AirTran Airways, which long has been the shining star at the Quad-City International Airport, ends its 15-year association today with the Moline airport.
The low-fare carrier, which airport officials have credited for holding down air fares in the market, will make its final Quad-City arrival and departure this morning.
Flight 1188 is scheduled to arrive from Orlando (Fla.) International Airport at 9:20 a.m. It will depart as Flight 1186 at 10 a.m., bound for Orlando.
"We're disappointed more than anything," Bruce Carter, the airport's aviation director, said Thursday.
"We're disappointed on behalf of the airport and the region. It was such a good thing over the last 15 years."
AirTran, which became a subsidiary of Southwest Airlines last year, announced in August that it would end service in 2012 at four airports, including the Quad-Cities. Citing the economy and unpredictable fuel prices as the reason, AirTran said it also would end service to Asheville (N.C.) Regional, Atlantic City (N.J.) International and Newport News Williamsburg (Va.). Service will end after today at Asheville and Atlantic City. It will run through March 9 in Williamsburg.
"It was one of the top highlights of the airport's history having a low-fare carrier like AirTran in the marketplace," said Carter, who has campaigned for years for the community to support AirTran.
While the departure marks the end of direct service to Orlando, Carter said it will only be temporary. Allegiant, the airport's newest carrier, will begin twice-weekly service between the Quad-Cities and the Orlando-Sanford International Airport on Feb. 17.
"Allegiant is filling in some of the gap," Carter said. "We'll continue to develop a relationship with Allegiant as we did with AirTran and look at more destinations with them."
While Carter is pleased with Allegiant's rapid growth in the market, he said it is a different type of operation than AirTran. "We don't get the connecting opportunities that we had with AirTran."
Allegiant is a point-to-point operation, Carter said. For example, it provides service between Moline and Phoenix, Moline and St. Petersburg, Fla., and Moline and Las Vegas. But that is not the hub-and-spoke service provided by AirTran - flying passengers to hubs where they could make other connections. "That's what we'll miss the most," he said.
Carter said Quad-City International already has been affected by loss of its direct service to Atlanta, which ended a year ago. The result has been higher air fares because of less competition as well as declining passenger numbers for the airport. Carter has said he expects 2011 would end with a 12-percent decline in passengers. The final year statistics are not available.
"People are already seeing the effects on air fares, as I told them we would for years. I've stressed for the 12 years I've been here that it would happen if we lose AirTran," he said, estimating that air fares are up 31 percent since AirTran ended its Atlanta service Nov. 30, 2010.
"It's going to be a sad, sad send-off," Janelle Throne, the manager of Gulliver's Travel, Davenport, said of today's last flight.
She said travel agents and passengers already have been feeling the pain of AirTran's departure. "I think the initial effect when customers heard it was they couldn't believe it. But I think everybody's adjusting to it now."
While Allegiant will return an option for Orlando service, she said AirTran's service to Orlando International Airport was a better fit for Disney travelers. "Orlando/Sanford is an hour and a half from Disney," Throne added.
She said the loss of the Atlanta service last year also "messed up a lot of connecting flights to the Caribbean."
Throne said the loss of AirTran also has travel agents sending more customers to other airports, such as Chicago or Rockford, Ill. "It doesn't help with our Moline numbers. We definitely try to send them out of Moline if we can, but price is always a big factor."
Carter said he has no regrets about his efforts to keep AirTran in the Quad-Cities. "I did everything imaginable - I marketed for them, advertised for them, and waived fees for them when they started new destinations."
Two years ago, the airport even hired AirTran's baggage handlers and started its own baggage operation in an effort to hold down AirTran's costs.
"With all the initiatives we did, we kept them in the marketplace much longer than we originally thought," he said.
In November, AirTran announced it would cease operations at five more U.S. airports, including Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington/Normal.
Carter said his focus remains on working with the carriers the airport already has, including Allegiant and legacy carriers American, Delta and United airlines. "We're going to work hard at keeping what we have. We have very good air service to 10 destinations."
Although discussions with Southwest haven't brought service to the market yet, he said "Never say never. We don't know how their business plan will develop."
Copyright 2012 Lee Enterprises, Inc.All Rights Reserved
