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Airport grant can't guarantee new route: Nonstop N.Y. service is officials' objective(Blade, The (Toledo, OH) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Aug. 21--Getting a $400,000 federal grant improves Toledo's chances of getting nonstop airline service to New York City, but it's far from a done deal, Toledo Express Airport's director says. After initially responding, "I don't know," when asked by members of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority's airport committee to assess the likelihood of Toledo-New York flights, airport director Paul Toth said Friday that it's a "50-50" proposition, even with the promise of a $600,000 revenue guarantee for such a service's first year. "There is no guarantee that we are ever going to get service to New York, but this [grant] at least opens the door so we can begin discussions," Mr. Toth said before the committee voted to recommend accepting the federal Small Community Air Service Development grant to the port authority board of directors, which meets on Thursday. According to a 2004 study done for the port authority, Toledoans make about 94,000 air trips per year to New York. But because of frequent nonstop service, and typically better fares at Detroit Metropolitan-Wayne County Airport, 10 percent or fewer of those trips are made from Toledo Express, Mr. Toth said. The federal funds are to be matched by $200,000 from the port authority, of which $100,000 is to come from the airport's reserve funds and $100,000 is to be drawn from property taxes the port authority collects in Lucas County. Also matching the grant is a $395,000 "in-kind" pledge for marketing assistance, including broad-cast and print advertising provided by The Blade and other local media. Port authority staff have been discussing a possible Toledo-New York route with three airlines, Mr. Toth said. "We've never given a revenue guarantee to an airline before," he said. William Carroll, an airport committee member, questioned the viability of a Toledo-New York route in light of Detroit's domination of the market. Having an airline come into the local market only to pull out a few months later would be a bigger black eye than if nothing happened at all, he said. But James Hartung, the port authority's president, said it would look worse if the port authority refused the federal grant, thus signaling no desire to even try to attract new air service to Toledo. "We'll never know unless we accept the grant and move forward with it," said Nadeem Salem, the airport committee's chairman. Mr. Toth said a review of the current Toledo-Chicago market is informative. Although Metro has 28 daily nonstops to Chicago airports at fares substantially lower than those available in Toledo, travelers who prefer Toledo Express's local convenience still sustain four daily flights to O'Hare International, he said. Michael Frank, an airport committee member, said marketing won't make much of a difference if the fares aren't competitive, arguing that the key to a sustainable service will be making it time and cost-competitive for local travelers. To that end, he suggested the airport offer free parking as a promotion to early users of any new flights to New York. Air travel at Toledo Express has declined sharply during the past two years as financially troubled airlines have cut flights or pulled out of the local airport altogether. Passenger traffic declined 23.6 percent during 2005, and last month was even worse, with 25.4 percent fewer travelers flying from Toledo compared with July, 2005. Contact David Patch at: [email protected] or 419-724-6094. Copyright (c) 2006, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |