Memphis Airport Chairman Asks DeSoto to Help Propel Low-Cost Service

June 01--Preceded by a youthful entertainer warbling a "Thoroughly Modern Millie" tune, the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority's new chairman, Jack Sammons, sang praises of efforts to update and improve traveler services -- and invited North Mississippi to share the ride as a regional partner.

"We're all in this together," Sammons said Friday in Southaven, where he spoke to the DeSoto Economic Development Council. "There are challenges, and we'll meet them together." And he's got a flight plan ready.

Noting that Southwest Airlines will begin service to Memphis on Nov. 3, carrying the promise of relief from high airfares, Sammons says DeSoto needs to get on board to support the new arrival to ensure increased services and flight frequency.

He said Southwest's chief executive told him, "The more you take, the more you get." So Sammons urges DeSoto County residents to enroll in Southwest's Rapid Rewards Program and sign up for the Chase Bank Southwest Airlines Visa Card. Spending dollars that way makes economic sense: "These are key metrics that Southwest watches for further market development," he said.

Listeners welcomed Southwest's move and agreed that air service is a regional issue.

"When you live in Mississippi but you're near Memphis, you depend on that airport," said state Rep. Pat Nelson, R-Southaven. "Memphis is also the Redbirds, the Grizzlies, the Orpheum and the Rendezvous -- it's what we don't have but we're glad it's close."

"Memphis is where we fly out of, so it's our airport, too," said Hernando Mayor Chip Johnson, who networks with Sammons as an executive committee member of the regional Air Service Task Force.

Sammons said the answer to customers angry about lack of affordable air service "is competition -- but it's not easy to develop." Southwest's arrival is just one step.

The airline industry is constricting, said Sammons, pointing to 16 air hubs that have failed since 1990. And since deregulation in 1978, major carriers have shrunk from 17 to a handful: Delta, United, American and Southwest now account for 86 percent of U.S. airline capacity, he said.

Described by fellow former Memphis City Council member Brent Taylor as "a serial entrepreneur," businessman Sammons says he's not about to see airport potential grounded; there's too much at stake. The airport, he says, is the largest single capital investment the area, and he has vowed to be "relentless" in soliciting flight choices and getting travelers to fly out of Memphis International instead of driving "two of the most dangerous highways in America, I-40 to Little Rock and I-40 to Nashville, to save money on air travel." He's also made plans to hire a full-time air service recruiter and a public information chief to tell the airport story "with honest dialogue."

Sammons said that in 2008, researchers at the University of Memphis determined the airport is responsible for nearly half the local economy -- "worth $29 billion and generating one of every three jobs in our region."

"Given those staggering figures, assuming the role as chairman of our airport authority is a sacred trust," said Sammons, who in January became only the fourth person in the post since the authority's start in 1970 under Ned Cook.

Arnold Perl, Sammon's immediate predecessor, was chairman 16 years and Sammons credits him for shaping "the concept of Memphis as 'America's Aerotropolis,' where runway, road, rail and river merge."

The airport has a $113 million annual budget and is self-sustaining, getting no city or county tax money, but drawing a big revenue boost from FedEx, "our purple and orange partner." Sammons said the airport remains financially sound and "our debt service has actually declined 33 percent since 2003."

Sammons said he also intends to build customer satisfaction and pride in airport facilities. He points to removal of auto rental agencies that cluttered Democrat Road and their relocation to the new Ground Transportation Center, which has a moving sidewalk to the terminal. Also, the airport is working to provide free Internet service.

"A city's airport is its calling card and handshake, the first impression and last impression," Sammons said. The airport chairman said he's "passionate about this assignment, likely my last stop" in his career of public service.

Johnson said he's optimistic on air service, buoyed by Sammons' enthusiasm.

Copyright 2013 - The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.