor. “They just don’t want to be stuck with planning on flying out of Columbia and not being able to, or being switched to another airline and having a really long layover.”