SeaPort Airlines pilot Cpt. Rodney Beeler opens the cockpit door of a Cessna 208 Caravan before a flight to Nashville on May 1.
KENNETH CUMMINGS/The Jackson Sun
Alan Sallee used two hours before his flight from Jackson to Nashville on May 1 to answer e-mails instead of driving.
Sallee, who is the president of Mid-South Aluminum, chose to start his business trip from McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport in Jackson rather than the Nashville airport. He paid $39 for his one-way flight to Nashville. The decision to fly to the Music City’s airport saved Sallee time and money, but it also made him more productive throughout his work day.
Sallee was one of two people aboard SeaPort Airlines’ 6:55 a.m. commuter flight to Nashville on May 1. The airline is the latest to win a contract from the federal government to provide commercial passenger flights from Jackson to surrounding airports.
The airline started flights to Memphis and Nashville in January. It has until Dec. 31 to prove there is a need for airline service in West Tennessee, or it will lose the contract. If the federal government does not renew SeaPort Airlines’ contract, it could be decades before the city has commercial airline service again.
That’s because last year Congress changed the rules that fund commuter airlines that fly out of regional airports such as Jackson. The rules now say if a regional airport is within 90 miles of a major airport, it does not qualify for federal support to offset the cost of providing airline service.
McKellar-Sipes is about 85 miles from Memphis International Airport. The local airport was granted an exception this year by the U.S. Department of Transportation, which gave SeaPort Airlines the opportunity to serve the area this year.
On May 2, SeaPort Airlines President Rob McKinney said the number of passengers using the airline is not enough to satisfy the federal government. He said each flight needs have an average of six to seven people on board to make it cost effective. So far, the airline has averaged about two people per flight.
“We are getting to the point where we are concerned that the numbers are not increasing to where we need to get them,” he said.
A total of 266 people have used SeaPort Airlines to fly to either Memphis or Nashville from McKellar-Sipes, as of March 31, according to airport authority records. Another 143 have used the airline to fly into Jackson from one of those two cities. Those numbers show the airline has flown at 54 percent passenger capacity since Jan. 1, records state.
Anna Mastin was the only other passenger on SeaPort’s May 1 flight. Mastin, who lives in Greeley, Colo., flew into Nashville to meet her two sisters on April 27, then drove to Jackson. On May 1, she flew out of Jackson to avoid the two-hour drive back to Nashville International Airport.
“It’s not a bad drive to Nashville,” she said, sipping a complimentary cup of coffee, “but this is like 10 minutes away from my sister’s, and I didn’t have to get up at a ridiculous hour.”
Mastin said she paid $29.95 for her one-way ticket to Nashville, a price she said was cheaper than driving more than 140 miles across Interstate 40.
McKinney, SeaPort’s president, said people apparently don’t realize prices for his airline are substantially lower than what the previous airline charged. On May 3, one-way tickets from Jackson to Nashville sold for $39, while tickets to Memphis sold were $29.95 for travel on April 30. Parking at McKellar-Sipes is free.
“My concern is that the previous carrier did such a bad job serving the people of Jackson that people do not realize we have affordable prices and a good flight record,” McKinney said, “and they have not come out to check on their hometown airline.”
If West Tennessee residents don’t know about SeaPort’s low fares, it may be because of a lack of promotion. While members of the Jackson City Council, the mayor’s office and the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce have stated the importance of the airport and commercial air service to industrial development in the past, none of those groups have allotted funds for advertising SeaPort’s service. The airport authority did promote the previous airlines, but the money for that came from a community block grant.
SeaPort has not advertised in the newspaper or on television in Jackson since January.
City Councilman David Cisco said he would talk to other members of the council and Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist about whether the city’s funding of the chamber of commerce should come with the stipulation that some of the money be spent on advertising SeaPort Airlines and the airport. Cisco is the City Council’s liaison to the airport.
“We need to keep that airline operating out of McKellar-Sipes,” he said. “It is as big to industrial development as Pringles Park and Double-A baseball and the Jackson Symphony.”
The city of Jackson is in the middle of meetings to write next fiscal year’s budget. Councilman Charles Rahm said he did not know if the city had enough revenues to advertise the airline.
Gist said the city’s next fiscal year budget will be at least 2.5 percent less than this fiscal year. Still, Gist felt City Council and airport authority members might consider reallocating some funds to promote SeaPort. Then, he said, the city would know whether people want a commercial passenger airline in Jackson.
“If it means we need to use money from one or all agencies to get the word out that those flights are available, and if people still don’t use it, then we know what the problem is,” he said, “and that is we may not need a regional airline.”
Having an airline at McKellar-Sipes helps reduce the airport’s dependence on city-county funding, said Steve Smith, executive director of the airport. SeaPort pays fees for the use of the airport. The airport collects a service fee from each ticket sold and a surcharge for gasoline.
Since Jan. 1, SeaPort has purchased about 30,000 gallons of jet fuel from the airport, Smith said. Money from the airline has allowed airport officials to hire three additional people. He said the airline has about a 95 percent on-time rating.
McKinney will be in Jackson this month, visiting civic groups and businesses to try and increase ridership on his airline. SeaPort has 150 daily flights in seven states. Its sister company, Wings of Alaska, has daily flights from five Alaskan cities, its website states.
