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Delta's Cuts Cost Region

Posted on: Friday, 7 October 2005, 06:01 CDT

By Bob Driehaus

The 26 percent cut in Delta Air Lines' flights, scheduled to take effect in December, will have a negative impact of $350 million on Greater Cincinnati's economy, according to the airport's forecast.

William T. Robinson, chairman of the Kenton County Airport Board, explained the impact to the Hamilton County Commission at a downtown meeting Wednesday.

The airport's contribution to the local economy was estimated in a UC study to be $4.5 billion in 2003.

George Vredeveld, director of the Greater Cincinnati Center for Economic Education at UC, led the study, which was completed in May. It found each visitor to Greater Cincinnati has a $1,000 impact on the local economy.

Combined with the loss of jobs and other secondary effects, the service cuts will reduce the airport's impact on the economy by $350 million, Vredeveld estimated for the airport.

Ted Bushelman, airport spokesman, did not know on Wednesday how many jobs would be lost as a result of the service cuts. Vredeveld was out of town and could not be reached for comment.

The economic impact was part of a presentation made by Robinson to the Hamilton County commission on Wednesday.

Conciliatory commissioners and Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport officials pledged mutual cooperation but made no headway to smooth over fundamental differences about their visions for the future of the airport.

Commissioner Todd Portune said after the meeting that he will continue to push the Kenton County Airport Board, which governs the airport, to change its makeup to include voting members selected by Ohioans.

The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky airport is overseen by the Kenton County Airport Board. It consists of seven voting members and up to 11 advisory members who participate in committee and full board meetings.

The Kenton judge-executive appoints 13 members -- six who vote and seven who do not.

Boone County's judge-executive appoints the other voting member.

The Kentucky governor, the Campbell County judge-executive, the mayor of Cincinnati and the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners each appoint a non-voting member.

Robinson pointed out to the county commission that even the advisory board members get to vote at committee meetings and that the seven voting members of the full board, which has final say, nearly always follow the committee recommendations.Portune and County Auditor Dusty Rhodes have led a county effort to assert more influence over the airport's future, beginning with jet noise issues. The pair, in cooperation with Sandy Fidell, a Los Angeles airport noise consultant, have expressed grave concern that Delta Air Lines will not be able or willing to sustain its hub at the airport.

They want the airport board to be proactive in planning for life without the hub, including efforts to gain control of gates in Terminal 3 from Delta to lure low-cost carriers.

Portune and Rhodes invited airport staff and board members to appear before the county commission to answer concerns about the airport's financial well-being and plans for the future in light of Delta's bankruptcy and announced 26 percent service cuts, which take effect in December.

Robinson and Barb Schempf, who handles noise abatement for the airport, laid out the recent history of the airport and the state of service after Delta makes its cuts.

The airport board continues to plan for a future that includes Delta's hub and more long-term growth.

Even after Delta makes its cuts in December, Robinson said, the airport will offer far more service than any other airport in Ohio, Kentucky or Indiana.

Beginning in December, the airport will offer 500 daily departures, including non-stop service to 120 cities -- triple the non-stop cities serviced by the Columbus, Dayton, Indianapolis, Lexington and Louisville airports combined, Robinson said.

"This level of service puts Cincinnati in a whole different league than all the cities surrounding us," Robinson told the county commission.

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky airport planned to dedicate its third north-south runway at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at noon today with the expectation that long-term growth will be the norm.

Airport officials are siding with analysts who express confidence that Delta will retain its Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky airport as its second-largest hub.

Text of fax box follows:

Still a player

The airport, after the Delta service cuts, will still have more non-stop cities serviced than the Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle and Orlando airports, said William T. Robinson, chairman of the Airport Board.

Source: Cincinnati Post

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