December 19, 2005

Todays Letter to the Editor

There was a letter today from a John Wadsworth trying to get Allegiant to Tampa. In the end, he ended up taking a flight out of Providence. Unlike in the past, when we had uncompetitive prices, this was not Allegiant's fault. Allegiant needs to marketed to our target market (20 minute drive) solely as a great economical way to get to Orlando..

If you want to go to Boca, Tampa, Fort Myers, Fort Lauderdale, Miami etc then do not waste your time.. Our goal with the entrance of Allegiant was to put ORH back on the market with with flights at or near 100% loads to Orlando-Sanford. If this was accomplished then the airport industry would take notice and maybe we could then get flight to St Petes (not Tampa but close), Ft Lauderdale, Miami and Fort Myers.. This could be done by possible expansion by Allegiant or the entrance of USA3000 or Hooters.

The question is (I do not know the answer) is are the other airlines taking notice of ORH sales to Orlando on Allegiant, either good or bad. Guess we will know over the next couple of months??? The fate of ORH may be solely based on these early returns from Allegiant.

6 comments:

Joe Gargery said...

Bill, you seem to have missed the point Mr. Wadsworth was making.

He can travel Worcester to Sanford for $828.80, or Providence to Tampa for less than half ($308.60).

Why would anyone fly from Worcester whan a 1 hour drive will cut the price in half?

When will you people figure it out?

Charley Farley (an abused taxpayer)
www.closeorh.blogspot.com

Bill Randell said...

I do not think Mr Wadsworth would have gotten a price for 308.60 round trip four round trip to Orlando out of Providence. My point is that we can compete price wise out of ORH to Orlando.


Bottom line if Mr Wadsworth want to take his family to Disney, Allegiant is competitive... Anyone looking to fly to other Florida destinations like Tampa, Allegiant is not your best option.

Joe Gargery said...

I just checked orbitz.

Boston to Orlando

Airtran Price $179pp including all taxes. That's $358 for two people, compared to Worcester to Sanford at $828.

Thanks Bill, but I'll drive to Boston.

Anonymous said...

To be fair, a lot of this depends on when you are flying. For example, a trip from July 7 to July 14 is about $120 from Worcester, and no cheaper than $170 from Boston/Providence/Hartford/Manchester.

Bill Randell said...

Charley:

O'kay I bet you can always find a price from somewhere in New England to beat Allegiant. Day in day out it will be, in the very lease, competitive. More so if we provided free parking, free wifi and a place to sit down and grab breakfast and lunch.

My point today in regards to Mr Wadsworth letter was that the airport should have been marketed clearly as not being viable to Tampa or other Florida destinations. The $455,000 grant to date has not done a good job of identifying who, or what, ORH is.

Alec said...

The Allegiant prices also depend on the amount of tickets already sold for that flight. The flight that Mr. Wadsworth was trying to book could have been close to full.


Also...a person in the right mind would not actually book Allegiant unless they are going to Orlando. It would be an hour drive from SFB to Tampa, which is the same as going to BOS, PVD, BDL, or MHT.