The Garden City Telegram
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Pursuit of flights to Wichita grounded for now
Published 10/22/2009 in Local News
By SHAJIA AHMAD
Discussion that began among city officials late last fall about possible flights from Garden City Regional Airport to Wichita is currently at a standstill, according to city and airport officials.
"We're definitely still interested in the project, but the city's not willing to make a commitment right now," said Rachelle Powell, Garden City Regional Airport's director of aviation. "The timing's all off, and funding sources are scarce."
Powell met with city officials earlier this month to present an intrastate air service feasibility study paid for by Garden City and other communities interested in attracting an airline that could provide flights to and from their respective cities to Wichita.
The study demonstrates that it would be cheaper to drive than to fly from places like Garden City, Liberal and Dodge City to the Wichita Mid-Continent Airport, which serves 40 daily flights to 12 destinations. However, public interest in the project remains because flying is a time-saving alternative, and intrastate air service would provide that possibility from places like Garden City to the state's capital, Powell said.
"There is interest in the community to have this service, but we're always cautious because we have to weigh the public's best interest, as well," she said.
Currently, no air service connects Wichita to the rest of the state, though Kansas boasts one of the largest national highway systems in the United States, according to the study.
Garden City commissioners have said they hoped to continue to keep the possibility of intrastate air service on the table, even while other Kansas communities including Liberal, Topeka, Hays and Great Bend, have dropped out due to a lack of public support.
At their Oct. 6 public meeting, commissioners agreed to stay a part of the discussion even as they acknowledged sources of funding such a project would be problematic.
"There is a need for a subsidy, and if we want it bad enough, we'll need to figure out how to subsidize," Commissioner Reynaldo Mesa said, adding that communication with airport officials in the other communities was a key goal over the next two years.
Despite commissioners' interest, Powell said she does not believe the topic could be seriously broached for a few more years.
Federal funding that currently subsidizes essential air service in and out of Garden City by Great Lakes Aviation came under fire earlier this month, when U.S. Department of Transportation officials almost stripped the local airport of both its daily round-trip flights to and from Kansas City, Mo.
City and airport officials were able to negotiate to keep one daily flight to Kansas City and continue service to the Denver area with four daily flights, changes that will be taking effect Dec. 1.
"Because we've just had to fight to keep one of two hubs, I doubt we'll be having three anytime soon," she said.
As of April 1, 2009, the U.S. Department of Transportation subsidized air service for 45 communities in Alaska and 108 in the rest of the United States and Puerto Rico at $123 million, according to the department's Office of Aviation Analysis. Powell has said the dual hub service of Kansas City and Denver is unique for an airport the size of Garden City's: The local airport is one of only seven communities that receives dual hub service.
Powell had estimated between 1,000 and 2,000 emplanements could be lost if the Kansas City service was discontinued. The number of annual emplanements -- passengers who fly into and out of the airport -- helps determine funding through the Airport Improvement Program, and Garden City's airport is required to have 10,000 people flying into or out of the airport per year in order to receive about $1 million in federal funding for improvement projects. Not reaching 10,000 travelers would mean receiving only $150,000 in funding, resulting in the need for local taxpayers to fund improvement projects at the airport.
The intrastate air-service feasibility study was conducted by Sabre Airline Solutions, an airline consulting agency based in Southlake, Texas, in conjunction with Wichita Mid-Continent Airport.
Download the intrastate air-service feasibility study.
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