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Old 10-15-2008, 12:04 PM
 
Location: Canada
2,140 posts, read 6,455,598 times
Reputation: 972

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Watch out: they will be gas drilling on the Front Range by Monument and may ruin the current pretty and healthy place.
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Old 10-15-2008, 12:41 PM
 
228 posts, read 593,433 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cyborg13 View Post
Contrary to a previous statement, there is plenty of commercial air traffic in and out of Durango. US Airways, United, Delta, and Frontier all serve Durango with numerous daily flights to either Phoenix or Denver. I think Southwest flies in there in the winter months also.
I agree with most of everything else you stated, however, I do have to take issue with this. The current struggles of the airlines is very well-documented, and this is not a problem that's likely to improve in the future, in fact it's likely to get a whole lot worse. There are numerous reasons for this, but suffice it to say that the airlines' entire business model is outdated and they're losing money by the billions. Given what's likely to happen in the future with oil prices, compounded by the demand destruction happening now due to rising air fares, I think that the outlook for air service to all small regional airports across the country is bleak, but particularly in a market like Durango which is so heavily reliant upon tourist traffic (read: discretionary income) to fill seats.

The worse things get for the airlines (and they're about to get really bad), the worse the reliability for service to small markets via twinprops and regional jets is going to be. These are the least profitable routes for airlines on a per-passenger basis and mark my words, these will be the first to get outrageously expensive, then less frequent, and finally, in all likelihood, cut altogether by the major carriers, or at least whittled down to a few very expensive flight options maybe a few days out of the week at most. This is going to hit a place like the west slope of Colorado especially hard, since air service has long been the preferred mode of transportation to reach remote places in the mountains thanks to the indirect, often treacherous roads.

Delta is the first casualty; they are no longer flying out of Durango (this was as of August). Southwest is no longer flying service to Durango from Dallas at any time of year and hasn't in some time. Among other things, Southwest's fleet consists of 737's exclusively- they don't have any smaller planes and Durango Airport has disallowed these aircraft as they're too large for the runways. So already, two of those carriers you've mentioned above are gone. Mesa Airlines operates service to Durango out of Phoenix, they are contracted to US Airways (even though the planes are painted with "US Airways" logos, it's not actually US Airways staffing or operating them); they fly out of Phoenix to smaller regional airports in the southwest. Mesa is an awful, expensive, completely unreliable carrier that's virtually always on the brink of going under even in the best of times. Mesa statistically leads the industry in canceled flights (look it up). About a year ago Farmington Airport cut their service for being "overpriced and unreliable". I've been stranded trying to fly into or out of Durango on Mesa/US Airways so many times, I don't care if I never fly them again. Matter of fact, it was recently announced that Mesa is cutting something like 250 jobs, including 150 pilots (read here):

Mesa Airlines cuts up to 250 jobs

I'd say this recent development isn't likely to improve their already shoddy service.


So that leaves United and Frontier, both of which have filed for bankruptcy recently and are on really shaky ground financially, and your only nonstop option from Durango on either of those carriers is to Denver, then you'd need to connect if you need to go anywhere else. Flight options out of Durango on both carriers have gotten extremely pricy in the face of the current economic troubles, as they try desperately to stay afloat. I booked a flight to go out east to visit relatives in January (not even a holiday weekend, mind you) recently- no joke it cost $960 on Frontier and the quote for the same fight was over $1000 on United. This the reality of what you're facing regarding air service out of not just Durango, but any of the other small mountain towns in the Rockies now and in the future. I know this was long-winded, but to paint a positive picture as you have is incredibly misleading, IMO.

Last edited by borborygmi; 10-15-2008 at 01:04 PM..
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Old 10-15-2008, 10:29 PM
 
Location: Waco, TX
977 posts, read 1,950,619 times
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I am aware of the airline industry's current condition. I moved to Farmington to go to Mesa's flight school and the fact that I have no job yet is testament to the market. But while the market may be bad, your argument is based on theory and future possibilities. Currently, air service to Durango is still strong. Airfare is expensive everywhere, not just Durango or the small markets.

