GSP lands Southwest Airlines. (Columbia, Charleston: tax, law, airport)

[g-man430]

This deserves its own thread. Just received the info this morning from my Greenville News business writer contact. Don't know the destinations yet but it looks like the announcement should be coming this month sometime.

[SFLtransplant]

Gman,
First time, long time. I hope this is not an April Fool's Day joke LOL
This is great! Now GSP can hopefully retain the 65% leakage they lose to ATL and CLT. My company (a very large GVL employer) routinely sends people out of CLT due to this.
Hopefully they make this formal in the next week or so.

[Sonrise]

YES!!!!!!

Although my company doesn't use them since their not on Egencia or any corporate travel agency, but YES, nonetheless.

[g-man430]

Money talks: Tax brings Greenville County residents more recreation options | greenvilleonline.com | The Greenville News

The county Recreation District is in the middle of a string of grand openings, and a recent change in the once hotly debated tax law marks $1 million of the funds to help lure Southwest Airlines to Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport — the first tax recipient that’s not a park or community facility.

Meanwhile, executive director Gene Smith said the district has another $20 million in unmet capital needs and that he’s likely to return with a proposal in the fall, though he told The Greenville News he’s not yet sure what the proposal would look like.

The Southwest money would go into a reserve fund that the airline could draw if its local losses exceeded a set amount, said County Council Chairman Butch Kirven. Southwest has yet to decide if it’s coming to Greenville, and even if it does, the money’s use would be unlikely, he said.

State Rep. Bill Wylie has floated state legislation that would create a fund of about $15 million to reimburse airline losses for up to 24 months.

[g-man430]

Grooms, clearly irritated by support for that measure, wanted funding for a grants program designed to lure low-cost air carriers into the state.

That proposal already is represented in a Senate bill on the calendar, but Columbia-area lawmakers currently are opposed to that measure because they are investigating whether a secret deal has been struck with an airline that would bring the low-cost carrier to an airport in Greenville, not Columbia or Charleston.

MOD EDIT .

Read more: Senate OKs 50-cent cigarette tax hike - S.C. Politics - TheState.com

[ckeegan]

I seriously hope that wasn't an April Fool's joke. Seriously.

[Skyliner]

As usual, I will remain skeptical until the official word is released from Southwest Airlines. There are too many unanswered questions to believe this information is completely legitimate until then. This "Greenville News business writer contact" should be very careful about starting rumors that may not be true and g-man430 should be careful spreading them without enough evidence in hand. The signs may indeed point in that direction, but if a secret deal has been made, then we will eventually hear it from the official source.

[ckeegan]

Well, there's no question that "they" are putting forth more of an effort to land a low-cost carrier now, than ever before. I also seem to remember g-man posting something about Southwest checking out Greenville, only to have it on the front page of the Greenville News a day or two later.

Believe me, I will remain cautiously optimistic until they open up their reservation system for flights out of GSP. I flew to Pittsburgh a couple weeks ago, and paid $313 out of GSP, while a friend of mine made the same trip for $170 on Southwest.

[g-man430]

April Fools. I'm sorry but I couldn't help it guys. No, it's not a done deal yet. The bill has to go through the senate first.

[g-man430]

Oh and check out the front page story this morning in the Greenville News. Not pretty.