For September we're anticipating 60 percent of our
normal [passenger] revenue, in October we're projecting 70 percent,
80 percent by November and December, and 90 percent by the first
of the year. Our particular [passenger] market is higher because
a greater portion of our travel is business and government. There's
increased cost because of additional security and reduced revenue.
Helena [airport] has a broad-based income; airlines are just 19
percent of our income. The rest comes from federal office buildings,
a Wells Fargo check operations center and a pilot training center.
I think the airline system is safe and will rebound quickly. Our
projections are on the low end.
Ron Merzer, Airport Director
Helena Regional Airport Administration—Helena, Mont.
We've dropped over 20 percent in passenger traffic
and have had a number of flights reduced. There's no impact to this
airport resulting from freight traffic. Your crystal ball's as good
as ours. It'll have more of an impact on our finances and our capital
construction budget. We're going to see how long this lasts before
canceling next year's projects. Airlines and airports have both
had their insurance policies, relating to the hijacking and war-loss
sections, greatly reduced or canceled. You can't get coverage. That
makes the risk of dealing with those events even more devastating.
Requirements for our security are significantly going up.
Tim Thorsen, Operations Manager
Bismarck Municipal Airport—Bismarck, N.D.
Freight is down, but that doesn't impact us that much.
The numbers have picked up quicker than I anticipated. October is
one of our busiest months and our booking numbers are very good.
I do expect passenger travel to be down in the coming months. I
strongly believe it'll come back. ... About 50 percent of people
who have booked flights are actually showing up for them. I don't
have a good feel for what we'll see down the road. We've reduced
our six flights to Minneapolis to four. We've increased security
and that means an increase in operations.
Brian Ryks, Airport Director
St. Cloud Regional Airport—St. Cloud, Minn.
In the short term, we've lost one flight to Minneapolis,
down to six. ... In my opinion, the cuts in flights were premature.
We have strong advanced bookings, and the lobby's full of people.
We've had 15 percent growth for the past 11 months; all but one
were record-breaking. ... It's been a great time, and maybe we're
the exception. We don't deal too much in freight right now, but
we're looking to attract more business. On the operations side we
haven't had much of an effect. I see all these activities with airlines
pulling back and I say, 'Come on folks, it's safer to fly now than
ever.' ... We haven't had to hire any more security to follow the
FAA requirements. We're being creative, low-dollar, low-tech. For
the airport here it's been nothing but good news, growth, growth
and growth.
Jerome Thiele, Airport Manager
Chippewa Valley Regional Airport—Eau Claire, Wis.
Our passenger service for September was down 60 percent.
We have two carriers and lost one flight to Detroit. Getting flights
out is troublesome because there are not enough seats for passengers.
I predict we'll be down 40 percent in passengers for the rest of
this year. Northwest said they'll likely discontinue service here
unless they get a subsidy from the government. That would mean we'd
be down 75 percent [in passenger traffic]. The economic impact to
the community is quite great. Our airport fuels the economy—$21
million per year. That's quite a lot for a town of 14,000. We don't
have a whole lot of freight traffic, but we don't expect decreases.
The loss of Northwest would probably affect our revenue by 25 percent,
I'd guess, which might entail a 25 percent appropriation by the
city.
Richard Severson, Airport Manager
Delta County Airport-Escanaba, Mich.
I don't expect freight to change. It's already been
down 10 percent to 12 percent before Sept. 11. In September our
passenger boardings were down 30 percent compared to September 2000.
For October our flight schedule will be down 10 percent, breaking
hopefully by December so we'll be even with last year, where we
were down 3 percent to 4 percent. I'm not an economist, we know
what their [prediction] record is. There's minimal impact on our
operations. It'll take slightly longer to get into the terminal.
... I don't think it's going to be as bad as our associations are
saying. Our vendors are telling me sales are close to last year. I think
we're in a recovery.
Mike Marnach, Executive Director
Sioux Falls Regional Airport—Sioux Falls, S.D.
Note: These interviews occurred after the Sept. 11 attacks, but prior to October's U.S. military actions.
