Editor, the Tribune: Traverse City, Mich., is about the same size as Columbia, but with nowhere near the number of surrounding towns like Columbia has within a 30-mile or 40-mile radius. It is nestled in a resort area, but Columbia has the Lake of the Ozarks and other vacation spots within the same 90-mile radius that Traverse City seems to use when it extends out to the Mackinac Straits.
So why does Traverse City have four major airlines (American, United, Delta, Northwest), each operating four flights a day into its airport, and we can't even get one reliable one?
The answer is simple: They have a shuttle service that will deliver passengers to their destination and then pick them up and bring them to the airport for a reasonable fee. Why Columbia Regional has never done this is beyond me. Think about it: shuttles to Boonville, Sedalia, the lake area, Jefferson City, Fulton, Moberly, Mexico. Duh! Wouldn't that make it more of a regional airport instead of the pathetic waste of concrete that it currently is and help attract better carriers?
Given the current outfit's track record, I wouldn't consider flying out of Columbia under any circumstances, and I fly a lot.
Oh - did I mention the cost might come down? I recently checked a flight from Kansas City or St. Louis to San Francisco - each around $450 round trip. Out of Columbia it cost a prohibitive $1,065.
Randy Westveer
1020 County Road 409, Fayette
