January 23, 2006
Bye bye, Flyi | Portland Jetport manager Jeff Schultes has the tough task of replacing Independence Air
By Torrey Meeks
Southern Maine travelers seeking bargain flights aren't the only ones lamenting the loss of Independence Air, the low-cost carrier that shut down its nationwide operations on January 5 following the bankruptcy of its parent corporation, Flyi Inc. Jeff Schultes, manager of the Portland Jetport, says the absence of the low-cost carrier that served Portland for nearly two years might hit hardest at the Jetport itself. "[Independence Air] helped this airport by bringing in low cost service," says Schultes. "They caused all of the carriers to reduce fares."
That ripple effect gave Independence Air significance for the Jetport's operations beyond just its annual passenger counts, which were still a small portion of the total. Through most of last year, Independence Air accounted for about 10% of the Jetport's overall passenger counts, says Schultes. During the summer, that translated into five out of 80 daily flights. In the winter, Independence Air flights held steady at two a day. Now, Schultes is trying to replace the carrier that he acknowledges was "extremely important" to the Jetport's operations and its 1.4 million annual passengers.
Recruiting a new carrier can take upwards of four years, he says. Although he says he's continually talking to carriers about potential service through Portland, he relies heavily on formal presentations he makes during industry conferences. Schultes' goal is to highlight what carriers likely have missed about Maine's economy. "Some cities have one or two big corporations, so they come in and say, 'Look, we have this major travel base,'" says Schultes. "But what we have are a lot of very small businesses that travel extensively. They don't show up on anybody's radar screen."
Couple that with the fact that an airline like Southwest has roughly 170 airports petitioning for its service at any given time, and landing a low-cost carrier gets even harder, says Schultes. While airlines can be enticed by presentations, they ultimately are looking for large population numbers, he says. Take, for example, the difference between the Manchester Airport in New Hampshire ˆ which has six carriers, including low-cost pioneer Southwest ˆ and the Portland Jetport. Manchester has roughly 5.6 million people within its 60-mile service area; Portland has only 400,000 people within a 60-mile radius.
Despite that challenge, Schultes notes one factor that might make it easier to attract a new, low-cost carrier to the Jetport. For all of Flyi Inc.'s financial struggles, Independence Air's two-year tenure in Portland was quite successful: For the entire life of the airline, its Jetport flights carried 20% more passengers than the company average, says Schultes.
"Independence proved this market," says Schultes. "We were actually one of their best airports."
Schultes hopes those numbers will convince another low-cost carrier to take a chance on Portland. For the immediate future, the Jetport's remaining carriers won't have a problem handling the extra capacity left in the wake of Independence Air's shutdown, he says. The former low-cost clientele will likely split its business between Delta, U.S. Airways and United, says Schultes, due to similarities in destinations those airlines shared with Independence.
Although he expects to see some increase in airfares out of Portland now that Independence Air is gone, he isn't sure whether prices will rise gradually or spike in the airline's absence. Either scenario could send a few more Maine travelers to Manchester or Boston to find cheaper fares, he admits, but isn't worried about passenger counts decreasingly significantly on that basis alone. "Travelers have always gone to Manchester and to Boston for flights," says Schultes. "In Maine, we are frugal people."
That ripple effect gave Independence Air significance for the Jetport's operations beyond just its annual passenger counts, which were still a small portion of the total. Through most of last year, Independence Air accounted for about 10% of the Jetport's overall passenger counts, says Schultes. During the summer, that translated into five out of 80 daily flights. In the winter, Independence Air flights held steady at two a day. Now, Schultes is trying to replace the carrier that he acknowledges was "extremely important" to the Jetport's operations and its 1.4 million annual passengers.
Recruiting a new carrier can take upwards of four years, he says. Although he says he's continually talking to carriers about potential service through Portland, he relies heavily on formal presentations he makes during industry conferences. Schultes' goal is to highlight what carriers likely have missed about Maine's economy. "Some cities have one or two big corporations, so they come in and say, 'Look, we have this major travel base,'" says Schultes. "But what we have are a lot of very small businesses that travel extensively. They don't show up on anybody's radar screen."
Couple that with the fact that an airline like Southwest has roughly 170 airports petitioning for its service at any given time, and landing a low-cost carrier gets even harder, says Schultes. While airlines can be enticed by presentations, they ultimately are looking for large population numbers, he says. Take, for example, the difference between the Manchester Airport in New Hampshire ˆ which has six carriers, including low-cost pioneer Southwest ˆ and the Portland Jetport. Manchester has roughly 5.6 million people within its 60-mile service area; Portland has only 400,000 people within a 60-mile radius.
Despite that challenge, Schultes notes one factor that might make it easier to attract a new, low-cost carrier to the Jetport. For all of Flyi Inc.'s financial struggles, Independence Air's two-year tenure in Portland was quite successful: For the entire life of the airline, its Jetport flights carried 20% more passengers than the company average, says Schultes.
"Independence proved this market," says Schultes. "We were actually one of their best airports."
Schultes hopes those numbers will convince another low-cost carrier to take a chance on Portland. For the immediate future, the Jetport's remaining carriers won't have a problem handling the extra capacity left in the wake of Independence Air's shutdown, he says. The former low-cost clientele will likely split its business between Delta, U.S. Airways and United, says Schultes, due to similarities in destinations those airlines shared with Independence.
Although he expects to see some increase in airfares out of Portland now that Independence Air is gone, he isn't sure whether prices will rise gradually or spike in the airline's absence. Either scenario could send a few more Maine travelers to Manchester or Boston to find cheaper fares, he admits, but isn't worried about passenger counts decreasingly significantly on that basis alone. "Travelers have always gone to Manchester and to Boston for flights," says Schultes. "In Maine, we are frugal people."
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