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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAirport.Minutes.01-11-1994AIRPORT HOARD MINUTES Tuesday, January 11, 1994 'The Runway' Meeting Area AIRPORT BOARD MEMBERS: STAFF Those Present Those Present Bill Walker, Chairman Douglas Leslie Steve Nesler Kevin McMeel Dan Overbey Randy Heldman Steve Robertson Sandy Bloom J. Fred Waltz Mike Wandrick Not Present Allan Maki Chairman Walker called the meeting 10 order at 4:08 PM, Robertson made a motion to approve the December, 1993 minutes as mailed. Wandrick seconded and the motion passed. Holdman gave a report on the airport terminal parking construction project. Landscaping has been done and all greenery is in excellent condition_ Fencing has been received and approved by Mr. Fischer and Mr. Leslie; this fencing was purchased $10 per linear foot cheaper than the original fencing ordered. All new lights are up and working but the old lights in long-term parking have been disconnected; staff is in the process of getting them re -connected. The new gates are up but the electrical work has not been completed. There is a total of 3 electric gates, all carded the same; new gate cards will be issued at a later date. Holders of current gate cards can tum the old ones in and receive a new card; if a gate card is not turned in, there will be a $10 charge for a new one. Penzel did temporary striping in the parking lot at no charge; airport maintenance workers are going to label parking areas for the winter. TWE and P&G enplanements increased in 1993, but Cape Central's numbers decreased, showing a decline in the total enplanements for the year. TWE's increase has occurred since 8193, when the terminal re -opened and advertising began. During TWE's free ticket promotion hold during the holidays, 33% of the travelers filled out entry blanks. The forms showed that 40 and 80 miles is indeed our range for attracting passengers, proving Cape Girardeau is a regional airport; 25% of the forms were filled out by Cape residents. At the bottom of the entry blank two survey questions were asked, one being "What is your final destination this trip?". Chicago was shown as the number one destination, which is what the travel agents indicated when they completed a survey in the fall of 1993. Projects for 1994 are on-line with the Missouri Highway & Transportation Department. A verbal okay has been received to proceed with ramp construction; a letter is forthcoming, New signage is "frying the wires", resulting in a "rush" being put on that section of the project. There has been nothing definite decided at this time for 1995, but Jerry Shipman with MHTD has commented we look to be in pretty good shape for a grant, with lighting a priority. However, with airports which were flooded during the summer of 1993 asking for assistance we could be put on hold. Shipman will attend the pre - design meeting. 2 - Robertson made a motion the Airport Board enter into executive session to discuss lease issues. Overbey seconded the motion and the motion carried. r.. The Airport Board adjourned from executive session and resumed their regular meeting. It was reported the MHTD advocates the EAS given to TWE is reasonable. A stumbling block in attracting another airline to CGI is the fact that one airline on the field already has the subsidy, and each company has to be treated the same as far as landing fees, etc. Holdman has been in contact with the Springfield and Columbia airports; everyone likes the idea of Midway Connection offering not only flights to Chicago, but intra -Missouri flights from Cape to Jeff City to Columbia as well. Holdman asked the Airport Manager at Springfield how they changed the airport name to regional; the manager replied that for marketing reasons you can call your airport "regional" without changing the covenant. An ATIS system was discussed. The weather people on the field could update the system each hour when they complete their observation, which would enable pilots to receive current weather conditions around the clock. Wandrick suggested Holdman look into the cost, etc. of the ATIS. Waltz noted the Southeast Missourian has been writing several positive stories concerning the airport. Nester made a motion that Walker write a letter to Gary Rust, on behalf of the Airport Board, expressing appreciation and thanks for the continued good articles in his paper. Overbey seconded and the motion carried. Riverboat gaming was discussed. Leslie reported that six different groups attended a mandatory pre-bid conference; their proposals are due 1/18/94, with the target award date being 3/7/94. The specifications specifically asked about the handling of corporate aircraft and air tour passengers. Virtually all gaming groups have a significant impact on airports due to the use of air tours. The outlook for CGI is very positive as other small towns with