By Dan McCue
Staff Writer

AirTran Airways had always been on the radar of local economic developers and Charleston County Airport officials, but it was a combination of near-perfect market conditions and an all-out push by a triumvirate of local entities that finally netted the low-cost carrier for Charleston International Airport, said the airline’s vice president of marketing and sales.

“To be honest with you we had been talking, negotiating, for quite some time, but what really made the difference was the enthusiastic support of the business community and their desire to get us here now,” said AirTran’s Tad Hutcheson.

“The proof of that is right here,” he said, motioning to the large crowd that gathered for the Feb. 22 announcement in the airport concourse.

“In the 10 years I’ve been with the company, I’ve been to 40 announcements like this and this has to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, response we’ve ever gotten,” Hutcheson said.

“Charleston has everything we like in a new addition to our service cities,” he added. “Its passenger base has historically been underserved and overcharged.”

The Orlando, Fla.-based airline will begin nonstop flights from Charleston to its hub in Atlanta on May 24, with flights departing at 6:10 a.m. and 4:10 p.m. The airline will add two more daily nonstop flights on June 7, departing Charleston at 10:50 a.m. and 7:10 p.m.

From Atlanta, Charleston passengers will be able to transfer to 51 other cities the carrier serves, Hutcheson said.

David Jennings, chairman of the Charleston County Airport Authority, said the latest effort to secure a commitment by AirTran to Charleston began in December with a meeting of representatives of the authority, the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The conversation included Jennings and newly appointed Airport Director Sue Stevens, Helen Hill and Gary Edwards from the CACVB, and Tom Hood and Mary Graham from the chamber.

At the time, all in attendance agreed that market conditions and timing were right for a concerted effort to secure a low-cost carrier for the region. It didn’t hurt that AirTran had also announced it was discontinuing service to Myrtle Beach International Airport.

“Prices were up, fuel costs were going down, and profits were returning to the industry as a whole,” Jennings said. “From our point of view, it seemed like if you were going to break into a market this was a good time to do it.”

The local group promptly agreed to hire Joel Antolini, the senior vice president of the Seabury Airline Planning Group, a firm that advises airports on service development issues.

Headed by Antolini, the group traveled to AirTran’s corporate headquarters on Jan. 23 to make a formal presentation to the airline that focused on what Jennings described as “positive trends in the Charleston economy from the perspective of tourism and economic development.”

“The presentation also pointed out that while we’re very proud of our reputation as one of the top tourism destinations in the country, we also have the dubious distinction of being, if not in the top 10, at least just outside of the top 10 in terms of domestic airfares,” Jennings said.

AirTran was immediately interested, Hutcheson said, particularly since a passenger survey conducted last Fall revealed that there was a strong interest among the flying public to have the airline add service in and out of Charleston.

“After the survey we continued to hear from people every day who either said, ‘We’d love to have you come here,’ or, ‘I’ve moved away from Charleston, but would love to have a low-cost way to fly home,’” he said.

Significantly, Jennings said incentives were never an issue.

“We didn’t agree to wave any fees, and they will pay whatever the going square-foot rental fee is for space, which incidentally will be the former space occupied by Independence Air, right next to the Delta Airlines counter.”

The airport authority did do electronic work on the space the airline will occupy to bring it up to current industry standard, Jennings said, adding that the work was scheduled to be done anyway

“We had two empty spaces at the airport and decided to get them ready in the event that we could secure a deal down the road,” he said.

“As for incentives from the airport, nothing was asked for and nothing was volunteered,” Jennings said. “There were never any conversations about a ‘travel bank’ or anything like that.”

In the airline industry, a “travel bank” is typically a commitment of a certain level of air travel by organizations within the business community. And a carrier’s service to that area is based in part on that guarantee.

AirTran did seek one guarantee, however: a guarantee of secrecy while discussions with the Charlestonians were going on, said Tom Hood, chairman of the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce.

