It’s hard to listen to the happy talk and the deep denial of Airport Authority officials in the face of decisions by Delta Airlines to cut flights here, but it’s even harder to listen when we’re booking a flight to Cincinnati in two weeks that will cost a ridiculous $730.
That’s why an email from a reader was particularly timely. Here’s what MSJ write:
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/oct/18/memphis-based-davidson-hotels-relocating-gateway-c/
Does anyone at Smart City care that we are loosing our hub and that in turn is driving commerce out of the city?
O.K., so here is a story line that if you could follow up on, it would be a big help to the Memphis community – Memphis International Airport is loosing passengers – our current trend lines are down a whopping 19% for June 2010 vs. June 2011 – and this is before the coming Delta September service cuts.
Many airports in our region are seeing increased or stagnant traffic patterns, but even looking at other Delta hubs where significant flight reductions have taken place, i.e. Cincinnati, whichonly saw a 11% reduction in June traffic year over year.
Why is this important? Because Memphis International has little O/D (origination and destination) traffic – our lifeblood is connecting passengers to their finial destination. The airport collects passenger-landing fees each time a passenger lands or departs from the airport. Healthy connecting traffic supports the airports bottom line and feeds concessions and other revenue-generating enterprises at the airport.
Over the past year, several stories in The Commercial Appeal about Memphis Delta flight reductions have made the point that connecting passengers are making a conscious decision to connect through another Delta hub – in effect avoiding Memphis. On the surface, Memphis International has a compelling story to tell – a no hassle, on-time smaller facility that can get you to your connecting flight seamlessly.
My question is: why don’t we market that fact to the regions business and leisure travelers?
Additionally, several airports around the country are competing for passengers – for example – Raleigh just opened a non-airline affiliated club so that people who do not have a airline elite club membership can visit for a small one-time fee to access the web, get free drinks, snacks, etc. Atlanta, in partnership with Delta, just opened a kid’s space where kids will find games and other activities during their connections. Also, most of our peer airports have a USO club for military members and their families. But not Memphis. Cincinnati just started a frequent traveler club where loyalty to the shops / parking at the airport will be rewarded with free perks.
Yes, we are living in a difficult economic environment. That is the number one reason for service and passenger reductions at MEM. But, other airports are thinking outside of the box – being creative, marketing their product and thinking of ways to attract connecting travelers.
Using the economy as an excuse to do nothing would get the CEO of a corporation fired. Why don’t we expect more from the Memphis Airport Authority? Considering the fact that the airport bond rating was recently lowered, the call to action should be now.
Seven Things The Airport Commission and Chamber Should Do
1) Commission a study to determine if any significant traffic is flowing from the Memphis metro area to either Nashville or Little Rock. Sure, we all know of stories passengers who travel to those two cities to obtain lower fares but what’s the number? If the study concludes that significant passenger volume is traveling thru those cities then you have a case to ask Delta to lower local fares to drive additional traffic. Keep in mind CVG (Cincinnati) did this – they proved large numbers of passenger were going to other airports and Delta lowered CVG fares to attract that volume.
2) Call all hands on deck with the local business community to save the Delta hub – that means asking large corporations to book non-stop flights out of Memphis. The chamber should partner with Delta to ask that the premium for non-stop service not be so severe that passengers chose to connect. For example Delta often charges a $100.00 plus premium to fly non-stop to say Washington, DC from Memphis – often passenger originating in Memphis will opt to connect in ATL to save that $100.00.
3) Earlier this year the Chamber urged Delta to begin non-stop service to Mexico City. (Once a week Saturday only service that was poorly scheduled) To be a domestic hub Memphis must offer robust service to the West Coast of the USA. In the past few years Memphis has lost non-stop service to San Francisco and seasonal service to San Diego, and is loosing service to Seattle next year.
Today our hub offers three non-stop flight to LAX – the same number of non-stops Delta offers from non-hub New Orleans. Even the much-reduced CVG hub offers daily non-stops to SFO, SAN, SEA and LAX.
