Negotiating becoming key for Wyoming airports

By Tom Lacock, Cowboy State Free Press Correspondent

CASPER–Running an airport in Wyoming is becoming more than just landing fees and security hirings–negotiation skills are now becoming just as important as Wyoming airports lobby the airlines serving their communities for more competitive fares.

While the number of passengers flying Wyoming airports is down statewide, two local airports either gained passengers or saw their numbers stay virtually the same. Over the past year the Cody Airport was the state’s only airport to see an upswing in air travel (up 2.5 percent), while Casper saw just a slight drop. Those numbers come despite the fact each airport saw an airline either cut flights or leave the market

“Cody is one of those scenarios where we aren’t quite sure what is taking place there,” said Amber Schlabs of the WYDOT aeronautics division. “It is one of those markets where there are strong business and leisure markets. We are going to hopefully implement a survey to figure out where they are going and reasons for their travel.”

Park County Travel Council Director Claudia Wade said the numbers were a reaction to a market that was already down.

“Our boardings were at rock bottom in 2008 – and a few more passengers in 2009 really make a difference,” Wade said. “We practically had no where to go but up.”

According to a report by the Wyoming Department of Transportation, Cheyenne’s passenger load was down 25 percent, while Laramie dropped 21 percent. Riverton (15.9 percent), Rock Springs (19.5 percent), Sheridan (19.9 percent) and Jackson (6.9 percent) all saw drops of their own.

Natrona County International Airport Manager Glenn Januska said his airport saw a slight drop. He added that the decrease in passenger traffic in the state was part of a larger nationwide trend.

“We have been vacillating a little bit where one month we are up slightly, then down slightly the next month. We ended up the year 1.38 percent down compared to 2008,” Januska said. “The rest of the country was down seven or 8 percent. The state as a whole was down 7.6 percent. The rest of the state is about where the country is. We were pretty happy to just be down less than 1.5 percent. I think if you were to ask me this time next year, I would tell you I would be pretty happy to stay consistent with our 2009 numbers.”

Januska said 76,280 people flew out of the Casper airport and during his better than three years as airport manager, the load factor  – or percentage of seats occupied on planes sent out of Casper – is 55 to 60 percent. However, he added that the number increased to nearly 75 percent after his department was able to negotiate lower prices for passengers flying out of Casper late this summer.

“We have to make our case to the airlines and tell them we are losing out to other markets and ask them to bring the prices back down,” Januska said. “We were successful this summer and we saw a lot more passengers flying out of Casper. However, over a 3, 4, or 6 month period they begin to creep up again, so we are always working with the airlines to try to keep it affordable.”

Wade said the Yellowstone Regional Airport has also tried to negotiate prices, citing the discounts offered by neighboring Billings, Mont.

“We lose most of our boardings to Billings because it is served by more airlines that offer deeper discounts,” Wade said. “In 2009, we have been somewhat successful in convincing our airlines (SkyWest and United) to match the fares going out of Billings. They have complied to some extend – that has made a big difference. I think because of the lower fares, we had more people flying..period.”

While both Cody and Casper’s numbers are positive, Cody has fewer seats available to sell in 2010 than it did in 2009, because United went to just one mid-day flight per day into Cody and SkyWest is using smaller planes than in 2008. Northwest Airlines pulled out of the Casper market and their return – either seasonably or permanently – is unknown.

Nick Wangler is a consultant who works with the State of Wyoming to help them track flight numbers, passenger numbers, as well as negotiate deals with the airlines in flying into Wyoming as well as those thinking of doing business in the Cowboy State. Wangler said the state is seeing roughly 50 percent leakage of tickets bought in Wyoming going to out-of-state airports.

“One of the things we’ve been working on is coming up with ways to attempt to change that and first and foremost in changing that is getting pricing on par with, predominantly Denver,” Wangler said. “They’ve (airlines) been open to talk about it, getting them to change has been more challenging.”

Wangler said the sales pitch is becoming easier with more data collected. He pointed out a price fare reduction with Delta that came in Gillette after the argument was made that 50 percent of the passengers buying tickets from Gillette were flying out of Rapid City. However, 30 percent of the passengers leaving Gillette for Rapid City were buying tickets with other airlines than Delta.

While the numbers are slightly down for the Casper airport, which will begin running entirely jet service in the coming months, there are some positives. Januska said parking lot revenue is up by about 25 percent over a year ago and he credits that to the addition of Allegiant Airlines, which flies from Casper to Las Vegas.

“People are taking advantage of opportunities to fly to Las Vegas,” Januska said. “The hotel and entertainment market in Vegas is still down and hotel room rates are about half of what they were the year before. People are finding good deals and if they are able to fly, we are seeing people from around the state are driving to Casper to take the advantage of the Allegiant opportunities.”