Rockford Update

Here is a story on Rockford Airport-one hour outside of Chicago, FREE PARKING, great website (http://www.flyrfd.com) and a frequent flier program for people who utilize the airport. All things lacking at ORH.

http://www.rrstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060826/BUSINESS04/108260049

Here are the higlights:

ROCKFORD — New passenger flights to Denver, Florida and Arizona are likely, Chicago/Rockford International Airport Executive Director Bob O’Brien strongly hinted at a public forum Friday.New service to places such as Clearwater/St. Petersburg, Fort Myers and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Phoenix could be coming soon, O’Brien said during a 70-minute question-and-answer session at Second Congregational Church.O’Brien, responding to when there will be flights to East Coast destinations, told the 17 attendees that United Airlines flights to Washington, D.C., will come to Rockford once United is successfully flying four times daily to Denver and said a third flight will be announced next week....


During his presentation, O’Brien talked about anticipated announcements for new flights to three more stops in Florida and a route to Phoenix. Afterward, though, he wouldn’t go into further detail on the future announcements.“I can’t confirm or deny officially at this point,” O’Brien said.If the airport is successful in adding any of those flights, it’ll be bucking the trend this year for regional airports. ......

Passenger traffic at Chicago/Rockford is up 3.4 percent through July compared with 2005 and O’Brien believes it will be up 20 percent by year’s end.“It’s demand and supply. We’re working hard to mobilize the community to understand it’s in their best interests to use their airport rather than O’Hare and Midway,” O’Brien said. “That’s why I speak to community groups. We have an international-grade facility, and we have a population base, not in Rockford, but within one hour of this place that would prefer to avoid O’Hare if given the opportunity. I can’t get empty aircraft out there waiting for people to show up. I’m trying to get people mobilized to demand the supply. .....

Even the soaring oil costs, which would hit airlines the hardest if they began topping $80 and $90 or even $100 a barrel, didn’t seem to dull his enthusiasm for the near future of the airport. U.S. airlines have been putting most of their new seats in routes to Europe, Latin America and Asia while cutting some domestic routes, hoping it will allow them to raise fares to cover soaring fuel costs. Delta cut its July domestic capacity by 13 percent while Northwest reported a 12 percent decline.“One-hundred-dollar-a-barrel oil costs universally affect the entire country,” O’Brien said. “Would it unilaterally affect (the Rockford airport)? No. I will say we are working to prepare ourselves for that. The board has a strategic plan to tap into an underground fuel pipeline, which most airports don’t have, and to put in some additional storage for purposes of hedging fuel.”