![]() airports and state aviation departments, businesses and economic development agencies. Swelbar is the founder of the Regional Air Service Alliance, or RASA2, a coalition of 80 U.S. ![]() "Small community airports are going through a rough time." "It's a national issue it really is," said William Swelbar, chief industry strategist for Delta Airport Consultants, an aviation consultancy firm based in Richmond, Virginia. These regional and small community airports are struggling to retain the same level of service amid airline consolidation, rising oil prices, a looming pilot shortage and a trend that is shifting away from smaller, regional jets to larger aircraft. Efforts to grow air service and increase passenger numbers are ongoing as leaders look to unravel the community's perceptions - and misperceptions - about airfare and service availability.Īt the same time, the airport and its governing board are wrestling with a host of new issues sweeping the regional air-service industry. They move along seamlessly to the security checkpoints and on to the modern concourse.įor passengers, the process reflects the airport's marketing tagline, "Easier."įor airport leadership, though, these days are tougher.Ī decline in passenger numbers has emerged as a critical issue for the airport in Moline, owned and operated by the Rock Island County Metropolitan Airport Authority. ![]() Travelers pass the airport's gift shop, Paradies, which is stocked with snacks and reading material, along with John Deere green and yellow memorabilia and novelty T-shirts promoting the Quad-Cities and Midwest, declaring, "What happens in the cornfield stays in the cornfield."Īt the airline counters, passengers check their bags through the X-ray machines with little waiting time. ![]() A lone Allegiant airplane takes off from the Quad-City International Airport, leaving one white streak against a gray afternoon sky.Īn arriving flight has spilled about three dozen people into the baggage claim area, where they quickly recover their luggage. ![]()
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