June 1, 2010

Casual fliers aren’t the only ones who think about low fares and new destinations from Mid-Continent Airport. Landing Southwest Airlines could be key in landing new companies in Wichita.

The director of Wichita State’s Center For Economic Development and Business Research, Jeremy Hill says the prospect of landing Southwest would have a far-reaching impact on the Wichita area economy.

"For attracting new industries it's very critical to have a strong, vibrant airport,” Hill said. “And having good companies like Southwest Airlines can make the strength for the local economy."

Over the years, some companies cited high fares and poor air service for moving to Wichita. But, that was before the affordable air fares program. The millions in state and local incentives it provides has boosted traffic at Mid-Continent Airport by attracting discount carriers like Airtran and Frontier.

"Kansas' Affordable Airfare program has been very successful and we're very happy with it and would not want to do anything to jeopardize what we already have," Sedgwick County Commissioner Dave Unruh said.

There in lies a problem when it comes to getting local leaders to talk about landing Southwest in Wichita. There are questions about how much it’ll take in incentives to bring them to Mid-Continent and whether there’s enough for both Airtran and Southwest.

"We have had a great relationship and perhaps we could expand it and include another carrier," Unruh said.

But, he says so far no one is bringing forward to county commissioners or Wichita council members the specific research on what landing Southwest. would mean to the local economy.

"My concern would be that we don't talk about it so much that we cause something to go haywire on us," Unruh said.