Heheheheheheheheh
How you like d'em apples!
"Thursday March 13, 2008
High fuel prices may affect flights at Yeager Airport
by The Associated Press
Yeager Airport might lose some of its daily flights because of high fuel prices, but the remaining planes would probably be bigger.
According to a report issued by the Charleston airport's marketing consultant, The Boyd Group of Evergreen Colo., the nation's fleet of about 1,600 regional jets will drop by more than 50 percent in the next nine years.
Most of the 35- to 50-passenger aircraft are leased to airlines under cost-plus contracts, which are "now becoming major cash drains" because of record high operating costs, according to the report, which was forwarded to airport board members earlier this week.
With jet fuel now headed over the $3 a gallon mark, the 50 percent drop in regional jet numbers Boyd projected by 2017 "may now be conservative," according to the report.
Yeager Airport Director Rick Atkinson, who spoke with Michael Boyd, president of The Boyd Group, on Wednesday, said the consultant doesn't predict "any immediate shocks for us in our schedule in this round, but that doesn't mean there won't be if the fuel situation persists."
Atkinson said Yeager, which makes use of regional jets on many of its flights, generates enough international passengers, seen by airlines as top revenue producers, to help prevent any immediate cutbacks in flights. "It's one of the saving graces we have," he said.
But if crude oil prices remain at more than $100 a barrel for a protracted period or rise significantly, "we could be seeing a change in the equipment used here," Atkinson said.
Yeager's Philadelphia service, which had been provided on regional jets, has returned to turboprops, which have half the operating costs of regional jets, while flight times remain about the same on shorter routes, Atkinson said.
More flights could switch to turboprops if the fuel trend remains a fact of life, he said.
Regional jet manufacturers are also beginning to build fuel-efficient 80- to 120-passenger aircraft, which could eventually replace some of the flights now served by smaller regional jets.
"When Pittsburgh used to be a hub airport, we had three DC-9 flights a day going there," Atkinson said. "Later, we had five or six regional jet flights going to Pittsburgh. If fuel prices stay high, we could see our five or six daily flights to Charlotte reduced to maybe three flights - but using bigger aircraft. We might lose some frequency, but we could actually gain a few seats. It's just more cost-effective to run a larger plane."
High fuel prices killed plans to launch nonstop service to Las Vegas earlier this year, Atkinson said. But new Southern Skyways service starting in May to Orlando, Fla., using a 140-seat Boeing 737, should provide the efficiency needed to make the seasonal service viable, he said."
Uh oh, WSurf, Piedmont's better be careful. Based on your theory, they may have to furlough by summer. If you're senior enough you'll be ok in the Dash, turboprops are good. Just goes to show you, do enough research and you can find someone to support any "theory". NOBODY knows until it happens, you idiot!