Central Oregon Leaders Say Air Traffic Must Increase for Airlines to Remain
By Andrew Moore, The Bulletin, Bend, Ore.
Jun. 30–With the fate of commercial air service looking more dire by the day due to rising fuel costs, local business leaders say Central Oregonians need to fill the flights they have if they want to ensure continued service at Redmond Airport.
“If you don’t use it, you will lose it,” said Roger Lee, executive director of Economic Development for Central Oregon, a nonprofit that works to recruit and retain businesses in the region.
Commercial air service at Redmond Airport is not currently in jeopardy, but the airport has seen some reductions as airlines cut expenses in response to soaring jet fuel costs. Horizon on June 24 cut one of its two flights to Los Angeles and plans to trim one flight to Seattle and one to Portland in August.
Horizon also is eliminating its smaller, 37-seat turboprop planes in favor of larger, more fuel-efficient ones. The airline plans to complete its switch to the 76-seat Bombardier Q400 planes by October.
The cost-saving moves are a necessity, said Kevin Mitchell, executive director of the Business Travel Coalition, a Radnor, Pa.-based advocacy group. The BTC released a study last week saying regional airports across the country — including Redmond Airport — are at risk of losing some or all of their air service unless fuel costs decrease. Mitchell also shared his study in testimony with the House of Representatives’ Small Business Committee on Thursday.
Reached by The Bulletin, Mitchell said the federal government knows the danger rising fuel costs pose to the long-term viability of the nation’s airlines but isn’t sure how to address the problem. Mitchell said a consensus has yet to be reached on the cause of the fuel run-up — whether it’s speculation or demand — and policies aren’t likely to change or be enacted until the picture becomes more clear.
People need to pressure their lawmakers in Washington to step up their investigations into the issue because the nation’s economy hangs in the balance, Mitchell said.
“Seventy-five percent of business travel is generated by small and midsize enterprises, many in midsize communities, and they are the job-growth engine of the whole country. So, what’s important is to have connectivity through their airport to business centers around the world — and where it erodes or goes away, then the business suffers, and the local economy suffers and, ultimately, the country,” Mitchell said.
In a separate study released earlier this month, Mitchell wrote that if the price of oil were to stay above $130 a barrel, the nation’s major airlines would likely have to file for bankruptcy or dissolve by the end of the year or early 2009. Oil closed Friday at $140.21 per barrel.
Chris Piper, a Bend resident who works as a national account manager for Bensussen Deutsch & Associates Inc., a Seattle-based brand merchandise agency, said commercial air travel is critical to his job. Piper moved to Bend partly because of Central Oregon’s air service.
“Without it, I couldn’t be as efficient,” Piper said. “Having that necessary client contact, it’s very imperative.”
Piper said he’s already troubled by the rising costs of flying, including surcharges on checked baggage, that are becoming more prevalent.
An economic lifeline Commercial air service at Redmond Airport has grown considerably over the past decade, especially with the addition in the last few years of direct service to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and a weekly flight to Denver in the summer. Passenger counts this year are more than double what they were in 1998, according to the airport. To handle the increased traffic, the airport is undergoing a $40 million renovation to expand its terminal nearly sixfold.
EDCO’s Lee and Alana Audette, president and CEO of the Central Oregon Visitors Association, both say keeping and adding commercial air service to Redmond Airport is one of their top priorities. They meet regularly with the airlines to nurture those relationships and plan to hold separate meetings with them this week.
“Commercial air service is one of three or four things that are really critical to continue the business growth we’ve had,” Lee said. “It’s kind of one of those base things that if you don’t have [it], it’s going to be a struggle to grow the economy.”
Matthew Bowler, a partner with The Mandala Agency, a Bend-based creative services firm, agreed that commercial air service is vital to Central Or- egon’s economy and his company.
However, Bowler said his firm is using more video conferencing technology to eliminate unnecessary travel. Also, when it can, the firm flies to regional destinations in a Cessna 350 airplane.
Bowler, whose firm helps market the planes manufactured at Cessna’s plant in Bend, said that as a result of the ongoing troubles in the commercial airline sector, general aviation is taking off. Cessna and Epic Air, another Bend airplane maker, have reported strong sales in the past year.
“If commercial travel becomes more and more onerous, and they start to take flights away, the solution of private aviation becomes more viable,” Bowler said.
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