Flying high-Missoula International Airport officials tout service to five hubs

Missoula International Airport officials are crowing about increased service to hub airports, proving connections to destinations around the world.

By MICK HOLIEN of the Missoulian

With the addition of Big Sky Airlines service to Boise, planes flying out of Missoula International Airport now fly nonstop to five hub airports, including Seattle, Denver, Minneapolis and Salt Lake City.

"There are many, many cities across this great nation that don’t have that kind of service and they’re bigger," said John Seymour, Missoula County’s director of airports. "That’s direct. We have great service."

Service to Denver returned in June 2001 after a hiatus of several years triggered when Frontier Airlines left the market.

"The (Airport Authority) board and airport staff worked hard to get that back and we’re real happy that it is," he said. "It was a great thing."

Additional service now is more easily available because of the use of smaller, more fuel-efficient regional jets.

"The carriers are going to the regional jets in this size market because they’re a better fit," he said.

Because the smaller aircraft get better fuel efficiency, they fly up to 1,500 miles instead of the approximately 600 miles flown by the larger older planes.

There’s a future possibility of direct service to destinations like Portland, Ore., or Los Angeles, but with it comes a caveat: "If we do pick up many more sites we’re going to reach a saturation point," Seymour said.

He said the improved service is driven by demand.

"It’s really city-driven, people-driven," said Seymour. "Where do people want to travel to and where will they support a flight to?"

"Why don’t we have service to pick-a-place? It’s because we don’t have enough people who want to fly there," he said. "… We do market studies to try and predict that."

And Seymour argued that travelers who elect to fly out of Spokane could be affecting future service out of the Missoula airport.

"If you want better service out of Missoula, you should fly Missoula because it’s a numbers game, and that’s not to criticize people who fly out of Spokane. They need to do it for the reasons they need to do it for," said Seymour.

Travelers who elect to fly out of Spokane – 180 miles west of Missoula – do so largely to save money. But Seymour said he didn’t think the savings were consistent.

"I don’t believe they really save as much money as they think," he said

Every city has what the industry calls "leakage," travelers who will drive to another airport to get a cheaper fare. In Missoula’s case, the estimate is that about 6 percent of travelers choose to fly out of Spokane.

"You’re going to have leakage," he said. "You’re not going to get around it." And he did admit that there were some cases when it made economic sense to fly out of Spokane.

But as more carriers introduce flights to the Missoula airport, fares will come down, Seymour said.

"Competition will keep the price in check. The marketplace will do that," he said.

For example, Seymour said, the addition of United Airlines flights to Denver brought down the average fare.

Service to Boise is another example, he said. Because Big Sky Airlines is doing well with that service, another carrier is considering also offering flights there with a larger aircraft.

However, the addition of Southwest Airlines, a discount carrier to major airports, would not be healthy for Missoula, Seymour said.

About 600 cities recently pitched the airline to offer service in their city. Just four were successful.

Southwest, a point-to-point carrier with few connecting flights, starts operations in cities twice the size of Billings, Seymour said. The airline starts its service with about five flights a day with plans for 12 a day within a year.

"If Southwest came in, at last two of our existing carriers would leave," he said. "You’re going to lose that service. It’s not going to be a pretty picture."

In an effort to stem "leakage" to other cities, the Airport Authority soon will embark on a campaign to increase awareness about what is available at Missoula International.

"That’s kind of our thrust the next six months," Seymour said.

"Just basic awareness of what’s at the airport will help people make a better decision," he said.

Reporter Mick Holien can be reached at 523-5262 or at [email protected].

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