Frontier did file for bankruptcy, but added the Durango route after the fact. They have no plans to pull out of the market.
I had not heard about Delta pulling out, but given their cutbacks and the contract issues they have had with their code-share carriers (Mesa and Skywest), it doesn't surprise me.
Southwest ran their DRO-DFW route as recently as last winter. Have not heard about plans for this winter. The size of the runway is not an issue - it is plenty long (9200x150 ft) to accomodate aircraft as large as a 767 (you could probably put a 747 down there if you really wanted to, but it'd be tight). I have seen 737s, a 757, and C130s all land at DRO in the last year. If the airport banned those planes, it was exclusive to Southwest because plenty of other large craft still land there.
Mesa is in bad shape, but there are no plans to pull out of Durango currently. I know several Mesa pilots and am fully aware of their pilot staffing issues. As they cut back their Freedom certificate, more pilots will lateral to the Mesa list causing a bigger surplus of pilots, thus more furloughs. Fact is that ALL airlines are cutting back.
Even if things do get worse and the current carriers try to pull out, the government will step in to assure continuous service to the market because it is what's called an Essential Air Service (EAS) market. At least one airline will fly the route as required by the government, and if they do not break even financially, the government forks out the difference to ensure the continuity of service. That is what they are doing for Great Lakes in Farmington now that everyone else has pulled out.
There are only 3 airlines making money anymore - FedEx, UPS, and Southwest. In my opinion we are heading towards a total government takeover of the passenger airline industry, and the way things are going everywhere, it may not be a bad thing.

But...I don't think the status of the airline industry is a top priority in finding a place to move. If you can afford to live in Durango, airfare should not be an issue. Maybe it's not anyway, but someone mentioned that there was none in the area, which is not true.
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Old 10-17-2008, 09:44 AM
 
228 posts, read 593,433 times
Reputation: 157
Quote:
Southwest ran their DRO-DFW route as recently as last winter. Have not heard about plans for this winter. The size of the runway is not an issue - it is plenty long (9200x150 ft) to accomodate aircraft as large as a 767 (you could probably put a 747 down there if you really wanted to, but it'd be tight). I have seen 737s, a 757, and C130s all land at DRO in the last year. If the airport banned those planes, it was exclusive to Southwest because plenty of other large craft still land there.
I actually spoke with an agent at Southwest about this, just to confirm that what I wrote was correct. And it was from the agent that I got confirmation that the DRO-DFW is no longer in existence, at any time of year, and had not been in some time, to her knowledge. She thought that it had to do with both the inability to fill the flights to anywhere near capacity, which means the route was a money-loser, and also due the size of their planes not being compatible with the runway length at the altitude of the airport- think about it. Higher elevation means less dense air, which means that, particularly in warmer temps, large planes need longer runways to take off. This in fact was I believe one of the reasons that Denver's airport was moved from Stapleton out to where it is now, b/c of the ability to construct much longer runways with the extra room. If you say that larger planes fly out of DRO all the time, I won't argue, but I have to tell you that I've flown out of that airport probably over a few dozen times and I've never seen any aircraft there larger than a regional jet. But I digress- the point is, Southwest no longer flies to DRO and probably won't ever again.


Quote:
In my opinion we are heading towards a total government takeover of the passenger airline industry, and the way things are going everywhere, it may not be a bad thing.
Yeah, well, I guess the general trend these days is for the government to assume control of everything that's losing money and impose the risk on taxpayers, so I wouldn't be surprised. As far as it not being a bad thing... listen, IMO, everything the government touches turns into an overregulated, inefficient, bureaucratic nightmare. Look at the TSA as it is. Look at the VA health system. Look at what a mess flying in this country is already... sheesh. Imagine the cancellations and snafus if the government was running things, without any recourse by the consumer. I doubt it would be a good thing at all, in fact I think it would be a huge fiasco if that happened.

Quote:
I don't think the status of the airline industry is a top priority in finding a place to move. If you can afford to live in Durango, airfare should not be an issue.

Considering how isolated it is and the lack of any reasonable alternative, if your friends and family live thousands of miles away and you're out here surviving on a fixed income, relying on air travel to be able to visit your loved ones, you bet it's a consideration. Absolutely.
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