“The one thing they asked is that these discussions being carried out between a small group of people here and their airline be confidential,” he said. “I think the fact that the news didn’t leak out until the day before the announcement is a pretty good indication that we are serious about pledges of confidentiality and able to respect those wishes.”

Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. said he was excited about AirTran’s service to Charleston on both a personal and professional level.

“Personally, it’s exciting because I’ll be able to fly to see the Atlanta Braves,” he said.

Turning more serious, Riley said the addition of AirTran to the market will greatly aid the region’s economic development efforts.

“On our community, the increased cost of doing business relative to the increased cost of air transportation was a real barrier to luring new businesses to our community and fostering the growth of those that are already here,” Riley said.

“This makes the bottom line work for them.”

Riley also talked of the potential impact AirTran’s service to Charleston will have on the region’s already booming tourism economy.

“We tend to think everyone has been to Charleston. Well, they haven’t,” Riley said. “In the past, when people were thinking about a place to go for a weekend or week, we weren’t competitive with many other locations. With this development, we will be.”

S.C. House Speaker Bobby Harrell agreed. He said he learned of the push to land AirTran about two weeks before a deal was consummated.

“We need competition in this market and AirTran is bringing that,” he said. “Another airline coming in is going to lower prices and will greatly increase the volume of passengers flying between this airport and Atlanta.”

To make its Charleston service a success, AirTran is betting heavily on the appeal of its newest aircraft, the Boeing 717, which has 12 business class seats and 105 coach seats. The airline’s fleet consists of a total of 87 717s and 40 737s.

Every seat on the aircraft will be assigned, equipped with XM Satellite radio and augmented by large overhead bins for luggage, Hutcheson said.

“The other exciting thing about this aircraft is that we don’t simply recycle the air in the cabin. We’re constantly introducing fresh air to the cabin throughout the flight,” he said.

The question now is whether AirTran is here to stay.

Unlike “legacy airlines,” such as Delta and US Airways, AirTran does not make destination decisions based on how much market share they can secure, Hutcheson said.

“Our corporate philosophy is solely based upon profitability, and the way you achieve that, in our view, is by stimulating the market through incentives—offering a low enough price and high quality enough service to inspire people to get up off their couches and out of their cars to fly,” he said.

Despite the fact that it was not a condition of AirTran’s addition of service to the Charleston market, Hutcheson said he’s hopeful Charleston travelers, and the business community in particular, will be as enthusiastic about the airline in the future as they were on the day of its announced arrival in the market.

“Once we get up and running in a market, we generally give it a year to see what our profitability in the region actually is,” he said. “Sometimes the numbers are good and we see a need to add flights—the old balancing act of supply and demand—and sometimes we see the need to reduce service.

“Make no mistake, though, we’re excited to be here and plan to serve Charleston for a long time to come.”

Those who negotiated the deal to get the airline to come here are doing everything they can to make sure AirTran stays.

Hood and other members of the chamber will be spreading the word in the business community that AirTran should be their travel choice, he said.

“In fact, I’d tell them to bookmark it on their computer, putting it right at the top of their favorites,” he said.

“Our goal is for area businesses to dedicate at least 20 percent of their normal air travel budget to AirTran to help ensure its success.”

CACVB chairman Rick Mosteller said his organization is already revamping its marketing plan to target communities served by AirTran. It is also reaching out to hotels and other hospitality businesses in the region to develop travel packages aimed at taking advantage of the new air service.

As for the airport authority, it’s also encouraging Charleston residents and businesses to patronize AirTran. But Jennings described AirTran’s entrance into the market as only a “phase-one announcement.”

“We’re ecstatic about having AirTran here. It’s wonderful for us and I know it’s wonderful for them, but we’ve still got a space open at the Charleston International Airport and no airport can ever have enough discount carriers,” he said.

Dan McCue is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dmccue@charlestonbusiness.com.

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