Adding service to these cities should be a priority for the chamber and Authority. Then asking for support from our local corporate base to support these flights should be important. Reach out to the Navy Mid-South Support Activity (they have 7500 employees at the base) many of who travel – do they use Delta as their preferred carrier? If not can Cong. Cohen help change that? In reality Memphis leaders never really tap into the Navy base as a source of development as other cities do.
4) Remember the Northwest hometown airline campaign? Well, it actually helped drive traffic at the airport. Can we ask Delta to help market Delta as our hometown airline again?
5) Be honest with the public – if flights are reduced don’t say ummm we think that might be seasonal (do they not listen to the Delta investor calls every quarter?) If a restaurant closes at the airport don’t let your quote in the newspaper be well people don’t like chains. The economy is tough- rally the city around the airport and its products.
6) News flash – our airport terminal looks dated, small town, drab, un- necessarily congested at peak times and there is no money to fix it. OK, so look for solutions – can color be introduced to make the airport look more modern? I don’t profess to have an answer but small, inexpensive changes can and should be made to lift the look and feel of the terminal.
7) Why is MEM the only airport I’ve seen in recent memory that has empty ad space – yes, your ad here signs are in the airport because the commission sells it own space? Why is Memphis the only airport I can find where that is the case? Also, if a local business is running an ad in the terminal year after year you may want to ask them to change the image? That advertising 101. Why does that matter? It contributes to the over all nothing ever changes here look and feel of the airport. Airports need vibrant, creative, modern looking ads that lift the space. Partner with FedEx to do a one of a kind ad that gets picked up in the media. Anything please but non-rev ad space and ads that are so old and tired no one even notices them anymore.
Memphis airport is among the UGliest and depressing I have ever traveled to or through ! save maybe Birmingham’s which is stupid to say the least
Has anyone traveled using the realatively tiny SW FL/Ft Myers airport ?? or even right up the road to Sarasota/Bradenton’s ?? yes I understand that it’s in Florida, but heck these 2 very small airports which are dwarfed by Tampa’s (a quite efficient, beautiful space I might add), still have a great presentation and fairly good flights to anywhere in the US and abroad it seems !
There is nothing appealing (visually or otherwise) about the layout and aesthetics of MEM – zip, nada, nothing. I have never been able to figure out that. In fact the whole area is depressing by comparison..nothing to decrease the hassle factor.
Plus, most of the workers at the airport act like morons – from the TSA aggents, to the counter staff for the various airlines, to the janitors – not to mention the pathetic negative attitudes of the servers. greeters, and various staff of the service industries represented at the airport.
Memphis has never ever figured out that outsiders, tranplants, future relo’s, future businesses, etc etc, do in fact JUDGE Memphis as a whole by the IMAGES presented at the damn AIRPORT…yes, people DO make those negative judgments, and rightly so !
I’ve seen hospital/ER waiting rooms with more pride and personality !
To add insult, the fare prices are STupId (by ccomparison)…as reported by many many thoughtful researchers and publications.
For the most part, I have found the personnel to be indifferent, detached, ignorant sounding and acting, and dumb as a box of marbles. Nobody is being an effective ambassador for Memphis or the region. If anything, they are cementing the assessment that Memphis is a bush-league , seeond rate “town”, not a thriving,, advanced and friendly or progressive city.
Success starts with the right people, and clearly the airport sucks by most reasonable and fair comparisons.
That is something that “should be” easily remedied, if all the loud-mouth, knowitall leadership and academics get out from behind their falt-screens.
Memphis has low O&D traffic because of the high fare structure here. Delta gave the excuse for ending the non-stop flight from Memphis to Montgomery, Al., for example, because few people were originating in Memphis for the Montgomery flights. I checked the air fare at the time and found the round trip air fare to be over $1,000!…unless you have some very urgent business in Montgomery, you are not going to spend that much to fly there! You can log on Delta.com and find similar examples of outrageous fares from Memphis…see how much it costs to fly to Dallas/Ft. Worth or Louisville, for example, from Memphis…then compare the these fares from Nashville or Atlanta to the same cities…then be prepared to be shocked!
@ Gary
that’s the point indeed…you are 100% correct…the the real question is why are all of the phoney, knowitall planners, problem solvers, bogus city gurus, polticians, so-called business leaders, pointy-headed academics and assorted loud-mouths spending THEIR WISDOM AND TIME putting pressure in the right places to change this sort of stupidity ????
