Airport Officials, Seekers of New International Flight Routes Unite at an Aviation Town Hall Meeting.
By Ted Jackovics, Tampa Tribune, Fla.
Aug. 28–TAMPA — Airport officials and about 100 local civic and business leaders and residents joined the same page Monday in writing a script to attract more international airline service.
The 2 1/2 hour session was the most recent aviation town hall meeting since March 2006, when several Hispanic civic leaders vented frustrations over the handful of international destinations Tampa International Airport serves with direct flights.
Speakers on Monday afternoon generated plentiful suggestions to support a pitch for more international flights after hearing Airport Director Louis Miller reiterate that airlines make decisions on creating new routes based on demand for service.
“We have to show the demand or create it,” Miller said. “And if we do, I promise it will be served.”
Monday’s meeting seemed to create a sense of cohesion missing from the recent community dialogue on air service.
“This is a lot different than last year,” said Jackie Rojas, regional director of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and past president of the Tampa Bay Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
“Trudy Carson [who was promoted earlier this year to become Tampa International's director of air service development] and Louis Miller are out in the community and they are really listening,” Rojas said.
Miller said the airport’s focus in the next five years would include creating service to Panama and/or Costa Rica, and Jamaica.
In addition the airport wants to restore service to Nassau; expand British Air’s London service from five days a week to seven at Gatwick Airport; establish flights to Frankfurt, Germany; expand seasonal markets like Montreal, Ottawa and Cancun to year-round service; and create nonstop flights to San Francisco.
Derek Lloyd, the president of the Caribbean-American Chamber of Commerce, set the tone by promising to put airport officials in touch with the consulate general of Jamaica, a step audience members applauded.
“The culture of doing business is different there,” Lloyd said in offering tangible assistance to airport and business leaders.
Tampa generally is not on airlines’ radar for international service, said St. Petersburg resident Tony Carreno, a former airline employee who did not want to name the company and appear to represent its interests.
After an exchange of information, Carreno and others agreed the Tampa Bay area could benefit from emphasizing its relatively high proportion of business travelers — 38 percent compared with 62 percent leisure — who don’t necessarily seek the cheapest fares.
“It’s a matter of marketing and image,” said Chris Steinocher of the Tampa Bay Partnership economic development group, who said people in other countries know Florida primarily for Mickey Mouse and “Miami Vice,” and not Tampa Bay. He was joined by other top Hillsborough and Pinellas County officials, who were candid in saying that while they loved the area, its attributes are not universally known.
Other suggestions included one by Juan Vega, a senior vice president with Carter ONCOR International commercial real estate’s Tampa office.
He said airport officials should encourage airlines to consider smaller regional jets on potential routes like Tampa-Mexico City that today do not generate enough passengers for a large jet.
“Today was a great start,” said Evelyn Hale, an activist involved with several Hispanic groups. She and others urged the workshops continue on a more frequent basis.
Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at tjackovics@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7817.
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