Bringing More Passengers To Mobile Regional

Do you fly out of Mobile Regional Airport?
If not, why?
That's what members of the Mobile Airport Authority want to find out.
They met with community and business leaders Thursday afternoon to talk about air service and economic growth.
Joe Gerard is the owner of Coastal Ford and said he and his co-workers do plenty of flying.
He said, "I'm concerned about the disparity in the ticket pricing between Mobile and Pensacola and even Gulfport. We find ourselves more often than not flying in and out of Pensacola or Gulfport only because of the price structure."
Bob Bender, the co-owner of Springdale Travel, said, "On the average, Pensacola is about $70 cheaper."
The Executive Director of the Mobile Airport Authority, Bill Sisson, said he knows low fares are the key to attracting passengers, and he's doing research to find out how to get people to Mobile rather than Pensacola and Gulfport.
Sisson said, "If we can capture some of that (business) back, we can convince the airlines that they need to offer better service at lower fares."
He said more people flying out of Mobile mean more flights and lower fares.
But business people also talked about other services at the airport, like getting to and from the terminal and the parking lot.
Carol Baehr, a certified financial planner, said, "I love the fact that Bill Sisson said we're going to re-pave the parking lot because, if you're a single traveller and you're dragging your bag to the front, you feel like the wheels are about to rattle off."
Mike Lee with Page & Jones freight logistics said, "The scheduling to me is more important than the pricing there."
But Bender said its important for people to fly out of Mobile Regional Airport.
He said, "You start losing air service, you start losing companies. So when a company is looking at Mobile to re-locate, they're looking at air service just like they're looking at school systems."