Midland Applies to SCASDP for More Flights to the West

(MoneyWatch)  This is part of my week-long look at the 2008 Small Community Air Service Development Program (SCASDP) applications. Monday, I wrote about Elko's bid to support a new Reno flight. Tuesday, I wrote about Escanaba's fight for marketing funds. And yesterday was about Dubuque's unique frequent flier program.

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I've talked about some of the my favorite SCASDP applications so far this week, so now let's talk about some on the other side of the fence. Today, let's take a look at Midland/Odessa. The airport currently has service to 7 airports from American Eagle, Continental Express, and Southwest. You'd think that's a portfolio most small airports would die for, and that's why the airport's proposal for $600,000 (PDF) for even more service is even more baffling.

American Eagle flies to DFW and Continental (Express or Connection) flies to Houston/Intercontinental. As you can imagine, that has their connecting opportunities to the North and East pretty well covered. Southwest also has flights to Dallas/Love Field, Houston/Hobby, Austin, Albuquerque, and Las Vegas. Plenty of service, right? Having Southwest as a major player at your airport would make most airport authorities content, but not this one.

They say that the single daily flight to Albuquerque and the one to Vegas leaves them with limited connectivity to the West. True, there are only two flights that start out going West, but that hardly makes them worthless. The argument that "both of these flights are on Southwest Airlines which offers limited connectivity to the rest of the West" is ludicrous. Las Vegas is one of Southwest's largest operations and provides plenty of connecting opportunities.

What they're getting at here is they'd love to have those old America West (now US Airways) nonstops to Phoenix back again. But those flights didn't work when fuel was less than half the price it is now. What makes them think they're going to work this time? If there was demand for more service from a city like this, then the airlines would fly it. If not, well, then they won't. This proposal doesn't seem to have legs to me.