McKinney is not ready to abandon his company’s expansion into Tennessee. Still, he understands the realities of running an airline and the need for federal funding to cut his costs.
“The bottom line is that everyone needs to understand that we are committed to Jackson,” he said, “but if we don’t get the numbers up, the DOT will end the service, and it will go away.”
Source: http://www.jacksonsun.com
Sallee was one of two people aboard SeaPort Airlines’ 6:55 a.m. commuter flight to Nashville on May 1. The airline is the latest to win a contract from the federal government to provide commercial passenger flights from Jackson to surrounding airports.
The airline started flights to Memphis and Nashville in January. It has until Dec. 31 to prove there is a need for airline service in West Tennessee, or it will lose the contract. If the federal government does not renew SeaPort Airlines’ contract, it could be decades before the city has commercial airline service again.
That’s because last year Congress changed the rules that fund commuter airlines that fly out of regional airports such as Jackson. The rules now say if a regional airport is within 90 miles of a major airport, it does not qualify for federal support to offset the cost of providing airline service.
McKellar-Sipes is about 85 miles from Memphis International Airport. The local airport was granted an exception this year by the U.S. Department of Transportation, which gave SeaPort Airlines the opportunity to serve the area this year.
On May 2, SeaPort Airlines President Rob McKinney said the number of passengers using the airline is not enough to satisfy the federal government. He said each flight needs have an average of six to seven people on board to make it cost effective. So far, the airline has averaged about two people per flight.
“We are getting to the point where we are concerned that the numbers are not increasing to where we need to get them,” he said.
A total of 266 people have used SeaPort Airlines to fly to either Memphis or Nashville from McKellar-Sipes, as of March 31, according to airport authority records. Another 143 have used the airline to fly into Jackson from one of those two cities. Those numbers show the airline has flown at 54 percent passenger capacity since Jan. 1, records state.
Anna Mastin was the only other passenger on SeaPort’s May 1 flight. Mastin, who lives in Greeley, Colo., flew into Nashville to meet her two sisters on April 27, then drove to Jackson. On May 1, she flew out of Jackson to avoid the two-hour drive back to Nashville International Airport.
“It’s not a bad drive to Nashville,” she said, sipping a complimentary cup of coffee, “but this is like 10 minutes away from my sister’s, and I didn’t have to get up at a ridiculous hour.”
Mastin said she paid $29.95 for her one-way ticket to Nashville, a price she said was cheaper than driving more than 140 miles across Interstate 40.
McKinney, SeaPort’s president, said people apparently don’t realize prices for his airline are substantially lower than what the previous airline charged. On May 3, one-way tickets from Jackson to Nashville sold for $39, while tickets to Memphis sold were $29.95 for travel on April 30. Parking at McKellar-Sipes is free.
“My concern is that the previous carrier did such a bad job serving the people of Jackson that people do not realize we have affordable prices and a good flight record,” McKinney said, “and they have not come out to check on their hometown airline.”
If West Tennessee residents don’t know about SeaPort’s low fares, it may be because of a lack of promotion. While members of the Jackson City Council, the mayor’s office and the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce have stated the importance of the airport and commercial air service to industrial development in the past, none of those groups have allotted funds for advertising SeaPort’s service. The airport authority did promote the previous airlines, but the money for that came from a community block grant.
SeaPort has not advertised in the newspaper or on television in Jackson since January.
City Councilman David Cisco said he would talk to other members of the council and Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist about whether the city’s funding of the chamber of commerce should come with the stipulation that some of the money be spent on advertising SeaPort Airlines and the airport. Cisco is the City Council’s liaison to the airport.
“We need to keep that airline operating out of McKellar-Sipes,” he said. “It is as big to industrial development as Pringles Park and Double-A baseball and the Jackson Symphony.”
The city of Jackson is in the middle of meetings to write next fiscal year’s budget. Councilman Charles Rahm said he did not know if the city had enough revenues to advertise the airline.
Gist said the city’s next fiscal year budget will be at least 2.5 percent less than this fiscal year. Still, Gist felt City Council and airport authority members might consider reallocating some funds to promote SeaPort. Then, he said, the city would know whether people want a commercial passenger airline in Jackson.
“If it means we need to use money from one or all agencies to get the word out that those flights are available, and if people still don’t use it, then we know what the problem is,” he said, “and that is we may not need a regional airline.”
Having an airline at McKellar-Sipes helps reduce the airport’s dependence on city-county funding, said Steve Smith, executive director of the airport. SeaPort pays fees for the use of the airport. The airport collects a service fee from each ticket sold and a surcharge for gasoline.
Since Jan. 1, SeaPort has purchased about 30,000 gallons of jet fuel from the airport, Smith said. Money from the airline has allowed airport officials to hire three additional people. He said the airline has about a 95 percent on-time rating.
McKinney will be in Jackson this month, visiting civic groups and businesses to try and increase ridership on his airline. SeaPort has 150 daily flights in seven states. Its sister company, Wings of Alaska, has daily flights from five Alaskan cities, its website states.
McKinney is not ready to abandon his company’s expansion into Tennessee. Still, he understands the realities of running an airline and the need for federal funding to cut his costs.
“The bottom line is that everyone needs to understand that we are committed to Jackson,” he said, “but if we don’t get the numbers up, the DOT will end the service, and it will go away.”
Source: http://www.jacksonsun.com
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