Study: 8 airports in danger of losing service

NEW ORLEANS – As the airline industry tries to deal with sky-high fuel prices by cutting back on capacity, six Louisiana airports and two in Mississippi are on a list of airports most likely to lose flights, a business travel advocacy group says.

A list of 150 airports that Business Travel Coalition recently identified as at risk for losing flights includes Baton Rouge Metro, Alexandria International, Lafayette Regional, Lake Charles Regional, Monroe Regional and Shreveport Regional.

In Mississippi, Jackson-Evers International and Gulfport-Biloxi International were at risk, BTC said.

BTC said airports served by regional jets and feeder carriers that fly passengers from smaller locations to major hubs were among the most likely to lose service.

In the face of current fuel prices, regional jets have become the least profitable flights for airlines and feeder carriers to operate, the study said. Several feeder carriers are renegotiating contracts, facing spinoffs by their mainline carriers or face being dropped completely.

"Given current economic conditions, those cities served by these carriers may be more likely impacted," the study said.

Airports served by both Northwest Airlines Corp. and Delta Air Lines Inc., which have agreed to join, also are more likely to lose service if the deal goes through, the study said.

However, Delta, in a statement, said the deal "will create a more durable airline with a greater likelihood of maintaining service to small communities than either standalone."

At Jackson-Evers, which handles about 40 flights a day, spokeswoman Bonnie Wilson questioned BTC's rating.

"We aren't 100 percent sure where that came from," Wilson said. "In our conversations with our carriers we get a little different picture."

Bill Cooksey, marketing manager at Shreveport Regional and president of Louisiana Airport Managers & Associates, was sharply critical of the ratings. He said the 150 airports were lumped into one category without specific research on each market.

"Granted, major changes are occurring in most cities in the United States and some are losing service, but many like Shreveport are instead seeing shifts in the aircraft used or the routes," Cooksey said in a letter to LAMA members.

The airport list was included in a report by BTC warning that the airline industry's financial problems could result in some carrier liquidations and major economic disruptions.

For example, the group said the failure of one large airline would disrupt the travel of up to 300,000 passengers a day — most of which could not be absorbed by other carriers that have cut back capacity.

Although it's not clear if cutbacks would affect work forces at airports, BTC said the failure of one airline would result in immediate job losses of 30,000 to 75,000.

One of the most serious impacts of airline failures would be on the tourism industry, BTC said. Although the New Orleans International Airport is not on the BTC list, the city is highly dependent upon casual tourists and convention-goers flying in.

In a study released in May, the University of New Orleans warned that the region's tourism industry — still trying to recover from Hurricane Katrina — may be slowed this year after hosting 7.1 million visitors in 2007, compared with 3.7 million in 2006.

The Gulfport-Biloxi airport has enjoyed growth because of the Gulf Coast casino industry. However, in recent months, the entire casino industry has seen a slowdown because of national economic conditions.