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Thoughts on the O’Hare expansion…

Went by way of Chicago O’Hare International for the Turkey Day festivities flew a United RJ from Austin to Chicago direct, seated for some two and a half hours in seat 16D. It’s a small window, but a window (if the world is going to pass you by, you might as well watch it). The laptop stayed aloft in the overhead bin; this is not a working environment, despite the flight time.

Everything on time; luggage arrives. (Way to go, United.) Leaving the Avis parking lot, one enters another — the Chicago freeway infrastructure out of O’Hare at 5 p.m. on a Friday.

O’Hare is a place of fascination for me. I grew up some 20 minutes to the southwest, in the flight pattern of southerly winds. I am here today because of the fascination of watching those planes fly overhead, that and the next door neighbor who was a United pilot. (As kids we would ask him, Where are you flying to? His answer, always, was, I’m going to the moon to get some green cheese.)

As a traveler, I’ve avoided O’Hare like the plague, despite my growing-up affection for the place. Two nights sleeping on its well-pedaled floors because of snowstorms cured me of my O’Hare addiction. (Former ORD director Mary Rose Loney once said that she had determined that when she arrived at O’Hare there were some 800 homeless people living at the airport. She helped orchestrate a homeless shelter downtown to relocate those they could find (pre-9/11, of course)).

The fact that O’Hare operates as smoothly as it does is a tribute to all who work there. But look at the geography, the demographics, the highway infrastructure, the industry all around. This is not an airport that needs to grow. Nor is it a place that needs to be reconstructing its runway setup when it is the cornerstone of the Midwest’s air transportation system.

Exactly what is the next level from already being a poster child for airline delays?

Chicago has an opportunity to remain the east-west keystone to commerce, but it needs another airport. Peotone is standing by. Reconstituting ORD is, from this vantage point, misguided vision. It is the consummate example of politics overtaking reason.

Returning to AUS from ORD, the flight is late. (Oh well, United.) At least the luggage is at the claim.

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I first met Woodie Woodward at the AAAE Convention in Baltimore in 2000, sitting with her and Kate Lang for an interview for AIRPORT BUSINESS. It wasn’t until some two years later that I learned, from a moderator introducing her at one of her many public presentations, that she was a doctor. In fact, she earned her Ph.D. in University Administration and Personnel Management from the University of Kansas. It wasn’t surprising that few in the audience had known of her doctoral status.

Dr. Woodie Woodward is one of the most unassuming individuals you will ever meet; yet, her responsibilities as FAA’s Associate Administrator for Airports are quite large and she has held the position during a very trying period for aviation. Be it funding, 9/11, the business of airports, or capacity, Woodie has constantly been a voice of reason a voice that is direct and not rose-colored, yet always compassionate. Airports may not have liked, at times, the message she brought, but they always knew she was being straight with them. It’s a quality that one can find refreshing from top level officials in the Washington bureaucracy.

This year, Woodie has been leading the call by the agency for industry to rethink how the U.S. aviation system is funded. She’s also been calling for FAA to be more open to allowing airports to operate in a more market-oriented environment. For airport groups, the mere fact that the associate administrator is listening to their pleas for less restrictions on their business has been encouraging.

In December, Dr. Woodward is retiring from FAA. Word is, she’ll become a consultant. We wish her the best. It would be difficult and unfair to do anything but.

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ORLANDO Reporting from this year’s 58th annual convention hosted by the National Business Aviation Association, the overriding message is that business aviation remains robust. The bottom line assessment appears to be, as long as the overall health of the U.S. economy remains strong and corporate earnings are healthy, business aviation will continue to grow. Fixed base operators and charter companies that target business flyers continue to report that business is good. If there is a caveat, it is with the fractional ownership programs the catalyst to the boom in business aviation as many believe the product is not being priced properly.

Now enter the entry level jets, or very light jets as some bill them. As anticipated, the ELJs/VLJs stole the show. Eclipse Aviation led the pack, taking orders for some 80 Eclipse 500s. Among the companies placing orders: Massachusetts-based Linear Air and U.K.-based JetSet Air, who plan to use the aircraft for short-haul on-demand and scheduled charters. With these aircraft expected to begin entering the market in 2006, it looks like the long awaited evolution of the air taxi business with lighter jets may soon become a reality. With that reality come questions (impact on air traffic control) and opportunities (for airports, communities).

