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Home My WebLink About2004-01-20 Business and Economic Development Committee Minutes � � BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DEVEI.OPMENT COMMITTEE � TUESDAY,3anuary 20, 2t}04 Meeting Minutes � Councilors Attending: Gerry Palmer, John Cashwell, Peter D'Errico, Frank � Farrington, Richard Greene StafF Attending: Ed Barrett, Rebecca Hupp, �eff Russell � Others Attending: Adrian Fox, Peter Ramsey � The meetin convened at 5:00 .m. 9 P �+ 1. Consent Agenda a. Lease Agreement with Hughes L.umber, Inc. — 39 Florida Avenue � b. AAA Northern New England Lease Amendment— BIA Commerc�al/Industrial Park The Committee appraved the consent agenda. �' 2. Airport Marketing Pragram — Review and Discussion � Adrian Fax of BFT International presented the marketing program far Bangor International Airport. � Palmer asked about the Airport's plan to offer low cost fares. Russell said that the Airport wili be making a presentation to Spirit Airlines, a company which offers fiights to Fiorida. Russeli said that every community that has attempted to start �' their own airiine ends up in litigatian and fails. He said that he has investigated the possibility of charter flights and discussed the various detaiis of such an endeavor, noting that only one agent expressed an interest. Russe!! said that we are gaing to � try to our best with a good niche economically sustainable, economically functioning low fare carrier. He said that we learned from Pan Am that under the right � circumstances you can make money, and that we need to make sure that the ne�ct carrier we have is able to make money through a Gambination of correct air �COC10f111CSr smart advertising and aggressive promotion. � Hupp discussed recentiy awarded grants to other communities who have not been successful in their marketing program. She said that the airline industry is very high � cost and not usualiy successfui in marketing for municipalities. Palmer wanted to know when our law cost carrier wauld be available for a ribbon cutting ceremony. � ' � � . ' Hupp said we are pursuing this, however, it does not mean that the airline is going to commit to Bangor immediately. The lapse time is usualiy 6 months. � Cashwell wanted to know the politics and pressure for low cost carriers competing against established carriers. Hupp said that this is a balancing act for domestic � carriers. When we bring in more carriers, the market passenger numbers increase in general. She said that every airline will tell you that they wish that they were the only carrier servicing your airport. Hupp said that the Airport does not offer � . premiums to one airline over the other, that they are consistent. Hupp discussed cargo operations. She noted that in order for something to be i shipped by air it must be one of two things a perishable product or a very expensive product. Bangor faces issues with cargo operations, as Maine presently does not � produce any commodity in enough volume to sustain regularly scheduled cargo flights. She noted that seafood is a possibility, however, we need to find the right mix and niche. She said that we have transit cargo for large freighters carrying � specialized equipment abroad. Palmer asked about laboratory rats and mice as potential cargo. Hupp said that we ' have not been able to reach an agreement, because Jackson Laboratory prefers trucking. Palmer encouraged Hupp to pursue the use of air to transport laboratory animals and noted that Jackson Lab was not the only company to use them. � Greene wanted to know if passenger traffic and cargo were mutually exclusive. Hupp said that in our market they are mutually exclusive. In Boston, they are � combined, due to the international flights, which are cheaper. Palmer wanted to know how we were doing with transporting deceased/bodies. � Hupp said that this is still a challenge. Hupp said that international technical traffic has been a significant part of the i airport's operations. The industry has changed. With increased security requirements the procedure is much more complicated. This impacts our ability to � attract this type of traffic. D'Errico noted that the industry is cyclic. He said that we enjoy the geographical � location, a fire department capable of handling any aircraft at the airport, and hopes that we do not succumb to the cyclical nature of the industry. Hupp said that we attend an annual meetin of the International Association of Air � 9 Charter Carriers meeting. She said that this gives us an opportunity to see all of our potential customers and contacts. D'Errico asked to be included in the next � meeting. . ' � � � / Cashwell wanted to know the status of Pan Am's finances and what the City is doing to collect. Hupp said that we haven't seen much change since October, and Pan Am owes us about $250,000. Hupp said that we are in continuous discussions with � them and have discussed collections with the Legal Department. Hupp said that general aviation traffic has increased over the last decade. This has ' been offset by a decrease in international aviation traffic. We will continue to market to magazines, personally greeting incoming aircraft, and by attending aviation conferences. ' Palmer asked Peter Ramse a local travel a ent and WABI-TV consultant, to come Y, 9 forward and give his viewpoint on Bangor International Airport's services. Ramsey � said that the passenger loads are counted at the wrong time of the year as in summer the counts are higher versus in the winter. He said that agents try to find � the most accommodating flights for passengers. He said that out of Manchester they could generally get people to fly out at 11 am. If the travel party is two people or less, generally agents can convince them to fly out of Bangor. A family of four is , a tough sell with a $100-$150 per person difference in fare. He said that Bangor could do a lot more with groups in this market if the airlines would relinquish more seats. Ramsey noted that he has a group of 100 people leaving from Bangor, � however most are leaving from Portland and traveling by bus to get there, because Bangor only has 20 airline seats. He mentioned that charter flights would be great, and discussed a recent meeting he had with a charter company out of New � Hampshire. Ramsey said the best deal is often out of Bangor if it is packaged properly. He noted that the security in Bangor is far better than most airports across the country. He said that direct service routes would be great as well. � Palmer wanted to know Ramsey's thoughts on the low cost carrier that the City was trying to secure. Ramsey said that he has no problem with a low cost carrier; however, if passenger shares are reduced in the other airlines, they may think of � pulling out or cutting back. He said that the relationship with Delta, Northwest and Continental are code sharing on their flights, and one may drop out if their , passenger fares do not increase. Cashwell wanted to know why people are flying more. Ramsey said that people are � asking such questions as what size jet is the flight, because they like the 50's and the 70's, and that turbo props are pretly much out. Ramsey said that Portland is mostly jets, and the fares have increased. He noted that Southwest Airlines rates ` went up 54% this past year in some markets, due to the increased cost of operating. He discussed passenger taxes and fuel surcharges. Cashwell asked about the effect on the surcharge for travel agents and the internet. Ramsey said � that this is not a surcharge, it is a service fee. He noted that using the internet for tickets is not the best route to go due to the lack of security. � � � , Hupp said that results from using the internet are only as good as the information � that has been entered. She said that they recommend that travelers utilize a travei agent for travel plans. Palmer thanked Ramsey for coming in to talk about travel. � The Committee voted to go into executive session: , 3. Executive Session — Land Disposition — Exchange of Space in Grants Building for University of Maine System , Staff updated the Council on the status of discussions with the University of Maine � System regarding the proposed relocation of the Chancellor's Office to downtown Bangor. � ' � � � � , � i ! � � �