From Deseret News archives:
Salt Lake City International Airport: More flights, fewer fliers
But there will be a lot fewer people flying.
The airport's trend of more jets but fewer passengers is occurring largely because Salt Lake City has taken longer to rebound in the post 9/11 airline industry, according to Delta Airlines spokesman Anthony Black.
"Salt Lake has been slower to recover, as opposed to some of our other hubs as far as post-9/11 traffic," he said.
Along with Dallas, Salt Lake City's traveling public continued to purchase fewer tickets after 9/11 than travelers in Delta's other hubs in Cincinnati and Atlanta, Black said.
"In Salt Lake, it was more there were just fewer people flying," he said. "The yield overall (nationally) was down, and when you have yield down overall and you have fewer people flying in specific markets, it makes it stand out a little more."
To fight that slumping economic reality, Delta has taken many of its larger jets, such as 130-seat 737s, out of Salt Lake City and replaced them with 50-seat regional jets. The move apportions more flights in a day, but the total number of seats available for that day decreases, Black said.
The transition permits Delta to place larger jets at more urban airports while allowing more flights at smaller airports such as Salt Lake, hopefully providing a win-win situation for both airline and consumer.
Black said Delta has already tried the regional jet switch in Dallas and saw a marked improvement in business.
In Salt Lake City, Delta's new plan took effect Jan. 7 with February being the first full month the plan is operational. In February 2004, there will be 386 commercial flights leaving Salt Lake City, compared with 366 in February 2003 and 356 in February 2002.
However, the latest passenger figures available show fewer people were flying in and out of Salt Lake City, even before the shift:
In December 2003 there were 1,526,509 passengers either coming or going on commercial airlines in Salt Lake City. That's down 8.5 percent from December 2002. All told, passenger counts have been steadily going down since 2001, when the airport saw 18,819,131 passengers come and go at the airport in the entire year. In 2002 there were 18,662,030 passengers, about a 1 percent drop, and in 2003 only 18,466,756, another 1 percent decline.
Salt Lake City Department of Airports spokeswoman Barbara Gann maintains that despite changes, the airport's economic outlook continues to be viable.
"Even with these changes this city still has remarkable air service — with 14 airlines and a Delta Hub — for its size and geographic location," she said.
Gann said the move to regional jets provides better service for customers, and she noted that move was occurring in the airline industry prior to 9/11.
E-mail: bsnyder@desnews.com