Among the in-depth interviews conducted by AIRPORT BUSINESS at this year’s show were those with top executives from Signature Flight Support and Million Air. Both companies are looking at new, perhaps unconventional, ways to grow their businesses. The teasers: Signature may consider acquiring FBOs but not putting the Signature brand on the signage, leaving in place a successful company with its own strong customer following; at Million Air, it’s the exporting of its FBO management expertise to other operations and airports that is a growing focus. More from these interviews in our January issue.

The folks at NBAA deserve kudos for pulling off a last minute change in venue for its industry-leading event, from New Orleans to Orlando. And, as one exhibitor aptly pointed out, vendors and attendees should be congratulated as well for their ability to adapt to make the event a success. That said, the overall flow of the show was a bit off, possibly explained by a sense that many attendees may have spent one day at the show instead of the two or more they had planned for New Orleans.

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ORLANDO On the heels of the annual convention of the National Business Aviation Association being held here this week, there lies the underlying question: Will the move to Orlando from New Orleans have a significant impact on the dynamic of the show? Based on all indications thus far, probably not. Walking through the halls of the trade show set-up, it appears the dynamic that is the NBAA convention is intact. The aircraft static display a mainstay of the event being held at Orlando Executive Airport is expected to host some 150 aircraft, coordinated by Showalter Flying Service and Sheltair Aviation Services.

Heading into the annual event, a few of the companies/trends to watch include:

- Landmark Aviation This is the new name of the consortium that is the former Garrett Aviation Services, Piedmont-Hawthorne, and Associated Air Center, brought together last year at this time via acquisitions of the investment firm, the Carlyle Group. With the financial strength firmly behind it, Landmark Aviation stands to test the mettle of the industry presence of Signature Flight Support, which has established itself as the leader in the aviation services sector. The Carlyle Group’s initiative also reflects the changing face of the aviation services sector, which more and more is being penetrated by financial interests that do not have their history in the industry.

- Signature Flight Support Just prior to the opening of the NBAA event, Signature announced its acquisition of Long Beach Million Air, Inc., which brings into its fold of fixed based operations the Million Air FBOs at LGB and Oxnard Airport. Signature, owned by Britain-based BBA Group, continues to expand via acquisitions and, like Landmark, demonstrates the interest of the investment sector on the value of business aviation.

- Million Air New Orleans Notable because the FBO, among the businesses at Lakefront Airport decimated by Hurricane Katrina, not only has reopened for business but has announced plans to construct a first-class FBO facility at the airport that lies on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain, at best a vulnerable location.

- ELJs Entry level jets, or microjets as they were initially called, could steal the show. Eclipse, Adam Aircraft, and others are on the heels of FAA certification for aircraft that are projected by some to revolutionize the general aviation industry. Their entry into the fold appears inevitable; their impact remains a question. ELJs offer great potential to expand the business aviation sector via air taxi operations to the array of non-commercial airports in the U.S. Should they actually achieve the impact that proponents predict, they could tax the air traffic control system and bring new challenges to smaller airports nationwide.

Stay tuned and thanks for reading. Your comments are welcomed below.

Last week, Delta Air Lines announced it will phase out its carrier-within-a-carrier, Song, by May, 2006. The Song fleet of 48 Boeing 757-200 aircraft will be reconfigured with first-class seating and redeployed on domestic routes. Meanwhile, the song that Delta execs are singing continues to be one of melancholy, in light of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and the prospect of eliminating as many as 9,000 jobs.

Of the mini-carriers which have been attempted by the legacy carriers over the years, only United’s Ted will remain. However, in light of United’s third-quarter 2005 financial report that featured a record $1.77 billion loss, one has to question how long Ted or big brother United will be in existence.

The November 1 edition of The Wall Street Journal features an analysis of U.S. hub airports and comes to what is generally an agreed upon conclusion: The diminished presence of a major hub carrier stimulates new competition, which in turn results in reduced fares for consumers from the hub city to a host of destinations. Is it any wonder consumers continue to seek alternatives to the legacy carriers?

The question, of course, is how will this all unfold?

Another question is, at what point do consumers turn away from a carrier because of the fear that Chapter 11 protection could turn into Chapter 7 liquidation overnight, leaving them stranded? Perhaps it’s time for DOT/FAA to begin a regular Index of Reliability for carriers- not on-time performance, but a measure of the likelihood that a carrier will still be in business so that consumers can plan accordingly. Looking at an itinerary that takes me on United over the Thanksgiving holidays, it could prove reassuring. But then, it wouldn’t be the first time I spent a night sleeping on the floor at Chicago O’Hare.

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