Editor’s note: This story is a component of The Compass Report. The quarterly Compass Report is managed by The City Wire, and sponsored by Arvest Bank. Supporting sponsors of The Compass Report are Cox Communications and the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The healthy pace of traffic growth at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport and the Fort Smith Regional Airport did not slow in September, with XNA enplanements up almost 14% and Fort Smith up more than 16% during the month.
September enplanements numbers for the Bill & Hillary Clinton National Airport (Little Rock National Airport) were not available as of Oct. 20. However, the airport has seen enplanement declines during the year. Enplanements for the first eight months of 2014 were 702,284, down 4.99% compared to the same period of 2013. Enplanements in 2013 totaled 1.085 million, down 5.45% compared to 2012.
Labor Day travel may have had a small impact on XNA and Fort Smith numbers. The Airlines for America trade group estimated that 14 million people would travel during the holiday, up 2% compared to 2013 travel.
Enplanement gains also match tourism industry employment gains in Northwest Arkansas and the Fort Smith areas. Employment in the Northwest Arkansas tourism industry set a new record of 22,800 during August, up from 22,600 in July and up from 21,900 during August 2013. The previous record was 22,700 set in June.
Employment in the Fort Smith regional tourism industry set a new record of 9,900 during September, up from 9,800 in July and above the 9,600 in August 2013. The previous record of 9,800 was set in August 2008.
Labor numbers are up nationwide for the tourism industry. Within leisure and hospitality, employment in food services and drinking places was up by an estimated 20,000 in September and has gained 290,000 over the year.
“Travel continues to be a leading force in getting Americans back to work. After losing close to half a million jobs in the Great Recession, the travel industry has added 771,000 jobs and has outpaced job creation in the rest of the economy by 38 percent since the employment recovery began,” said David Huether, senior vice president for research and economics at the U.S. Travel Association.
XNA TRAFFIC
Travelers flying out of XNA during September totaled 53,814, up 13.98% compared to the 47,212 during September 2013. For the first nine months of 2014, enplanements at XNA total 484,034, up 11.08% compared to the same period in 2013.
As The City Wire has previously reported, XNA enplanements are on track to set a new record in 2014. The January-September 2014 traffic is up 8.73% compared to the same period in 2007, the year XNA reached record enplanements of 598,886. Enplanements at XNA fell to 540,918 in 2009 after reaching the 2007 high.
For all of 2013, XNA enplanements totaled 579,679, up 2.58% compared to the same period in 2012. The enplanement growth remained stable through the year, with enplanements up 2.42% at the end of the first quarter of 2013. Enplanements at XNA totaled 565,045 during 2012, up just 0.4% compared to 2011. Although slight, the gain prevented XNA from posting two-consecutive years of enplanement declines. XNA’s first full year of traffic was 1999, and the airport posted eight consecutive years of enplanement gains before seeing a decline in 2008.
FORT SMITH TRAFFIC
The Fort Smith Regional Airport, served by flights from Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth, posted September enplanements of 7,977, up 16.9% compared to September 2013.
Enplanements for the first nine months of 2014 total 68,780, up 7.86% compared to the same period in 2013.
For all of 2013, enplanements at the airport totaled 84,520, down 2.46% compared to the same period in 2012. The decline ended three consecutive years of enplanement gains at the airport.
Based on monthly averages, Fort Smith enplanements could reach more than 91,000 in 2014. The last time enplanements were above 100,000 was in 2005, with 102,607. The last year enplanements were above 90,000 was in 2007, with 99,217.
With 39,723 enplanements for the first nine months of 2014, American Airlines accounts for 57.75% of commercial traffic out of Fort Smith. Delta Air Lines had the remaining market share – 29,057 enplanements – for the first nine months of 2014.
American enplanements out of Fort Smith are up 7.05% for the first nine months of 2014 compared to the same period of 2013, and Delta enplanements are up 8.99%.