Rockford airport to keep Denver destination, regain Detroit

By Thomas V. Bona

RRSTAR.COM

Flights to Denver are remaining, while flights to Detroit are returning.

Chicago Rockford International Airport officials have started a partnership with Southern Skyways to operate both routes. The airport and airline will split the cost and profits.

Atlanta-based Southern Skyways will start flights to Denver International Airport on June 6, two days after United Airlines stops serving the route.

At the same time, it will start flights to Detroit Metropolitan Airport, the third time the route has been tried at Rockford in the past decade. Northwest Airlines served the route with commuter airplanes until 2001 and again in 2005 and 2006.

Both routes will start with three flights a week. Tickets will go on sale Monday.

As part of the deal, the airport will chose which routes the airline would fly, how often the flights would be and what the fares would be. The goal is to “prove” the routes so that, eventually, another airline might take them over, said Cary Evans, executive vice president of Southern Skyways.

“Maybe it’s been overpriced or served by the wrong equipment,” Evans said. “This is an opportunity to get it right.”

Southern Skyways will base a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 at Rockford, a jet that seats 115.

Airport officials said that while having only three flights a week won’t be ideal for business travelers, Southern Skyways will be able to add flights if there’s demand.
That could eventually mean daily flights or more than one flight a day.

“You’ll see as many flights as you can fill,” airport Executive Director Bob O’Brien said at a news conference Thursday.

Under the agreement, the most the airport could lose is about $500,000 if the routes flop, O’Brien said. Meanwhile, the airline won’t make any money unless the airport makes money.

Mike Dunn, chairman of the Greater Rockford Airport Authority board, said it might announce additional destinations later on. Southern Skyways previously announced service to Myrtle Beach, S.C., starting in May.

Dunn said previous service between Rockford and Detroit didn’t work because of Northwest Airlines’ fare structure. He said Northwest charged travelers almost as much to fly to Detroit as it did for those continuing onward, as a way to discourage “shuttle” operations to Detroit.

In this case, travelers to Detroit — such as executives from Chrysler, General Motors and their suppliers — will be the target market. Southern Skyways doesn’t offer connecting service.

That’s more of a blow to the Denver route because about half of the passengers who used the United service continued onward. Dunn said that’s why the airport is starting conservatively with three flights a week to build demand.

Staff writer Thomas V. Bona may be contacted at 815-987-1343 or tbona@rrstar.com.

What you need to know

What: Flights between Rockford and Denver and Detroit.

When: Begin June 6 and run once a day Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

How much: Detroit from $79 to $149 each way; Denver from $99 to $209 each way.

How to book: Tickets go on sale at noon Monday at SouthernSkyways.com, 877-235-9768, through a travel agent or during daily business hours in the airport terminal.

10 questions

1. What is Southern Skyways?
Southern Skyways (SouthernSkyways.com) is a “scheduled public charter”, which means it doesn’t own its own airplanes, but charters them from other airlines. Those airlines must be FAA certified.

2. How is traveling with Southern Skyways different than with a conventional airline?
They are very similar. The main difference is that when you pay your fare, it’s deposited into an escrow bank so the airline can’t spend it until you’ve flown. Funds are protected by a surety bond. As with an increasing number of airlines, Southern Skyways is ticketless, meaning you provide your name or confirmation number at check-in to get a boarding pass.

3. How can I get tickets?
Tickets go on sale Monday, March 24 at noon online at SouthernSkyways.com, by calling 877-235-9768, through a travel agent or during daily business hours in the airport terminal.

3. How much will tickets cost?
Fares are between $79 and $149 each way to Detroit; $99 to $209 each way to Denver. Those don’t include taxes and fees which, on Southern Skyways’ existing service, run around $25 each way.

4. Are there any special introductory rates?
Tickets purchased between March 24 and March 30 for travel in June will be $79 to Detroit and $99 to Denver. Those don’t include taxes and fees. Also, airport officials will allow customers who buy tickets under that deal to change their date of travel (within June) or the name of the person traveling for a $25 change fee. Such changes can only be made at the Rockford airport’s passenger services counter.

5. Why aren’t they flying every day?
Airport officials say they want to start conservatively to build up demand, rather than start with too many flights and lose money early. They recognize that business travelers need the ability to fly any day, and say daily service or two flights a day are possible.

6. If United Airlines couldn’t make Denver flights work, why can this work?
Airport officials say that while United tried its best in Rockford, the small 50-seat airplanes weren’t cost-effective with high fuel prices. On larger planes, the cost is spread out among more passengers, so airfare can be cheaper. Also, with United’s hub at Chicago O’Hare International Airport and flights to Denver from Madison, Wis., there was a lot of competition for United frequent flyers.

7. Didn’t the airport subsidize United’s service?
The airport paid United $2.6 million in revenue guarantees over the first 16 months of the service, including $1 million in federal grant money. The subsidy ended last summer. According to airport officials, United asked for more money in recent months, but the airport declined. Officials say they feel the money was a wise investment because it brought more than 100,000 passengers to the airport, showed that a Denver route could work and — had fuel prices not gone through the roof — could have led to a longer relationship with United.

8. Detroit? Didn’t that fail twice?
Northwest Airlines ran daily commuter flights from 1986 to 2001 and then again in 2005 and a few days of 2006. In the latter run, it drew about 2,200 to 2,700 passengers a month. Airport officials said it didn’t work because of Northwest’s fare structure. Basically, the airline raised fares on Rockford to Detroit flights, while lowering fares on connecting flights. The airline’s goal was to encourage more people to connect, but it may have also dampened interest in flights directly to Detroit. The new service is geared toward direct flights, and airport officials are promoting it to executives with automakers and suppliers around Rockford, Belvidere and Janesville.

9. What kind of partnership is this between the airport and the airline?
Basically, they share the costs and risks, and if the venture does well, they share the profits. The goal for the airport is to get a licensed carrier to fly routes it thinks will succeed if done right. The goal for the airline is to get more business and more exposure for its services. If the routes do well, the airline could take them over completely or another airline could come in and take them over. The airport may try this on other sought-after routes too.

10. And if it doesn’t work?
The worst-case scenario is the airport loses $500,000 and moves on to try something else. The money comes out of its existing budget, which comes from a mix of collected fees and taxpayer money.

11. Is the airport still on pace for 300,000 passengers this year?
Airport officials believe so. Losing United meant a loss of 67,600 seats a year. The Southern Skyways plan gives them 71,760 seats a year, a net gain. That doesn’t include any added flights or additional destinations.

Have questions I didn’t answer? Contact me at 815-987-1343 or  tbona@rrstar.com

 

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