Spokane International Airport says its on pace to reach record-breaking passenger levels this year, and is trying to keep that momentum going by pushing airlines to provide more nonstop flights to several key cities.


SIA currently has 70 daily departures with nonstop service to 15 cities, says airport spokesman Todd Woodard. As of the end of last month, the year-to-date number of passengers who had passed through the airport was nearly 2.7 million, up 4.5 percent from the year-earlier period. SIA set its record of 3.2 million passengers in 1996, and Woodard expects it to break that record this year. In addition, Spokanes level of passenger growth is higher than the national average of 3.6 percent, Woodard says.


These numbers are a strong indicator that Spokanes economy is growing at a robust rate, faster than the nation as a whole, he says. As a region, thats a point of pride.


After 9/11, many major companies cut their travel expenses, and leisure travelers chose to stay closer to home, he says. A little more than four years later, the airline industry remains volatile, but traffic at SIA has been increasing and even surpassing pre-9/11 levels.


Carriers such as Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines have added new routes here in recent years, but several cities remain on the airports wish list for nonstop flights, he says. A direct route to the Bay Area is SIAs first priority, particularly a flight to San Jose or San Francisco. Southwest Airlines currently flies directly to Oakland from Spokane, but since United Airlines stopped its service to that area in the late 1990s, there hasnt been another direct flight.


Nonstop service invigorates the market, because of its ease and convenience, Woodard says. For our communitys economic growth in attracting capital investment, the Bay Area is the place for biotech and electronic development, and not having that nonstop flight puts us at a disadvantage.


The Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerces air service marketing task force has been trying to reestablish nonstop service to the Bay Area for the past several years by talking to representatives of major carriers, such as Alaska Airlines and American Airlines, says Rich Hadley, the chambers president and CEO. He says the airports current passenger numbers indicate a strong economy, which could be boosted by increasing traffic to the Bay Area.


Spokane is more on the map than its ever been, and theres a lot of interest in us thats coming out of California, Hadley says. The issue in San Jose is that we have more economic ties there than we had 10 years ago, and commerce could be accelerated if nonstop service was provided.


A destination typically has to be able to support two flights a day before an airline will consider adding another route, Woodard says. Adding a route costs airlines around $1 million, Woodard says. Fluctuating fuel prices and the threat of terrorist attacks, along with insolvency problems in the airline industry, have made it more likely for carriers to cut service than expand it.


Its a very difficult time to go out and generate new air service, he says.


San Francisco International Airport presents an additional challenge to airlines because of its traffic congestion and frequent poor weather conditions, he says. Alaska and Horizon airlines representatives have told him they plan to add nonstop service to San Francisco from Spokane, but havent set a timeline to start such service.


To the chamber, several other cities are priorities for nonstop service from Spokane, including Chicago and Detroit, Hadley says. Airports in those cities are hubs for flights to the East Coast and Europe. While United currently flies to Chicagos OHare International Airport, a flight to Midway Airport there would provide another alternative for passengers, he says.


Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport also is near the top of the chambers list for additional flights, even though Northwest Airlines provides nonstop service to that city already, he says. That airport is in the top 20 markets in 2005 for passengers visiting and originating at Spokane. Hadley says the task force has been asking Northwest representatives to increase its service between Minneapolis, its main hub, and Spokane, and would like to get a steady stream of four flights a day.


Top markets


SIAs top four passenger growth markets for 2005 as of last June were Denver, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Sacramento, says an airport traffic quarterly report issued this month. Two weeks ago, Southwest added a second nonstop flight to Las Vegas from Spokane. The number of passengers traveling to that city from Spokane has grown by nearly 10 percent since June 2005, the report says.


Since Frontier Airlines started offering nonstop service to Denver International Airport from Spokane last May, ridership for that route has increased by nearly 23 percent. Frontier offers five flights a day to Denver, and Woodard says that city is a hub for Spokane passengers particularly because Qwest Communications International Inc., which is the dominant local telephone service provider here, is based there.


Southwest Airlines recently announced it will start serving Denver in early 2006. If the airline offered a nonstop flight to that city, that would provide a strong alternative for people looking for a low-cost flight there, Hadley says.


Southwest, however, hasnt determined whether it will add nonstop service to Denver from Spokane, says Marilee McInnis, a spokeswoman for the airline.


Its an industry in turmoil, so were keeping our eye on the marketplace for opportunities, McInnis says. We absolutely love the Spokane market. Its been a great city for us, and were looking for ways to grow there.


A few of the factors involved in Southwests decision to enter a new city or add a new route include an airports record for on-time service, whether its highly congested, and how expensive it is for airlines to operate there, she says. The airline also considers passenger demand and whether a route or a city is underserved.


Southwest typically doesnt enter airports where it costs more than $5 a passenger to operate, Woodard says. It costs airlines about $3.40 a customer to operate in Spokane, and he says SIA constantly is looking at ways to keep its costs low. He says its working also on improvements to its facility, such as expanded concession services, so that it can lower its dependence on revenues from the nine airlines that serve it. The airport currently is under way on $15 million worth of renovations to be completed next September.


Carriers bring the customers to us, and were focusing on how we can best serve those customers in terms of our products and services, he says.


The airport regularly talks to carriers about keeping their fares low and consistent, and about adding new routes here, Woodard says. It occasionally brings business leaders from the community to those discussions to point out strengths in Spokanes economy and signs of economic development, such as the advent of the U District, he says.


Hadley expects that airline passenger traffic here will continue to grow as commerce increases, but says its difficult to forecast the airline industrys future because of economic uncertainties, international conflicts, and natural disasters.


Our economy is up higher than its ever been, but weve learned in the last few years that theres so many variables that its hard to predict, he says. If you take all those variables into consideration, it looks like well do fine and grow as we have been.