http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122333841064709809.html?mod=3Dyahoo_hs&ru= =3Dyahoo=0A=0A=0AAirports Suffer Terminal Illness =0A=09* By SCOTT MCCARTNE= Y=0A=09* Article=0A=09* Video=0A=09* Comments=0Amore in Travel Main =BB=0A= =09* Email=0A=09* Printer Friendly=0A=09* Share: =0A=09* Yahoo Buzz =0A=09= * MySpace=0A=09* Digg=0A=09* Text Size =0A=09* =0AAt=0A8:45 a.m. last Fr= iday, the drop-off curb and the halls of Terminal 2 at=0AOntario Internatio= nal Airport in California were virtually empty.=0ATwenty security screeners= stood ready to check only a handful of=0Apassengers. "It's been this way s= ince JetBlue left," said one=0ATransportation Security Administration scree= ner.=0A Scott Brundage=0AOntario, like many airports across the country, is= suddenly struggling. JetBlue Airways Corp. pulled out of Ontario last mont= h. ExpressJet Airlines Inc. shut=0Adown its independent operation, too. Oth= er airlines have reduced their=0Aflights to the airport serving the inland = side of Los Angeles. Even the=0Abiggest airline at Ontario, Southwest Airli= nes Co., has cut flights. Of 24 gates at the airport, 10 are now empty.=0AO= ntario used to have non-stop flights to 36 cities; now it has only 17.=0ATh= is loss of passengers is creating a vicious economic spiral that=0Ais gripp= ing airports across the country. At a time when airports have=0Ataken incre= asing roles in passenger comfort and care because of the=0Aservice slide of= airlines, today's financial pressures are forcing=0Amajor service reductio= ns and financial strains.=0A =0AEmpty Gates, Terminals at Struggling Airpor= ts2:07=0AMiddle=0ASeat columnist Scott McCartney reports from California's = Ontario=0Aairport one of many airports across the country that are fast bec= oming=0Alonely places to fly because of high operation costs. (Oct. 7)=0ATh= e=0Aflight cuts will make the airport more expensive for airlines. Many=0Aa= irports set landing fees and terminal rents charged to airlines based=0Aon = debt payments and operating costs. When the number of passengers is=0Areduc= ed, costs per passenger go up. Flights become less profitable, and=0Aairlin= es reduce schedules more, potentially driving per-passenger costs=0Aeven hi= gher. Cash-strapped airports will likely also scale back on=0Aupkeep and bu= ilding improvements. Facing reduced foot traffic -- and=0Asales -- struggli= ng airport shops and restaurants may close.=0A"When airlines cut back, unle= ss the airport is able to cut operating=0Acosts, the costs to airlines almo= st always go up," says Bob Hazel, a=0Apartner at consultancy Oliver Wyman, = a unit of Marsh & McLennan Cos.=0AImprovement projects have been shelved in= Atlanta, Phoenix, Oakland=0Aand Las Vegas. A new terminal just opened at D= etroit Metropolitan=0AAirport and an Oct. 1 increase in fees to airlines ha= s been put on hold=0Awhile the airport tries to cut more costs, fearing the= loss of airline=0Aservice. The airport has to the end of this month to dec= ide on a=0Abudget; it has already frozen salaries, imposed a hiring freeze = and=0Arequired appointed staff to contribute more to the cost of their heal= th=0Acare.=0APodcast=0AColumnist Scott McCartney explains how airports are = another casualty of the financial downturn, as new terminals remain vacant= and even retail outlets at airports are emptying.=0AMore=0AFor more travel= news, with up-to-the minute analysis, insight and advice read The Middle S= eat Terminal blog.=0APittsburgh International Airport has sealed off parts = of=0Aits terminal. A huge terminal was built for 30 million passengers a=0A= year, but peaked at 21 million and now is down to eight million or nine=0Am= illion a year. Over several years, US Airways Group Inc. has dropped to few= er than 60 flights a day in Pittsburgh, from 542=0Aflights per day. Alleghe= ny County, which runs the airport, transferred=0A$19.9 million in state gam= bling money to its airport authority in the=0Apast year to support the airp= ort.=0AAirports used to be sleepy, stable businesses, a quasi-governmental= =0Afunction with little competition or turmoil. Airports set fees to cover= =0Atheir costs, and the fees were generally low enough not to affect=0Aairl= ine flight-schedule decisions. Parking fees, rents from retailers=0Aand fed= eral grants, along with a per-passenger tax levied directly on=0Atickets th= at is now up to $4.50, often covered most airport costs.