July 11--Tulsa International Airport plans to roll out a more aggressive set of incentives to lure new airlines and new routes.
Airport management will present a new plan to the facility's governing board Thursday that gives incentives for nonstop flights to new destinations, including up to $75,000 in marketing money.
The proposal also waives landing fees and terminal space rental payments, dumping a 3-year-old program that required airlines to serve a route for 18 months before they could apply for a rebate.
"We went through our old plan and eliminated a lot of the thresholds that we had for the incentives," said Tulsa Airport Authority spokeswoman Alexis Higgins. "The first year of flying a new route is the riskiest for an airline. They want to get rid of that risk."
The new incentive program stems from a plan the airport adopted in January to help improve service to and from Tulsa.
Commercial airlines fly to 14 cities from Tulsa, but the airport has struggled to attract new nonstop destinations and has actually lost nonstop flights to Los Angeles in April. In addition, Delta Air Lines is dropping its service to Memphis in September.
Tulsa International has had a $75,000 marketing incentive for nonstop flights to new destinations since 2010, along with 100 percent waivers on landing fees and terminal space.
But the old program only gave the incentives if airlines were flying to an East or West coast hub not served by Tulsa International. Airlines also had to wait 18 months for the cash.
The new program will give incentives to fly to any new destination.
A second tier of incentives gives $10,000 for airlines to fly a new route to an airport already served by another airline, and cuts 50 percent of fees for landing and terminal rental.
Airport management is also introducing incentives for new nondaily flights.
The program would give $50,000 in marketing cash to airlines that fly two or more flights a week to an airport that doesn't connect directly to Tulsa, as well as free landing fees and terminal space.
A $10,000 marketing incentive, with half off landing fees and terminal space, would also be available for airlines to fly a new nonstop route to a destination already served by another carrier.
The terminal fee waivers are only for carriers not currently serving Tulsa, since existing airlines are already paying for terminal rentals.
The new incentive program is connected to a survey this spring intended to gauge interest in new nonstop flights from the local business community.
City business and political leaders say more nonstop flights would help attract new businesses and jobs.
Higgins said airport officials plan to take the incentives and their survey data to airlines to lobby for more routes to and from Tulsa.
"We want to use all of the data that we have collected to continue the dialogue with carriers," she said. "We need this to even get a seat at the table for new routes."
Higgins said the old incentive program was rarely used.
Tulsa International is served by the nation's four largest passenger airlines, a difficult number to increase as airlines continue to consolidate.
But a number of low-cost carriers, such as Spirit Airlines and Jet Blue Airlines, have emerged, adding the possibility that one of these upstarts could enter the Tulsa market.
New nonstop flight incentives
Tulsa International Airport management will propose a new set of incentives for nonstop daily flights. The Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust will vote on the proposal Thursday.
Daily, nonstop flights to new destination incentives:
-- Marketing cash: $75,000
-- Landing fees: Waived for 18 months
-- Terminal space: Free for 18 months
What's new?
-- Landing fee and terminal rental waivers up front
-- Applies to any new destination, not just hubs on the East and West coasts
-- New incentives for flights to airports served by other airlines
