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Spirits soar at Okaloosa airport after Southwest visit: Representatives from the airline also visited Pensacola and Panama City this week
(Northwest Florida Daily News (Fort Walton Beach) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Dec. 8--Okaloosa Regional Airport officials were feeling upbeat this week following a visit from representatives of Southwest Airlines. Particularly inspiring was the interest the group showed in the Emerald Coast as a customer base, said county Airports Director Jerry Sealy.
"This was the first time they've sat down with us and tried to get their hands around what they would tell their customers they'd be getting through service in this community," he said.
Sealy said he believes Southwest is "about a year out" from announcing plans to fly out of a Northwest Florida airport. Okaloosa Regional officials hope their facility will be chosen over those in Pensacola or Panama City.
"We have a good opportunity, and maybe even better than Pensacola and Panama City," said Terry Curry, Okaloosa Regional's operations manager. "Our facility, I think, is more suited to their needs than the others."
Sealy said Southwest's team appeared particularly impressed by Okaloosa Regional's new terminal, its continuing expansion and its lower cost per passenger -- a savings realized by sharing facilities with Eglin Air Force Base.
Airport administrators, joined by business and tourism officials, sought to sell their guests on Okaloosa Regional's potential to draw flyers from both east and west. "Geographically we're well suited to serve the entire Emerald Coast," Sealy said.
Southwest Airlines officials downplayed their visits to Okaloosa Regional Airport and to the airports in Pensacola and Panama City.
"Our (team) was just on a routine research visit to the gulf shore area to maintain relationships, just as they do at airports all across the country," said company spokeswoman Marilee McInnis. "We're not planning to service any new cities in the next year, just to build what service we have."
Okaloosa Regional has been courting Southwest Airlines, which Sealy said is among the most financially healthy in the United States, for nearly a decade. The efforts grew more critical in 2005 when the airport lost U.S. Airways Express and Delta Air Lines announced it was cutting back flights.
"It's interesting to note that they remain very interested in our market," said Larry Sassano, executive director of the Economic Development Council of Okaloosa County.
Copyright (c) 2006, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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