No no no, they just get on blogs and talk about shitbird stuff like the cobblestones and BIKE LANES…
A REAL transportation issue to be solved is the DISPARITY that you pointed out !!! this represents real dollars and competitiveness for residents and businesses.
and you know this crazy disparity has existed FRO YEARS UPON YEARS ! the planning and governing and business leadership has been patently ineffective in solving this insult of air travel prices…
that’s another example of Memphis being far far behind..
but no, they want to talk about stupid stuff with lower priority….art parks, the “built city” lol…..sidewalk planters…..biking…..farmers’ markets….parking lots…..CVS PHARMACY BUILING DESIGN…lol
The fact remains is that most leadership in Memphis is impotent and blind on this very very important subject that affects REAL economic considerations and the economic health of the entire region…
No thoughtful, strong, dynamic and progressive MSA would put up with this sort of crap !
But at the same time, these idiots spout off about being
the “HOME” to :
FEDEX
International Paper
Morgan Keegan
AutoZone
Smith and Nephew
Cleo
Competition Cams
Lunati
Fred’s
Service Master
Thomas and Betts
Lenny’s
Varsity
etc
etc
oh yeah…PINNACLE AIRLINES ! (I like the irony for stupid Memphis)
yeah buddy….real ‘effective corporate leadership’ and ‘presure’ eh ??
Gary and co.-
I agree per the price structure at the airport. Delta’s continued “restructuring” does not bode well for that airline to continue to maintain a hub at MEM while simultaneously slashing prices. Relying on an airline to maintain a presence based on loyalty or historic investment is misguided at best. Both Cincinnati and Nashville provide very real precedent for that scenario along with their partially shuttered terminals and/or concourses. The question of a diminished hub and its impact on an area’s economic prospects is not conclusive. Numerous cities have created booming- or at least healthy- economies despite the lack of hub status (and other amenities such as pro-sports teams in some cases). Examples include Austin, Raleigh-Durham, Portland (excepting Alaska Airlines), Tampa and Jacksonville. Cities that have seen their hubs shuttered or at least reduced to “focus city” status and have still managed to develop a healthy and even thriving economic base include Nashville, Pittsburgh, Columbus, San Diego and Orlando.
It’s downright SHAMEFUL for Memphis to be HOME to FEDEX and have such LOUSY, bullshit connections and fare structures !
How does a MAJOR corporate entity like a FEDEX or the others mentioned actually put up with this CRAP ??
It shows to me clearly that Memphis is not regarded by outsiders, travelers, etc as a major player holding the big cards …no respect, no respect or change for years upon years and all of the local shitheads are patently ineffective in demanding change, or at least developing some financial/corporate leverage !
Ineffectve as hell, stupid as hell, backward as hell to be located in the center of the country ! hell, the AIRPORT should be a goddam SHOWPIECE as well as a HUB !
but look and listen to the goddam countryazz and ghetto workforce out there……you have to WORK at finding such stupid people to be “ambassadors” at out airport ! It’s a SIN to allow this image to permeate the traveling public (esp business travelers)
Memphis doesn’t care, they are indifferent or too self-absorbed in petty, parochial projects
some of you idiots are always popping off about the “built city”, but do absolutely ZERO about the “built”, lousy-azz enviroment of the ariport, terminals, and design…..nothing, you people do nothing, but talk about URBAN DENSITY, greenways, bs sustainability, bike lanes, and how bad the suburbs are for the region…
okay smartazzes….fix the goddam airport for starters…I guarantee you that the city and region will get more ‘mileage’ out of solving this stupid, ugly problem……..
but you won’t, you never do…it will be the same 10 years from now
Such language. I suggest you read the WSJ’s take regarding fare structure specifically as it pertains to fortress hubs. Once again you will realize that what your narrow view and lack of experience precieves as a “Memphis” issue is actually shared by many cities. Such harsh opinions from someone who apparently has such little knowledge of the wider world.
