EDITORIAL: Liberty Fellowship grooms leaders for South Carolina’s future / Air travel: Independence Air stays in the game
By Bill Settlemyer
Executive Publisher
Last month I had the opportunity to meet with Hayne Hipp, chairman and CEO of Liberty Corp., the highly successful television-broadcasting group headquartered in Greenville. Hipp has a long track record of community service in the Upstate, and over the last few years he has begun to focus on supporting the development of a strong cadre of civic leaders across the state.
The vehicle for this ambitious goal is the Liberty Fellowship program, supported by a partnership between Liberty Corp., Wofford College and The Aspen Institute. This unusual initiative is a bit hard to describe, so I’ll begin by borrowing a few quotes from the program’s promotional materials:
“Liberty Fellowship is a privately-funded endeavor of distinctive vision that is unique to South Carolina. It is neither a think tank nor a training program. It does not teach on-the-job skills or utilize a business school case-study approach to learning. It is not affiliated with any other South Carolina leadership effort. It is not partisan, sectarian or dogmatic.
“Rather, Liberty Fellowship is dedicated to promoting enlightened leadership based on values, and offering rising leaders the opportunity to reconnect with and deepen their understanding of values that sustain them. Its mission is to nurture significant, positive contributors to our state, and society at large.”
The inaugural class of 20 people from around the state includes three from our region: Madeleine McGee, president of the Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina; Chad Walldorf, co-founder of Sticky Fingers Restaurant Group; and Betsy Fleming, executive director of the Gibbes Museum of Art. All three are looking forward to four weeks of intense interaction and learning spread over two years guided by highly-skilled mentors.
Chad Walldorf, who recently returned to Charleston after serving as deputy chief of staff to Gov. Mark Sanford, says he especially likes Hayne Hipp’s vision of building a network of connected South Carolina leaders that would have a cumulative impact over time. Walldorf notes that South Carolina is a small state, and it’s not that hard to build connections around the state that can have a positive impact. He describes the program as “a powerful tool for improving the state” and “a graduate school for civic leaders…all the people in the program have an impressive background [as leaders] and have already done a lot.”
The program is currently seeking nominees for the next class. There is no cost to the participants. Candidates must be between the ages of 25 and 45 and must have previous leadership experience in their civic, professional or business roles. Nomination forms and detailed information about the program can be found on the program’s Web site at www.libertyfellowshipsouthcarolina.org.
This is an outstanding program. Participation by rising young leaders from our area would be of great benefit to the Lowcountry and the entire state. Log on to the Liberty Fellowship Web site, review the program, and consider nominating your choice for “the best and the brightest” of the area’s rising young leaders. The deadline is March 31, so do it now!
Air travel: Independence Air stays in the game
It’s been a wild financial ride for Independence Air (FLYi Inc.) since the company switched last June from being a regional feeder line to flying as a low-fare carrier mixing it up with “the big boys” in the hyper-competitive airline business.
In the last half of 2004, FLYi lost nearly $170 million, and at that rate couldn’t last for long. Since last fall, however, the company has been diligently at work reshaping and rightsizing the airline to increase the odds of success.
Late last month FLYi announced it had worked through a complex set of deals with creditors allowing it to shrink its fleet of regional jets as it adds larger Airbus A319s to provide connecting service to the West Coast and Florida. Pulling off this restructuring (and thus avoiding bankruptcy) was a pretty impressive set of moves, comparable in scale to the company’s nearly instantaneous conversion from feeder carrier to low fare airline.
Flying right
Putting aside the financial woes, the airline has gained a solid reputation with the flying public, both here in Charleston and elsewhere. A lot of credit for their success in that regard stems from their experience as a regional carrier for 14 years before last year’s changeover.
The airline’s corrective actions on the financial front also included deals with the large national electronic booking services used by corporations and travel agents, and a planned retooling of their Web site. These moves will provide better access to the business travel market and more flexibility in adjusting their prices to respond to competitors’ rates.
This last move is important, because the other airlines have reacted very aggressively to Independence Air’s entry into the fray, both in terms of fares and capacity. The airline has also dropped its worst performing cities and reduced the total number of daily flights out of Dulles substantially to increase all-important load factors on their remaining flights.
Good for us
Independence Air started flying here in July 2004. By last fall monthly passenger counts out of Charleston were up dramatically (25%) compared with 2003.
In contrast, Myrtle Beach’s year-over-year passenger counts were flat toward the end of last year, which suggests that we may be recovering some of the Charleston-based travelers who had previously been driving to Myrtle Beach for lower airfares. This trend may be strengthened further by Delta’s new “SimpliFares” program, which is considerably more user-friendly for Charleston business travelers as well as our inbound convention and leisure visitors.
It has been frustrating to know that we have a strong, growing but seriously underserved market here for both business and leisure air travel. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding - maybe, finally, dessert is being served!
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