Air Tran subsidies.

[-9Capt]

Ty guy, you da man. I thinkin dat the Peenutz dude just needs to be havin some cold ones before he starts a typin. That's what I'm dooin, and its helpin me share the love and keep it real.

Ali G, is that you?

 

[AA717driver]

This is a "big-picture" issue and we're looking through a long, small pipe.

This is a life or death issue for smaller communities these days. Expensive air service is the same as no air service for most businesses. They will look at other locations for their offices and bypass markets that just don't warrant the long drive or the expensive ticket.

Once a city like ICT starts losing businesses it is a cascading effect as support businesses leave, the larger companies start looking at the effeciency of doing business in that community.

Subsidies are a cost of doing business for many cities. Look at STL. They subsidized TWA for several years to maintain the hub and its variety of destinations. Now STL has few non-stops to cities other than hubs of the airlines that serve it. Kansas City hit the skids when TWA pulled its hub out in the early '80's. They are recovering but it took a long time.

If you were on a city council somewhere would you want to take a chance on losing business by saving a few bucks?TC