Uniting The Airport & The Community

It’s a rare and lucky airport director who hasn’t heard these types of questions.

Sometimes they aren’t questions. They’re accusations. The hard realities of air service – particularly at mid-size and smaller communities – are often difficult for consumers to understand. They see all the news about low fare carriers and wonder why fares at the local airport are “so high” and service levels are “so low.” The result is community confusion and often civic anger aimed squarely at the airport.

Responding to this, Boyd Group International developed a product we named and marketed as Community Team Building™. It’s an airport-specific program that cities across the nation have found successful in not only dealing with this situation, but in turning these civic energies into positive efforts for their airport.

When There's An Information Vacuum, All Sorts Of Nonsense Starts

The problem  is that unless there is a flow of accurate information to the community - including civic leaders, the media, politicians and the public at large, the natural result is the belief that the airport isn't doing its job.

If these types of misconceptions are not dealt with firmly and directly, the airport and it's staff become targets. If it's not addressed, we'd urge that the airport director have his or her resume updated at all times.

It's not just a supposition: highly qualified and dedicated airport professionals have been kicked out on the street by ill-informed city councils and mayors, reacting to consumer anger stemming directly from a lack of clear understanding of air service realities. 

Information: The Key To Gaining Community Support

Community Team Building™ is an informational program delivered on-site at your community by air service experts from Boyd Group International. In a compelling and often entertaining presentation, it relates the specific challenges your airport faces in regard to emerging trends in air service. We review the new economics of air service, changes in airline fleets, competitive strategies at specific carriers, and what the community can expect in the future.

No fluff. No sugar-coating. Just the facts - and they're not all negative, either.

What's Covered

When our professionals arrive at your community, they're ready to hit the ground running, with all the information and data regarding your specific community, your air service, and logical scenarios for the future.

A carefully-prepared program - specific to your airport and your region - will be presented to civic groups covering the following:

• Airline Industry Realities: Local air service is subject to the economic realities of the airline industry. Therefore the first step is to impart an understanding of how the US airline system operates and the strategies it pursues. Concepts such as "connectivity" and "access" instead of just "flights" are reviewed. The dynamics of airline networks and hub systems are reviewed. The raw economic realities of what it takes to support air access are clearly established.

• The Current Situation: Here, we bring in all the metrics about the local and regional markets, using Aviation DataMiner, the most advanced source of market information and competitive intelligence available. This includes: traffic levels, airline brand market share, top O&D markets, load factors, current fare levels, comparative fare levels with other communities in the region.

• The Challenges: where fares are problematic, and why. Where air service levels are such as to drive leakage. Variances in capacity and service levels. Economic issues are discussed, including the differences between ASM costs of small jets v the larger ones that bigger cities can support.

• The Local Realities. The traffic and trend forecast expertise of Boyd Group International will be applied, outlining the levels of service that can be supported, where the traffic opportunities are and where vulnerabilities may be in the future.

• The Community Involvement. Finally, we tie it all together with a set of conclusions regarding the region's air service, and what the community can do to support their airport in maintaining and enhancing local air service levels. A robust Q&A period is encouraged at each meeting.

CTB candidly outlines how the airport is part of the solution, not part of the problem. We learn about the local hot-button issues before we arrive, so that we can clearly address the most pressing concerns in the community.

We'll talk clearly and bluntly on what airline systems can and cannot pursue. We discuss the traffic and revenues necessary to support a low-cost carrier. We review the operational and economic realities of the hub-and-spoke system. We will also candidly cover the emerging challenges represented by a declining fleet of small "regional" jets in the US airline fleets. We then relate these points to your community's specific air service levels.

Typically, a Community Team Building™ program is structured to make two to three presentations to various civic groups, plus presentations to the local media. The program itself is about 40 to 45 minutes, plus ample time to field and answer questions.

Community Team Building™ has a real track record and has become a resource airports have relied upon. It’s been presented successfully at airports from Saginaw to Fresno, from Jackson to Lynchburg, and a lot of points in between. A community united behind its airport is one with a better chance or retaining and recruiting the air service it needs for the future. CTB covers all the bases and answers the tough questions. When we’re done, your community has a clear view of what can be done, what can’t, and how citizens can rally behind their local airport.

The cost of the program, including development of the data, and presentation on site, is far less than you might imagine, and the results are far more productive than you might imagine.

If your community is getting a bit frisky regarding your airport's role in developing air service, don't wait. Let us tailor a Community Team Building program for you. Give Brian Siler a call at (303) 674-2000 to schedule a free consultation on how a Boyd Group International CTB can unite your community.