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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-07-25 Airport Committee Minutes • AIRPORT COIVIlVIlTTEE MEETING CITY HALL CONFERENCE ROOM—THIRD FLOOR � TITESDAY,JiJLY 25,2000 Present: Gerry Palmer, Chair Airport Committee , Dan Tremble,Member Michael Aube,Mayor Patricia Blanchette, Council Ed Barrett,City Manager Bob Ziegelaar,Airport Director Rebecca Hupp,Assistant Airport Director Jeff Russell,Airport Marketing Director Donna Fichtner, CVB Items were discussed as per published agenda. Item 1: Marketing Discussion. The Airport Director briefed the Committee about the continuing surge of bookings on PanAm flights,following the Airport's advertising campaign in Pittsburgh and Orlando. The USAirways Philadelphia flights are doing very well,with load factors in the 80%range and the airline has decided to continue the flights through the winter season. The LaGuazdia flight is doing well but is still scheduled to be discontinued for the winter season. The American Eagle flight to LaGuardia is expected to continue. Comair has decided to discontinue one daily flight for the winter season, as of September 1�`. Councilor Rohman asked that Airport • staff prepare a small map showing all of the cunent airline routes from Bangor. 7eff Russell promised to e-mail the same. In response to a question from Councilor Blanchette about Philadelphia service,the Airport Director explained that the Boston airport is a primary cause of customer complaints. As a result the Airport is advocating the use of any and all altematives routing bypassing Boston, including those via Philadelphia. Jeff Russell explained that PanAm's booking system is now easily accessed via the Internet but that one or two local agents still avoid using the airline for reasons that are unclear.He expects market demand to resolve this situation sooner rather than later. Councilor Palmer suggested that PanAm may want to take local agents on a flight to demonstrate the quality of the service. Jeff Russell indicated that this is in fact being planned. Councilor Palmer also asked about any plans to host PanAm in Washington, along with the Congressional delegation. Bob Ziegelaar responded that this can be coordinated with Lee Umphries,the City's Public Affairs Agent. Further discussion centered around ski and golf packaging efforts. Item 2: Business Overview. The Airport Director reviewed the June traffic statistics,which still demonstrate that capacity is the reason for the reduced traffic levels. All flights are performing very well,with high load factors.The reduced availability of total seats is the main reason for the appro�umately 10%year-to-year reduction. Business Express/American Eagle is showing a reduced load factor as a consequence of the increased competition from the other carriers offering routes that tend to by-pass Boston. Further discussion topics included the upcoming runway project, the ongoing relationship with the Air National Guard and the traffic rights for Cuba flights. Councilor Tremble requested that the Airport staff prepare an organiza- tional chart for the Committee, reflecting the addition of the Assistant Airport Director. �