Airline guru talks about BIA’s future More connectivity eyed as boost to fliers’ options

BANGOR – In order for Bangor International Airport to attract major airline carriers with low fares, the Bangor area’s population would have to grow significantly, an airline expert said Wednesday.

“Why does Portland get more service? Simply put, it’s almost four times the size of the Bangor market. Portland can support larger aircrafts, which means more discount seats,” said Michael Boyd, president of The Boyd Group, an aviation consulting and forecasting firm based in Evergreen, Colo.

Boyd, who was hired by BIA, spoke Wednesday at a luncheon hosted by the airport at the Four Points Sheraton hotel. He later addressed the Bangor City Council’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

At the luncheon, Boyd told the 18-member audience of travel agents, BIA representatives and local business leaders that 200,000 passengers boarded airplanes in Bangor last year, while Portland had about 790,000.

He said that until BIA has more passengers, customers must expect to pay more for the convenience of flying out of Bangor. Comparing BIA fares to lower ones in Portland and Manchester, N.H., and blaming BIA’s staff is simply not fair, Boyd said.

The airline industry is in a nationwide flux, he said. Rising oil prices are causing airlines to cut back on their fleets of small jets, and airlines are not adding new airplanes to their fleets beyond replacements.

All major airlines are pruning “hub spoke routes” – or travel to small, outlying destinations – that are no longer meeting necessary revenue goals, according to Boyd.

Communities like Bangor are under review, but BIA is not in danger of having to close, he said. The airport sees a consistent demand from the local population, there are no major alternative airports within reasonable driving distance, and seasonal travel is leveling out, he said.

Boyd said airline service should be viewed as an economic generator, rather than a means to travel for work and pleasure.

“Nonstop, low-fare service to Florida is great. But it isn’t the whole picture,” Boyd said. “The purpose is to get people and business into Bangor … to increase connectivity to the rest of the nation and the world.”

Rodney McKay, director of community and economic development for the city of Bangor, agreed.

“Mike’s right on. You need air transportation to attract businesses. With firms with international ties, it’s very important that they can get in and out of Bangor,” McKay said, citing as examples the University of Maine, The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor and Sewall Co. in Old Town.

Increasing connectivity is a primary concern of the airport, Boyd said, indicating that more than 80 percent of travelers who depart from BIA will connect at least once before reaching their final destination. Boyd advised that BIA should try to increase the investment of existing carriers by encouraging them to add larger aircraft and more destinations.

In the next six to eight weeks, Delta Air Lines probably will cut many of its unprofitable regional jet markets, Boyd said. Big Sky Airlines, a Delta connection, discontinued service from BIA last month, but Delta immediately picked up the Bangor-to-Boston route with Comair 50-seat jets. Delta has recognized BIA’s customer market and Boyd does not expect any of the cuts to affect Bangor, he said.

In 2008, BIA customers could see increased options in the form of larger aircraft flying to existing destinations, Boyd said. Northwest Airlines could use 70-seat jets to fly its Detroit route, while Continental Airlines possibly could move 75-seat turboprop planes into BIA, he said.

In its attempt to gain connectivity, BIA could try to add service to Chicago, but with Federal Aviation Administration regulations, airlines are allowed only a select number of landings at O’Hare International Airport. Airlines would be unwilling to use one of those landings for a plane originating from Bangor if a larger plane carrying more people – and that was more profitable – could take advantage of it, Boyd said.

The niche leisure service on Allegiant Air to Orlando, Fla., could expand to include a seasonal, nonstop flight to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., but that may not come to fruition in 2008, he said.

Area fliers have desired low-cost service from Bangor for years, but the city’s population falls short of many low-cost carriers’ thresholds, Boyd said. BIA officials are in constant contact with JetBlue, and that could eventually pay off, Boyd said, but airlines like AirTran and Southwest Airlines will never come to Bangor. In order to move into a new market, Southwest requires that at least 400,000 annual passengers use the service.

“Santa may have just come to town, but these guys won’t,” Boyd said referring to Southwest.

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