May 29--Gary-Chicago International Airport will again be without any airline passenger service starting in August, officials said Tuesday.
The airport's only commercial carrier, Allegiant Airlines, which operates two flights a week between Gary and Sanford, Fla., near Orlando, will cease service at Gary after its last scheduled flight on Aug. 10, the airline said.
"We are always disappointed to end service in a community,'' Allegiant spokeswoman Jessica Wheeler said. "The airport has been a great partner to us, but unfortunately, we were not seeing a strong demand in the market, and we have a responsibility to use our resources where they are most successful.''
Six airlines -- as varied as a restructured Pan Am Airways to Hooters Air -- have attempted to create niches for themselves at Gary/Chicago since 1999. But the competition from nearby Midway Airport, which appeals to budget-conscious travelers, and O'Hare International Airport has made it a constant challenge for Gary-Chicago, which bills itself as "Chicago's real third airport.''
Gary-Chicago sits less than an hour's drive from Chicago, but the northwest Indiana town's reputation for serious crime and other problems may be a factor working against the airport's success.
"I think it is a deeper problem than the slowly improving economy. The public just isn't warming up to flying out of Gary,'' said Joseph Schwieterman, a transportation expert at DePaul University. "The market has consistently spoken.''
Schwieterman said the loss of another airline is "particularly disheartening because Allegiant only needed to carve a small niche to remain viable. It could be a long slog before another airline comes.''
Gary-Chicago served more than 10,500 passengers in 2012, airport spokesman James Ward said. Surpassing 10,000 passengers qualified the airport for $1 million in airport improvement program funds from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The upcoming exit of Allegiant can't help efforts by the Gary-Chicago International Airport Authority to stir investor interest in a possible public-private partnership deal to develop the airport.
The airport authority's board recently hired advisers for a venture focused on upgrading and expanding the passenger terminal and developing the surrounding area. Part of the effort would include stronger efforts to market the airport to airlines, officials said.
A $167 million runway extension project is on schedule for completion at Gary-Chicago by December, airport officials said. The 1,900-foot extension of the 7,000-foot main runway will allow Gary/Chicago to handle any Boeing or Airbus aircraft.
But Schwieterman pointed out that runway length wasn't a big factor for Allegiant or other airlines that tried to make a go at Gary-Chicago.
"The problem was not enough passenger demand, not facilities,'' Schwieterman said.
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