Article originally posted by The (Elizabethtown) News-Enterprise directed to: http://www.thenewsenterprise.com/content/may-17-editorial-innovative-airline-incentive

 

 

May 17 editorial: Innovative airline incentive

By The Staff

 

Monday, May 18, 2009 at 7:00 pm

If there is any reward for creative thinking, the Elizabethtown Airport Board’s efforts to bring commuter air service to this growing community and its 23 neighboring counties surely will succeed.

Faced with the grim prospect of depending on government, corporate or individual altruism —  at a time of declining revenues and profits — to come up with financial incentives to persuade a commuter airline to do business here, the board and consultant Luke B. Schmidt developed what seems to be a win-win-win solution. Win for the community, win for an airline, win for local businesses, organizations and individuals who depend on air travel.

Setting up service to provide the hoped-for minimum of three outbound, three inbound flights daily would be a costly proposition for an airline. Of course they, too, are suffering financially these days. To help offset those start-up costs for one of the three airlines considering connecting Elizabethtown with larger hubs, the airport board is asking air travel users to pledge money to the Partnership for Central Kentucky Airline Service Bank.

The first airline to offer service would use those contributions, possibly as much as $2 million, to take the necessary steps to begin restoring commuter air service to this area. Contributors would get their money back through ticket reimbursements as they use the service.

Time is short to complete negotiations to land a regional airline that is a dependable operation affiliated with a major carrier. The campaign to finance the Travel Bank is designed to last three months. By then, it should be known whether the lithium-ion battery research and manufacturing campus backed by a coalition of at least 50 companies will be locating here. Pressure already is building on the community from anticipated growth to be completed at Fort Knox by 2012, especially the Human Resources Command.

The Army was the single largest user of commercial air line service in this region, even before the expected 7,600 new positions were assigned to Fort Knox. The battery facility will add significantly to that. A potential for 350,214 passenger trips was estimated before the NATTbatt potential was revealed. Location of the multi-use facility here will be a huge enticement to a commuter airline, just as the airline will be a big attraction to any business considering locating here.

The Travel Bank is the kind of innovative thinking that should be rewarded, but its success really will depend upon the ability of local businesses and organizations to see beyond their immediate circumstances to visualize the investment opportunities and take advantage of them. They will not have to put up the money right away.

Just think: No more 4 a.m. alarms to make an early morning flight in Louisville. No more anxious, pre-dawn races against the clock up Interstate 65. And no more dreading the parking lot exit booth.

– This editorial represents a consensus of The News-Enterprise editorial board.