National Fears Don’t Weigh On Tampa Airport Officials

By Ted Jackovics, Tampa Tribune, Fla.

Jun. 13–TAMPA — For months, people getting ready to fly somewhere for summer vacations have faced news of impending doom and gloom.

Reports have predicted everything from too many people filling crowded airports to concerns about whether there will be enough air traffic controllers. And what are the chances of your flight being delayed by a thunderstorm somewhere?

Tampa travelers also face highway construction near the airport — although officials say there should be plenty of parking once you arrive.

But there also are some advantages to flying through Tampa International Airport. For one thing, air fares generally are about 10 percent cheaper this summer than a year ago, according to farecompare.com. And what often is forgotten amid the gloomy national reports: Summer travelers at Tampa’s airport will have missed the busiest travel season, which falls in the spring.

That means travelers who braved the peak spring visitor season, and have become accustomed to navigating through the airport’s parking, airline check-in and security network, should not find this summer more daunting than other busy periods, airport officials said.

Still, a lot of people want to get away from it all, and officials predict a busier summer than a year ago.

“We anticipate between 3 and 3 1/2 percent more passengers in June, July and August than last summer season, and last summer was pretty crowded,” said John Wheat, deputy executive director at Tampa International Airport.

Tampa International on Tuesday reported a 3 percent increase in departing passengers in May compared with a year ago. The 862,194 departing passengers set a record for the month of May and record travel is expected this summer.

The airport also is on the path to a record year for passengers, with expectations of topping the previous annual record of 9.5 million departing passengers for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2005. The numbers dipped slightly in fiscal year 2006 to 9.4 million.

Officials estimate about the same number of passengers arrive as depart, which means the airport handled an estimated 19 million in the fiscal year that ended in September 2005. The total could reach about 20 million this year.

Even higher percentage gains are expected at St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport and Sarasota Bradenton International Airport this year. That’s good news for airport officials tracking revenue, but the numbers that passengers are more likely to find interesting are those that cite a decline in air fares.

“Having looked at Tampa’s markets, with the exception of Los Angeles, most of the domestic prices this summer are lower than last summer,” said Graeme Wallace, of farecompare.com.

The travel Web site tracks historical prices in an effort to educate consumers as to what is a good deal. In addition, the site provides help in finding discounts, including a map function that shows the current best prices from a destination. As of Tuesday afternoon, flights from Tampa over the July Fourth holiday week offer a $119 round trip to Indianapolis on AirTran and Northwest Airlines and a $135 roundtrip to Chicago on American Airlines and US Airways.

This summer’s fares out of Tampa generally have averaged about 10 percent less than a year ago, about the same decrease enjoyed by most destinations nationwide that have low-cost carriers to keep competitors in line, Wallace said.

Although air fares have risen somewhat since March, several factors continue to play in favor of consumers this year, he said, including more stable fuel prices.

“What airlines have tried to do seven or eight times since January is raise fares $5 or $10 one way, and almost every single increase has failed, due to low cost carriers like Southwest Airlines refusing to match the increases,” Wallace said. “Southwest has become the 800-pound gorilla of air fare pricing. If they don’t want to raise fares, everyone has to roll prices back.”

But if all a passenger is interested in is avoiding a busy airport this summer, the ultimate local adventure is a Spirit Airlines flight from Tampa to San Juan, Puerto Rico, that leaves at 5:01 a.m. the first flight of the day, when Spirit passengers have the airport to themselves.

“I have four agents ready to rock and roll at 3 a.m.,” station manager Edward Garduno said. “Of course, the flights are going out full.”

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at (813) 259-7817 or tjackovics@tampatrib.com.

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