I am a recent college graduate living on the East Coast but originally from the area, and I have always had a fascination with Memphis that has often led to my considering the prospect of living there. One of the main obstacles to taking a more serious approach to doing so, however, has been the airport. As much as it pains me to say this (MEM was the departure point of many great journeys in my youth and helped foster an appreciation of flight), something in this situation has got to break and soon. The fares are at extortion levels, and the options are painfully limited.
I am aware of the argument that having lots of nonstop destinations is good for business but 1) many major cities (San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego, BWI) or regional ones with perhaps some local traffic (Mobile, Montgomery, Gulfport/Biloxi, Fort Walton Beach-that one all mainline just a few years ago) have lost all service and 2) the ones that have maintained service are scaled back so severely that it is literally impossible for regular people to afford nonstop flights or even many connecting ones. The O&D (origin and destination) argument sometimes used against MEM is also flawed, as high fares simply keep people from flying or cause passengers to travel out of other regional airports instead. This probably becomes even more pronounced when taking leakage from other regional cities within the MEM catchment area to places like Jackson, MS, Nashville, or Little Rock into account. At regular fares, without the hub but related arrival of a low-cost airline (yes, I do believe Southwest or someone will come in and provide a reasonable level of service), some cities would likely see an increase in affordable and nonstop service from what they have now.
It is time for Delta’s stranglehold to end. Unfortunately, the Delta situation will not likely stabilize since, unlike Cincinnati, there was not a major terminal investment or civic loyalty to the pre-merger Delta, and the new Delta has zero loyalty to Memphis. Accordingly, in one slow step closer to a dehubbed reality, Delta just announced that it is shutting down its MEM pilot base. The economic arguments in favor of keeping the hub have become even less justified at this point.
Finally, as a half-outsider, I actually do not mind the look of the terminal or its 1960s modern style. I actually like that. What is annoying is the focus on an unnecessary parking garage and also the placement of the many tacky advertisements in the terminal, including those large relatively new CVB Memphis signs that still manage to look like they have been there since the 80s.
This rant aside, I am not a complete pessimist and think if MEM can move past the Delta situation, things from a passenger perspective will get much better. It has already happened in Pittsburgh, a great city hurt by losing its former hub status but nicely moved onward as a “big league city” that does a great job embracing what it is. I look forward to being able to more comfortably travel again through MEM, perhaps as my primary airport, in the near future.
most any well traveled professional or transplant KNOWS that any “big league” city has a “big leauge” airport..
Memphis does NOT have a “big league” airport.
Memphis is NOT a “big league” city….simple
Having a highly functional, attractive and economically efficient airport is one hallmark of a “big league” city.
I don’t care for Jacksonville, but even they have a “big league” airport it seems…..ditto Tampa
Anon 9:30
I agree per the pricing and its effect on the O/D market. You might check out a Flyer article that reflects a lot of the ideas and information contained in your post:
http://www.memphisflyer.com/TheDailyBuzz/archives/2011/11/10/up-in-the-air
I too actually like the now retro appeal of the main terminal buildings and their martini glass design although the concourses could use a good updating.
What does it say about the Memphis hub if we dont even have service to the Delta JFK hub?
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Delta-Announces-Latest-prnews-935744727.html?x=0&l=1
msj558
what does it say ? that’s an easy one ! its says MEM is a third tier big town, and it says that Delta doesn’t see a profitable deal, or just another opportunity to screw the stupid traveling MEM public who is willing t put up with that shitty service and high fares
the memphis planning idiots rather focus on crap like the ‘built city’, and bike lanes, and open spaces
you don’t see them FOCUS theri words and energies solving very real business and day to day opportunities such as the vastly more important issue of the AIRPORT and competitive fares
the airport issue dwarfs some of these issues the planning idiots and architects choose to trumpet…why ? probably they don’t get paid projects that are not part of their “informed vision” for the region…they much rather make their money selling a pig in a poke pet project like a new design for a goddam skatepark or “urban artpark”….
Poor anon- still struggling to see how all the pieces fit together.
MS-
I think it is writing on the wall especially in light of the recent decision to close the local pilot base. As noted in the main post, and in comments by Mark and Gary earlier in the discussion (as well as in a recent article by the Memphis Flyer), it will be interesting to see the effects of Southwest’s entry into the market.