WE Blog

The Wichita airport is important to EVERYBODY in south central Kansas and not just to the residents of Wichita and they all should offer some support for it.

By why did they have to support Value Jet? (aka Airtran). Changing the name doesn’t change the horrible loss of life caused by sheer negligence.

Actually, Max I would bet that among rank and file Liberals, Conservative and Moderates, you will find few people who beilive in in subsidies for airlines, this was pushed thru by Chamber of Commerce and so called free market business types. Its Corporate welfare and is only given to select airlines which is anything but free market.

You are right, Tom Paine, the airline subsidies are anything but free market. The free market dictates that air fares from Wichita are very high relative to what folks want to pay (too many people recall the artificially depressed fares back in the day when air fares were regulated). If one accepts the premise that affordable air transportation is necessary to economic growth (simplistic statement of the Chamber of Commerce position, but seemingly one with some truth), then, given the deregulated market for fares, Wichita and surrounding environs would not see sustainable growth for companies operating in national or international markets. Thus, the push for subsidies.

The question then became whether all airlines’ fares should be subsidized, or only a select few. The concept there, as I recall, was to subsidize a “low fare” airline, to encourage the same into the market, which, through competition, would cause the “legacy carriers” to reduce their fares. To some limited extent, this has occurred by the presence of Air Tran in the Wichita market.

As Ben has posted, this works if one wishes/needs to travel the routes serviced by Air Tran. However, until the recent (relatively) entry of Frontier into the Wichita market, which is also subsidized, there was nothing going West that had comparably low fares as the East routes. Again, without the subsidy, there was not otherwise sufficient traffic originating in Wichita going West to justify a “low fare” airline’s entry into the market.

Max, one might argue that the flights originating from Wichita actually reduces the carbon dioxide burden otherwise produced by folks driving their POVs to Kansas City and Oklahoma City to obtain fares substantially lower than those otherwise obtainable in Wichita. Thus, a net reduction in the per person traveling amount thereof. Of course, one would also need to accept the argument that all these folks otherwise driving would be flying, which, if they were driving to these airports, seems self-evident.

I don’t like the subsidies. We, as a family, have taken advantage of the lower fares resulting therefrom. I recognize that if the argument of reasonable air fares being essential to the overall economic health of the Wichita-South Central Kansas area has validity, the subsidies will need to be made permanent to keep so-called discount carriers in the market to encourage this. If it is false, then at some point, the existence of subsidies won’t make any difference, the same will end, and Wichita will be a “high fare” market, regardless of the direction to be selected for travel.

Another reason for rail – airport congestion. The big airports in in a serious crunch right now – for example they are talking about building a big airport south of San Francisco in San Benito County. Why not develop rail hubs based on these big airports? That could reduce all the short hops going into them and thereby reduce their congestion. Then improve transit from the airports to the cities.

Helps the environment. Helps travellers. Cheaper for taxpayers than building more airports.

record 1.6 million passengers.

I wonder how many passengers they would have had without the subsidy?

Once again, a conclusion that taxpayer subsidies
are the positive making a difference.

I would agrue, if they are so successful, then
why are they not capable of providing a profit
on their own?

Another waste of money. Let the people who USE the conveyance, pay higher ticket prices and pay for their flights themselves.

Vaughn,

Yeah, commercial airline seats are a pain, unless one flies first class all the time.

I usually ask for the bulkhead seat if available, as there is slightly more knee room.

Regular, the legroom is only a part of the problem for me. My shoulders overlap, to put it kindly, the seat “sides”, and if in a middle seat, no one is happy in my row of three.

Vaughn was that you!!! Guys like you belong in the window seat. I’ll take a different flight rather than endure a center seat ever again. Torture is too light a word.