Quote:
Originally Posted by boi2socal
To be clear, I wasn't picking on BOI. Most airports Boise's size have seen similar declines and losses. So I'm not sure what will make Boise a priority over all those others unless subsidies are involved. And as I noted earlier, Boise does not have a good track record with new airlines and routes within the last ten years. Again, I can only think of Sacramento surviving. You seem to have inside info, so I'll take your word for it. I worked for Alaska, and back in Boise's good days the rumors were Boise would get Mexico flights and Alaska would take over the ticket counter. Fast forward...
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I certainly didn't take your points to be picking on BOI. I love the opportunity to learn and see things from perspectives other than my own. I'm glad this forum is here, what other place is there for us to exchange predictions on the future of Boise Airport?
I did a little looking into how BOI compares to other airports. I looked at cities with metro populations close to the same size as Boise. To begin with:
Boise
Metro Population 627,664, ranked 85th (2011)
Passenger Enplanements in 2010: 1,406,750
Served by Alaska, Delta, Southwest, United, US Airways
Furthest Destination: United to Chicago, 1450 miles
Des Moines, IA
Metro Population 580,255, ranked 88th (2011)
Passenger Enplanements in 2010: 898,840
Served by AirTran, Allegiant, American, Delta, Frontier, Southwest, United, US Airways
Furthest Destination: Allegiant to Los Angeles, 1400 miles
Colorado Springs, CO
Metro Population 660,319, ranked 81st (2011)
Passenger Enplanements in 2010: 877,367
Served by Allegiant, American, Delta, Frontier (as Focus City), United
Furthest Destination: United to Washington-Dulles, 1500 miles
For a city the size of Boise, we are served remarkably well. What's easy to notice is that Boise has much higher levels of traffic than the comparables. As I browsed the information on the aiports, I found most cities Boise's size are served primarily by regional airlines like Delta Connection, United Express and so on.
The cities with enplanement rates most similar to Boise's are Tulsa, OK and Birmingham, AL (1.3 and 1.4 mil respectively). Tulsa has a metro population of 946,962 and Birmingham is 1,132,264.
My point is that we're in a great position to attract more air service. I agree with Boi2SoCal in that I doubt we will land a new airline. What I am banking on is that BOI will at least attract new destinations by airlines already serving Boise. Alaska just make the decision to base crew members here, so that's a sign that at very least they will maintain the status quo. Options for expansion would be Alaska by SkyWest service to LAX on a regional jet and mainline 737 service to SEA.
If anyone's interested, here's where I found the data:
http://www.faa.gov/airports/planning...ats/passenger/