Editor’s note: This story is a component of The Compass Report. The quarterly Compass Report is managed by The City Wire and presented by Fort Smith-based Benefit Bank. Other supporting sponsors of The Compass Report are Cox Communications and the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Enplanements at the Fort Smith and Little Rock commercial airports are down in the first quarter of 2013 thanks to declines in American and Delta traffic, but Northwest Arkansas is seeing a positive trend.
Enplanements at the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA) during the first three months of 2013 totaled 126,984, up 2.42% compared to the same period in 2012. The quarter ended on a high note with March enplanements of 49,309, ahead of the 47,365 in March 2012.
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.
Enplanements at XNA totaled 562,747 during 2011, down 1.38% compared to 2010. During 2010, XNA had 570,625 enplanements, up 5.49% over 2009. 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. It reached a peak of 598,886 in 2007.
Delta enplanements for the first quarter totaled 30,293, well ahead of the 24,026 in the same period of 2012 – although some of the increase comes from a change in branding of the flights out of the airport.
Enplanements for American Eagle out of XNA totaled 45,352 for the first quarter, up compared to the 43,483 during the 2012 quarter.
Officials at XNA are hoping to boost the gains through their active recruitment of Southwest Airlines or another discount carrier.
“We know 39% of our customers go elsewhere because our costs our higher," Airport Director Kelly Johnson said in the recent report.
FORT SMITH
Enplanements at the Fort Smith Regional Airport totaled 18,958 during the first quarter of 2013, down 7.4% compared to the same period of 2012. March enplanements totaled 7,018, down 6% compared to March 2012.
American enplanements total 11,169 for the first quarter, down 5.22% compared to the 2012 quarter. Delta enplanements were down 10.39% during the first quarter.
Enplanements at the Fort Smith Regional Airport totaled 86,653 during 2012, just ahead of the 86,234 in 2011, and marking three consecutive years of enplanement gains.
Enplanements at the Fort Smith Regional Airport during 2011 eked out a 0.12% gain over 2010, marking two consecutive years of enplanement growth at the airport. For the year, the airport posted 86,234 enplanements compared to 86,129 during 2010.
The first quarter figures at Fort Smith continue a downward trend that began in the fourth quarter of 2012. Enplanements were down almost 6% during the 2012 fourth quarter compared to the 2011 period.
LITTLE ROCK
Enplanements at the Bill & Hillary Clinton Airport (Little Rock National Airport), totaled 247,424 during the first quarter, down almost 5% compared to the 2012 quarter. March 2013 enplanements totaled 94,153, down 4.55% compared to March 2012.
The first quarter is somewhat of a surprise considering the rebound in airport traffic during 2012. Enplanements in 2012 totaled 1.147 million, up 4.07% compared to 2011. The 2012 numbers also ended five consecutive years of enplanement declines at Arkansas’ largest commercial field.
The three largest carriers serving Little Rock posted mixed results in March, with only the discount carrier showing an increase. Enplanements with American Airlines out of Little Rock were down 13.47% in March, Delta enplanements were down 4.5% in March, and Southwest Airlines posted a 0.69% increase for the month.
However, all three carriers posted enplanement declines during the first quarter, with American down 2.99%, Delta down 5.52% and Southwest down 5.66%.
POLITICAL ISSUES, TRAVEL TRENDS
The airline industry recently issued a report suggesting that an Obama Administration budget proposal will harm the industry and reduce the ability of businesses and individuals to afford air travel.
The proposed budget would raise taxes on airlines and their customers by 29%, or $5.5 billion per year, according to a report from Airlines for America. The group said the fee and tax hikes could “limit air service options to small and medium communities and ultimately harm the U.S. economy.”
The group noted in a statement: “Even without the proposed increases, air travel is already taxed at a federal rate that exceeds those for alcohol and tobacco, products that are taxed to discourage their use. On a typical $300 roundtrip domestic ticket, customers could pay $61, or 20 percent of the ticket price, in taxes. Under the President’s proposal, customers would pay nearly $75 or 25 percent on that same ticket.”
With or without the Obama plan, the predictions for air travel have not been positive.
The Boyd Group, an aviation consulting company, predicts that in 2013 the reduction in the number of seats in the commercial aviation system will result in an overall 2% to 2.5% decline in passenger traffic.