North Carolina Looks to On-Demand Air Taxis For Growth (SCASDP Week)

(MoneyWatch)  I'll end Small Community Air Service Development Program (SCASDP) week on a different note. A group of small airports in North Carolina have banded together to try to promote an alternative to scheduled commercial flying. They want to promote on-demand air taxis. Interesting move, indeed.

The seven airports involved are Burlington-Alamance Regional, Charlotte-Monroe Executive, Concord Regional, Sanford-Lee Regional, Salisbury-Rowan County, Smith Reynolds/Winston-Salem, and Franklin County/Triangle North Executive. With the exception of Winston-Salem, it's likely you've never heard of any of these airports. And if you've heard of the Winston-Salem airport, it's probably from long ago. While Winston-Salem was the proud home of Piedmont, it hasn't had commercial flights now for nearly a decade.

So what could these airports possibly be hoping to get from this program? They want marketing funds to help teach people about on-demand air taxis.

Generally, I'm not a big fan of federally-funded marketing programs, but in this case, it might be worthwhile. It's true that people don't think about on-demand air taxis, because they aren't really in the mainstream just yet. They may get there some day, but for now, they're rarely top of mind.

This program will first educate the local stakeholders on the possibilities. Then, the next phase will involve reaching out to potential users of the service. A later phase will see upgrades to the terminal areas so that there is at least comfortable seating available while people wait.

Possibly the key piece here is the online effort. While people know where to go to book commercial flights (hear me, Albany?), people don't know where to go to book air taxis. Which companies are reputable? Which ones even exist in the first place? Each airport here will have a site created where people can go to compare times and fares for the different operators in the area. That's a good step to take for a service that's just getting started.

It is certainly refreshing to see an airport (or group of airports) that doesn't feel entitled to more commercial service. This is a creative way to improve service in a different manner, and I think it should be encouraged.