=0AIn recent years,= airports have had to shoulder more of the burden of=0Ataking care of passe= ngers. Fully booked flights and long delays mean=0Aairports have to provide= larger seating areas at gates, bathrooms and=0Amore services. Airlines hav= e increasingly looked to airports to do=0Aeverything from real-estate desig= n and planning to the provision of=0Acots, blankets and toiletries to distr= essed customers.=0A"The travel experience is sufficiently unpleasant that I= do think=0Athe traveling public looks to airports to provide services that= =0Aairlines no longer provide, and that costs money," says Mr. Hazel. He=0A= says airports need to boost efficiency and employ more private-sector=0Acos= t-cutting of their own. Airport procurement, for example, often gets=0Abogg= ed down in city bureaucracy and isn't as cost-effective as it could=0Abe. "= Lean" techniques for operations often employed by business could=0Aimprove = airline finances.=0AAt Ontario, Los Angeles built two new terminals, spendi= ng $270=0Amillion to be able to handle 10 million passengers per year, and= =0Aoptimistically left room between the two for a third big building. The= =0Aairport, seen as congestion relief for over-crowded Los Angeles=0AIntern= ational Airport, made it to about seven million passengers per=0Ayear the p= ast three years, but passenger traffic in August was down 18%=0Aand airline= flight cuts this fall will trigger an even faster decline.=0AThe number of= seats next month will be down by nearly one-third=0Acompared with a year e= arlier.=0AAt a sunglasses retail store in one of the two terminals, a clerk= =0Asaid the shop used to make an average of 20 sales a day. Now, only five= =0Ato seven customers make purchases daily. Some stores and restaurants in= =0Athe two terminals have closed.=0AMany airports are trying to boost reven= ue by exploring ways to=0Ainstall more advertising and spruce up parking. A= t Oakland=0AInternational Airport, for example, a new system was installed = in=0Aparking lots allowing travelers to get in and out simply by swiping a= =0Acredit card. Making it easier to use parking garages may draw patrons=0A= away from off-airport parking, said Steve Grossman, aviation director=0Afor= the Port of Oakland. Oakland is also looking at offering reserved=0Aclose-= in parking spaces, at premium prices, and possibly a "frequent=0Aparker" re= wards program to encourage use of airport parking facilities.=0A Associated= Press=0AThe departures curb at Ontario International Airport.=0AIncreased= =0Aparking and concession revenue can keep landing fees and rents charged= =0Ato airlines lower. Under enormous financial pressures from the high=0Aco= st of jet fuel, airlines have grown increasingly sensitive to airport=0Acos= ts. On average, the landing fees and rents charged airlines=0Atypically amo= unt to about $6 to $9 per passenger, but some new=0Aterminals and expansion= s have raised costs at some airports to $15 to=0A$20 per passenger. Chargin= g $10 more per passenger can turn profitable=0Aairline flights into money-l= osers if there aren't lots of high-fare=0Abusiness passengers on board.=0AS= outhwest and other carriers say fuel cost and flight profitability=0Aare th= e biggest drivers influencing decisions on where to eliminate=0Aflights, bu= t airport costs are becoming an increasingly important=0Afactor. "As compet= itors pull out, the denominator shrinks and our share=0Aof the costs increa= ses over time," says Bob Jordan, Southwest's=0Aexecutive vice president of = strategy and planning.=0AIn Ontario, higher concession sales and traffic gr= owth last year=0Aactually led to a slight reduction in fees when the airpor= t last=0Aadjusted, according to Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of L= os=0AAngeles World Airports, the city agency that runs LAX and Ontario. But= =0Athat will soon change. This year's fee adjustment, she said, "will not= =0Abe such a happy one."=0AAirport staff are trying to cut costs, recognizi= ng that higher=0Aprices could lead to even bigger airline schedule cuts. "W= e do need to=0Aavoid getting into that spiral because you can price an airp= ort into=0Abeing non-competitive," Ms. Lindsey said.=0AThe city is studying= whether funds from LAX might have to be used to=0Asupplement Ontario's bud= get. The Federal Aviation Administration does=0Aallow one airport to suppor= t another financially to relieve congestion,=0Abut LAX is facing its own ma= ssive modernization program that will be=0Aexpensive, and it is already bat= tling with airlines over terminal rents.=0AAsked if the big airport would h= ave to bail out Ontario, Ms. Lindsey said, "I sure hope not."=0AWrite to Sc= ott McCartney at middleseat@xxxxxxx =0A <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".