Consumer Group Adds GF to List of Airports Likely to Lose Service; Dorgan Denies Claim

By Ryan Schuster, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.

Jun. 26–Grand Forks International Airport is included on a list of airports considered by a consumer advocacy group among the most likely to lose flights.

But the announcement of airports the group said could be in danger of losing air service quickly drew the ire of local and airline officials and industry observers.

A study released Wednesday by the Business Travel Coalition advocacy group listed Grand Forks among 100 regional airports in the nation most likely to lose some or all air service as a result of high fuel prices and the possibility of one or more major airlines going under.

“This appears to be an irresponsible rumor spread by a self-promotional press release from an obscure, out-of-state company,” U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., wrote in a prepared statement.

Dorgan said he met with Northwest Airlines CEO Doug Steenland on Tuesday and talked with Northwest officials Wednesday and was assured that the airline plans to continue scheduled air service to North Dakota’s commercial airports, including Grand Forks, uninterrupted.

Fargo, Bismarck, Minot, Duluth, Sioux Falls, S.D., and Rapid City, S.D., also made the list of 100 regional airports the group claims are at risk of seeing reductions in air service.

The 100 regional airports and 50 larger airports the group says are at risk were not ranked.

The criteria included in the listing of at-risk airports included proximity to airports offering low-cost carrier service, previous fluctuations in air service, cities with a heavy mix of leisure travel, airports served by regional jets and struggling feeder carriers.

In a statement released by Northwest, the carrier called the report “wild, unfounded speculation” and “an egregious attempt to scare small communities into thinking they will lose service” and said it is “solely based on one person’s opinion, not on actual schedules published by the airlines.”

Northwest also said any reductions in service are merely a result of high oil prices, not the airlines’ proposed merger with Delta, which it says will create a single stronger carrier more likely to maintain service to smaller communities.

Northwest is the only commercial carrier to service Grand Forks, with five round-trip flights a day to and from Minneapolis. Some of those flights are operated by Mesaba Airlines and Pinnacle Airlines.

Steve Johnson, executive director of the Grand Forks Regional Airport Authority, which owns and operates the airport, said he is not worried and

doesn’t put much stock in the report. Johnson said he hasn’t received any indication from Northwest Airlines or Delta about the carriers’ plans for future air service, which he said is normal.

A press release on the report sent to media outlets across the country claims that high fuel prices will cause one or more major U.S. airlines to “cease operations,” while other airlines “retrench,” creating a ripple effect that will lead to losses or reductions in service for many smaller airports and “catastrophic effects on the economy.”

The press release urges citizens to contact their elected representatives in Washington, and urge them to consider policy changes to avert the threat.

“The fuel crisis is having an impact beyond the gas pump and is now likely to cause irreparable harm to businesses large and small through a significant reduction in air service,” said Chairman Kevin Mitchell of the Radnor, Pa.-based Business Travel Coalition, in the press release.

Attempts to reach Mitchell for comment Wednesday afternoon were unsuccessful.

Aviation consultant Michael Boyd, who has worked with Grand Forks airport officials in the past, called the report “guesswork” and “irresponsible.”

Boyd, president of The Boyd Group of Evergreen, Colo., said Northwest is doing well in Grand Forks and is unlikely to scale back service here.

Boyd said he didn’t disagree that the airline industry is in trouble, but said the report did not examine the financial performance of airlines’ routes at the airports and took issue with its research.

“This was a broadcast e-mail with absolutely no data behind it,” Boyd said. “It was just a broadcast press release to communities saying, ‘You are going to lose air service.’ “

Schuster covers business. Reach him at (701) 780-1107; (800) 477-6572, ext. 107; or send e-mail to rschuster@gfherald.com. Read Schuster’s blog at www.areavoices.com/bizbuzz.

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