Tom Bona Interview

Here are the answers to the five questions that I asked Tom Bona of the Rockford Register for our second ever blog interview. Thanks Tom!!!


1) How important has the recent success of Rockford been to the City of Rockford itself?

So far, the main benefit has been for companies that use UPS regularly, because UPS has its second-largest sorting hub here.

It remains to be seen exactly how much the city will benefit from the airport's more recent success, but local leaders do feel it will have a very good economic impact. They expect to see not only an increase in cargo carriers at the airport, but more distribution centers, freight forwarders, trucking companies, etc., pop up nearby. They also see more aircraft maintenance and aerospace jobs, which would pay more than distribution jobs.

The increase in passenger service has somewhat benefited gas stations, hotels and restaurants, but the real benefit for those businesses is down the road, if passenger totals approach a million or more a year.

I think everyone would agree that RFD to date has largely untapped its potential as an economic driver, but if the developments being sought work out as planned, it could really help rev up the local economy.

2) Do you think Rockford could be where they are today without your Airport Director, Bob O’Brien?

Bob has been very important as a salesman for the airport (both to potential passengers and airlines) and as a tireless, energetic public face. He dares locals to dream big about the airport, and clearly articulates how he thinks it can reach those dreams. Having someone who can both think big and articulate a clear vision for getting there is key.

But - and Bob would be the first to say this - the credit also goes to the Greater Rockford Airport Authority. The board hired Bob because they wanted big things for the airport and wanted to buck conventional wisdom that it couldn't draw passengers in the shadow of O'Hare. They've backed him in his efforts to bring more passenger and cargo service here, have funded initiatives and also pushed him to do as much as he can. You can have the most dynamic airport director in the world, but if the people who hired him or her aren't dynamic too, it doesn't mean much.

3) What role do you think Rockford’s Miles Ahead program has played in the success of Rockford?

It has at least 23,000 people outside of our county (and another 10,000 in the county) at least thinking about Chicago Rockford International Airport. They in turn could be passing information to their friends. I know the recent "Big Event" promotion where they gave $30 to $100 cash back to anyone buying tickets sold 600 tickets. They basically spent $35,000 in "advertising" to sell those tickets, get people in the door, give them a good experience when they fly and hopefully get them returning. They do smaller promos all the time, and those have at least played some role in getting people in the door. The proof will be if numbers continue to advance.


4) What role do you think Free Parking has played in the success of Rockford?

Free parking is huge because it is one of the single biggest differentiating factors in getting customers away from O'Hare (and to a lesser extent, Milwaukee). It's part of the "hassle free" brand the airport is trying to create - come here and it'll be easier and cheaper.

5) What do you think lies ahead in the future?

Allegiant is going to continue to grow - they've indicated they want to add one more domestic destination, one Caribbean or Mexican destination and several "niche destinations" to their system in the next few years. Rockford would continue to get most of those, it would appear. United will likely stay put, but it's not clear if it would add flights or destinations … it doesn't seem likely right now. The big question is whether the airport can get another "name brand" airport or two for it to grow as fast as officials want. That would be someone like Southwest, Jetblue, Skybus, ATA, etc. … and with the industry what it is, who knows their intentions? You can bet, though, the airport will continue to market itself like crazy to the western Chicago suburbs and southern Wisconsin and, if numbers continue to increase, some airline will listen. The thing naysayers forget is, RFD isn't marketing to all of Chicago, just the people who are as close or almost as close to here as to O'Hare.

On the cargo front, I can see a couple of carriers bringing some of their operations here next year, and more joining them later on. There are plenty of economic reasons for cargo carriers to come here: it's cheaper, has good transportation infrastructure, has the runway lengths and an airport staff willing to bend over backwards for them. I think you'll see big cargo growth sooner than passenger, but the possibilities for both are there.


Thomas V. Bona
Staff writer
Rockford Register Star
http://www.rrstar.com/