As an airport puts together a recruitment plan to land a new international route, or retain an existing route, it is important to realize that an international airport in the next town over or even the adjoining state is not your competition, said Christina Cassotis, a vice president of the consulting firm of SH&E. No, instead your competition is any city within the flight range of an aircraft’s home base. Cassotis, in her presentation to the ACI-NA International Aviation Issues Seminar in Washington on Dec. 3, noted that a London-based Boeing 777 can reach much of the world thus U.S. airports are competing with Asian, African and European cities.
It is important for U.S. airports to realize that their international competition is not bound by FAA rules when crafting incentive programs. It is impetrative to tap local resources in order to craft “out of the box” incentive programs, she said. Landing fee waivers are taken from granted. Considering a trans-Atlantic flight represents more than a $100 million investment, Cassotis said a $2 million incentive package “may not move their needle that much.”
However, Portland’s $4 million incentive plan got Delta’s attention.
"Super Hero"
In the “dark days of last winter,” David Zielke, from Portland International Airport, said his community came close to loosing its three international flights: Delta to Tokyo, Delta to Amsterdam and Lufthansa to Frankfurt. The hometown of Nike and Columbia Sportswear, he said, needed its non-stop international flights to support its growing international business community. The airport’s parent, the Port of Portland, entered in a $4 million “risk-sharing” deal with Delta to maintain its two routes for another year. The airport is waiving $500,000 in landing fees and the port has tapped into its general fund to provide a $3.5 million revenue guarantee. He noted that the port has that flexibility under FAA rules.
While it was negotiating the Delta deal, Zielke said Lufthansa dropped its route.
A key element in the Portland strategy is its International Air Service Committee, which is a public-private partnership designed to retain international flights. The committee was able to tap it vast network of business associations and provided Delta with thousands of names as leads for sales calls.