Knoxville Area Airport May See More Nonstop Flights

In February, Knoxville area travelers will be able to fly nonstop to 18 cities when United Express adds a flight to Denver from Knoxville's McGhee Tyson Airport. As many as 22 destinations could be available via nonstop flights from Knoxville a year from now.

"We expect nonstop flights to grow. We're working on adding four new cities," said Dave Conklin, spokesman for the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority.

Expansion of nonstop routes originating in Knoxville is far from guaranteed, but Conklin sees good reason to be optimistic.

"It's primarily due to the regionals," Conklin said, referring to the rainbow of regional airlines that serve Knoxville and other small and medium cities nationwide.

While a number of major airlines have suffered horrendous financial losses in recent years and sought bankruptcy protection -- Delta being the most recent example -- many regional airlines like Memphis-based Pinnacle Airlines Inc., Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group Inc., SkyWest of Utah, Republic of Indianapolis and a slew of others have been more financially stable.

"The regionals are here to stay... and (they are) perfect for nonstop service," Conklin said.

Many regional airlines have in recent years added larger aircraft with greater range to their fleets, which means they can offer longer flights, Conklin said.

As a whole, the regional airline industry will expand the number of point-to-point flights it offers in the coming years, but individual airlines will be very selective in opening new nonstop routes, said Pinnacle President and CEO Phil Trenary.

After all, a substantial amount of the regional airlines' revenue comes from contracts with major air carriers that depend on the regionals to haul passengers from small and medium markets to hub airports in big cities.

"The hubs will always be important," Trenary said.

Pinnacle, which was in serious financial trouble a few years ago, has recovered by improving employee training and aircraft maintenance and implementing various operating efficiencies, Trenary said.

Pinnacle operates Northwest Airlink to provide flights for Northwest Airlines.

Pinnacle reported a quarterly loss of $24.1 million for the three-month period ended Sept. 30, primarily due to losses associated with the bankruptcy of Northwest Airlines, according to its most recent financial statement. However, for the nine months ended Sept. 30, Pinnacle had net income of $38.9 million on revenues of $628.6 million. Those represented respective increases of 28 percent and 38 percent from the first three quarters of 2004.

The success of the regional airline industry is critical to Knoxville-area travelers because 12 different regional carriers provide all but a handful of the 160 daily flights in and out of McGee Tyson Airport, Conklin said.

"The regionals have really been helpful to Knoxville," Conklin said. "They have extended our reach considerably. Ten years ago if you had asked me if we would ever have nonstop service to Denver I would have said 'not in my career.' But now we will."

In addition, the regional airlines have had a significant impact on the Knoxville-area economy. Two airlines -- Pinnacle and Continental -- have maintenance facilities in Knoxville to service their regional fleets. Together, the two maintenance facilities employ about 400 workers.

The airport authority would like to lure other regional maintenance operations and their highly skilled, well-paid workers to McGhee Tyson, Conklin said.Pinnacle has four maintenance facilities. Knoxville is the largest."We have invested heavily in Knoxville. The work force there is incredible," Trenary said.

Business writer Roger Harris may be reached at 865-342-6342.

REGIONAL AIRLINES AT MCGHEE TYSON

* Pinnacle

* American Eagle

* Continental Express

* Comair

* Chautauqua Airlines

* Atlantic Southeast

* PSA

* Piedmont

* Mesa

* Skywest

* Shuttle America

* Air Wisconsin

Source: Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority

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