Although airline executives across the nation are predicting the industry's service levels "will be flat or down slightly during the next several years," Chattanooga's airport has seen about a five percent increase in the number of enplanements during each of the past five months.
But it's way too early to celebrate, Chattanooga Municipal Airport Authority CEO/President Michael Landguth said Monday.
During his regular monthly report to Airport Authority members, Mr.
Landguth said an "interesting phenomenon" is occurring in the airline industry right now.
The number of enplanements is up but airfares are way down, and officials are "filling seats with low cost, low revenue passengers."
"Long-term, they cannot sustain this," he said.
Airlines are cutting expenses wherever they can, he noted. For example, CMAA has seen a 10 percent reduction in seat capacity. And Delta has eliminated direct flights to Cincinnati, although the airline says Cincinnati is still one of its hubs.
Still, Chattanooga is doing better than many other airports, Mr. Landguth reported.
"We are even with last year's figures, while most airports this size are down 10 percent or more . . . We believe there is still opportunity in this market."
In other action, authority members approved CMAA's marketing plan for 2010. Expenditures include:
* $35,000 to Waterhouse Public Relations
* $32,000 to Spots Media Placement and Management, with $17,000 earmarked for advertising in small newspapers in surrounding counties, and $15,000 for radio ads
* about $18,000 to the Chattanooga Times-Free Press, including $11,000 for print ads and $7,000 for website ads
"As you know, we already advertise in Chattanoogan.com," marketing director Christina Siebold told authority members. "Online advertising has proven to be an effective outlet for us."