Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (KECP) numbers down, although planes remain nearly full

WEST BAY — June passenger traffic at Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport failed to outpace last year, but officials say high load factors for the airport’s two commercial airlines are a positive sign.

Airport Director Parker McClellan provided the report to the Airport Authority at a board meeting Wednesday, which outlined about a 4 percent decrease in passengers year-over-year, with June flights on Southwest Airlines 88 percent full and Delta Airlines flights 79 percent full.

“The load factors are showing that the airlines that are coming in here are full,” McClellan said, chalking high load factors up to seasonal schedule adjustments the airlines have made over the last few years. “Those are great numbers.”

However, when compared with load factors from the same month last year, the numbers haven’t shown much improvement. Load factors for Delta Airlines actually decreased 12 percent from last year, while load factors for Southwest Airlines remained about the same.

Overall, 204,521 passengers traveled through ECP in June, compared with 211,112 in June of 2013.

Despite lagging passenger numbers, the airport managed to gain ground on its percentage of the market share. Between April and June the airport held 21 percent of the market share, up from the 19 percent reported last quarter.

Pensacola International Airport maintained its grip on the market with a 40 percent share between April and June, followed by Northwest Florida Regional Airport in Okaloosa County with 20 percent, and Tallahassee Regional Airport with 19 percent.

 New chairman

Also during Wednesday’s meeting, the board elected board member Till Bruett as the new chairman and Russ Mathis as vice chairman. Bruett will take over the position from former Chairman John Pilcher, who held the title for the last two years.

Bruett has served on the board for five years and said his biggest goal as chairman will be to bring new airline service to ECP.

“I think that has to be our main emphasis,” Bruett said. “Increase the service and improve the service.”

Additionally, the airport authority welcomed new member Cindy Meadows, who was appointed by the Walton County Commission. Meadows will replace former Walton County representative Dawn Moliterno on the board.

In other business, the board:

- Approved a $372,000 task order contracted from the airport’s engineering firm, ZHA, Inc. for environmental mitigation services for 9,600 acres south of the airport between September 2014 and August 2015. The motion marks the second year of a three-year contract with environmental consulting firm ERC, but Pilcher requested that the contract be rebid every year in the future to ensure a competitive price. Mitigation efforts in the coming year will include prescribed burns, timber harvest, hydrologic restoration and restoring native vegetation.

 - Approved a 3.1 percent raise for Airport Director Parker McClellan following a performance evaluation conducted by Bruett. The raise brings McClellan’s annual salary to $139,196.

- Approved a $12,130 change order requested by Phoenix Construction for a project to construct a new pushback apron and improve security surrounding the air traffic control tower. The original contract sum is $1.2 million. 

Source:  http://www.newsherald.com