By Rachel Pleasant
Staff Writer

Turn on the television or radio, or log on to the Internet and within seconds you will be faced with another story of airline mergers or bankruptcies, high jet fuel costs or cancelled flights.

These are troubled times for the airline industry.

For a look at how all the shake-ups in the airline industry will impact business and leisure travelers moving through Charleston International Airport, the Business Journal sat down with David Jennings, chairman of the Charleston County Aviation Authority, the governmental body set up to run Charleston County’s three airports. The other two are Charleston Executive Airport and East Cooper Airport.

Jennings, while maintaining a positive outlook, stressed that the authority has no say in the issues that weigh heaviest on a traveler’s mind: cost and convenience.

“No one asks us how to price a ticket. The airlines make those decisions,” Jennings said.

Still, the Aviation Authority does have big plans—and high hopes—for the airport.

CRBJ: How do you think the merger between U.S. Airways and America West will impact Charleston’s airports, particularly Charleston International?

DJ: We have a growing number of passengers. We are fortunate in that our mix is evenly divided between business and leisure travelers.

No matter how the industry shakes out, someone will fly passengers out of Charleston.

U.S. Airways is hopeful the merger will solve their financial issues and let them operate profitably.

I believe we currently have sufficient flights to fly people in and out. The number of flights is a moving target because of the mixture of aircraft.

We have regional jets that have 60 seats that fly in and out of Charleston, and we have aircraft as large as, I believe Delta flies the 757, which has 140 seats. Regional jets are how we’ll get nonstop services.

I don’t think anyone really knows how all this will shake out.

CRBJ: Delta recently announced it would ground eight of its 25 daily flights leaving Charleston to destinations including Orlando, Tampa, Washington, D.C., and New York’s JFK International Airport. Can the Charleston County Aviation Authority do anything to replace those flights? What do you think the loss of those flights means to the airport?

DJ: Delta started nonstop service to Florida less than a year ago, and about that time, Independence Air started its nonstop to Florida. About a year ago, we had no nonstop service to Tampa and Orlando, and we went to four flights in about a week.

Historically, the number of passengers going to Tampa on a daily basis is in the range of 10. So did that deserve nonstop service? That’s not for us to decide.

Orlando is not a big daily market.

(Washington, D.C.) is a big market. This doesn’t eliminate nonstop service. U.S. Airways flies to (Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport), and Independence Air has four flights going into Dulles. United Express also flies into Dulles.

This reduces the seats to Washington, D.C., but it doesn’t eliminate the service.

It does eliminate nonstop service to JFK, but we still have nonstop flights to LaGuardia and Newark, so if you’re going to the New York area, there is still nonstop service.

I suspect that because Delta is retrenching their international service, that by eliminating flights to JFK, we’ll see more nonstop flights to Atlanta and Cincinnati.

CRBJ: Independence Air’s decision to come to Charleston was an exciting one for the community and business leaders who had lobbied for a low-fare carrier. Do you think Independence Air has had the impact here that so many thought it would?

DJ: There are two factors that have affected the travel market in Charleston: Independence Air and Delta’s SimpliFares fare structure.

These two factors brought costs down dramatically in this market, and the number of folks coming into this market has increased dramatically.

For the first eight months of 2005, our passenger traffic has increased 26.5% over the same time a year ago, and last year we had more passengers than ever.

CRBJ: How much influence does the Charleston County Aviation Authority have in getting more airlines to fly in and out of Charleston International? What’s the likelihood of Charleston getting another low-fare airline any time soon?

DJ: We are in regular contact with a number of airlines and providing them with local economic data. The airline industry is more sophisticated than it was 15 years ago.

We weren’t successful in getting AirTran and that was a full business community effort. We, the authority, had a negligible role in that.

During that process, the business community was giving commitments to fly. We would provide them economic data, the same data we would provide to anyone that was interested.

I’ve read articles that have said Charleston is next on JetBlue’s list, but articles are just that, articles.

We’ll know when something is happening when someone contacts us about space.

Is there a possibility? Anything is possible. Would I want you to think there is a likelihood of an imminent announcement? No.

CRBJ: What does Charleston International need to do to remain competitive against Myrtle Beach and Savannah, both of which are serviced by AirTran? How much of a role does the aviation authority play in maintaining a competitive edge?

DJ: How airports fit into the marketplace is largely driven by the marketplace.

Myrtle Beach has its place on the coast of South Carolina. It’s an industry that is largely tourism based, and to some extent, their levels are more seasonal than Charleston’s or Savannah.

I’m sure you noticed Savannah recently changed its name to Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport. They are aware that, to some extent, they are a major South Carolina airport.

We’re in the center of the coast, and our air traffic is evenly divided between business and leisure travelers.

If AirTran has better pricing to Atlanta out of Savannah than Delta does, that’s an airline issue, not an airport issue. There’s nothing we can do.

I, and the authority, aren’t players. I can offer the same low costs to Delta, Northwest, United and U.S. Airways.

The airline has to decide where it’s going to get its best return.

CRBJ: What is your vision for the airport? What kind of airport do you think Charleston International will be in 10 or 20 years?

DJ: Interesting things are going on. There are two areas of vision. One is what’s going on at the terminal, and the other is what’s going on on the rest of the property.

If you had asked me this question five years ago, I would have said we’re going to maintain the campus-like atmosphere with development happening moderately over the years.

When Gov. Mark Sanford and (commerce secretary) Bob Faith were able to persuade Vought and Alenia to come here, our vision changed.

We are now a major aircraft construction site. For the rest of the property, we hope to develop additional similar activities. We were among the final four for the Airbus site.

As a commercial airport, I think we’ll be doing more of what we’re doing now. We’re adding the parking garage so we can handle more travelers. We are planning for the expansion of the terminal.

As the number of passengers continues to grow, that means more flights, more gates, more ticket counters and more baggage carousels.

The airport was designed to be extended without interrupting existing operations.

We’re beginning to talk about (the expansion). We’re in the preliminary stages of evaluating what our future needs are.

Rachel Pleasant is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at rpleasant@charlestonbusiness.com.

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