riverboats have thousands of people coming in annually for gaming. Holdman will contact Caruthersville concerning the riverboat they're getting; Overbey will get the name of AZTAR's contact person for Holdman. Robertson asked if, once the installation of the new fencing and gates is completed, there will be informational signage displayed listing services and where they're located. There will be a sign at each of the gate keypads (located by the restaurant and also CCA) indicating, with arrows, "Airlines"; "Airport Operations"; "Car Rentals"; "Fuel Sales"; "Gift Shop"; "Lounge"; "Rest Rooms" and "Restaurant". With the exception of "Fuel Sales", all services are located in the terminal. There being no further business to discuss, Nester made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Robertson seconded and the motion carried; the meeting adjourned at 5:40 PM. The date of the next Airport Board meeting is Tuesday, 2/1/94 in The Runway. Respectfully submitted, I Y �k?lC 7) eAf ,J Sandra L. Bloom Airport Secretary FLY THE NEW CAPE! Volume t Number 3 January, 1994 Happy New Year! We hope your holiday season was happy and safe, filled with memory -making good times. Now that we're in a new year, let's look to the future and make '94 even better and more prosperous than '93 was! AND THE WINNER IS... Bradley A. Faries of Wappapetlo, Missouri! Mr. Faries' name was drawn Monday, January 3 as the winner of TWE's holiday promotion which began "thanksgiving week and anded January 2. Unfortunately, Mr. Faries did not book through a travel agency, which means we were unable to give away two free dinners to "The Runway'. Hopefully next time! FOOD FOR THOUGHT Since we're on the subject of the drawing, here's some facts we thought you might find interesting: ■ Approximately 35% of the passengers filled out an entry blank. ■ Even though the winner did not use a travel agency, several of the passengers did. Of the 202 entry forms filled out, 48 said they used a travel agency in our region; 54 scheduled through agencies in other states; 7 made their reservations directly with TWA and 2 said they booked through the Cape TWE counter. ■ Chicago was the most popular destination (as the surveys the travel agents filled out a couple of months ago showed), with 17 passengers making it their final destination. Detroit and Washington, DC finished second, with 7; Denver, New York and San Francisco each had 6; and Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, New Orleans and Raleigh/Durham placed fourth with 5. (Six of these were included in the 75 most- frequently travelled destinations turned in on the travel agents' survey.) There were 64 other destinations with 1 to 4 persons heading to them. ■ Entry forms were filled out by people from 29 statesl Missouri had 117 entries and Illinois 14. The other states were Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Now Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia and Washington. ■ Towns "represented" were: Missouri - Advance, Benton, Cape Girardeau, �. Chaffee, Delta, Dexter, Dudley, Fairdealing, Jackson, Kansas City, Kelso, Marble Hill, Malden, New Madrid, Oran, Patton, Perryville, Poplar Bluff, Portageville, Risco, Scott City, Senath, Sikeston, and Wappapello and in Illinois - Arlington Heights, Cairo, Cary Chicago, Frankfort, Glen Carbon, Glendale Heights, Grand Chain, Jonesboro, LaGrange, McClure, Park City and Springfield. As you can see, the survey we ran at the bottom of the entry blanks has proven to be very interesting, informative and beneficial; entry blanks in the future will continue to ask the questions, which are: In order for us to better serve you, please answer the following two survey questions: (1) What is your final destination this trip and (2) Your travel agent and his/her agency, if applicable for this trip. IT WONT BE LONG NOW As we've talked earlier, one of the questions asked on our recent 'Travel Survey', completed by area travel agents, was "How Can Current Service Be Improved?" All 20 agents responded "Earlier Sunday PM Departure". That will soon be a reality! Once all surveys were returned and we saw priorities, Trans States Airlines was contacted with the results. As a first step in meeting passengers' needs, they are moving their Sunday flight. The plane will depart St. Louis at 12:10 PM, arriving in Cape at 12:55 PM. The departure from Cape will be at 1:17 PM, arriving back in St. Louis around 2:00. This schedule change has been loaded into the computers and will become effective Sunday, February 6. As you can see, your opinion DOES matter. However, we need to solicit help from ALL travel agents... please "push" this new Sunday schedule! If we can prove to the airline that an early Sunday departure indeed makes a difference, they're going to be much more open to our future suggestions and needs. Please keep in mind the Sunday change is just the cornerstone of CGI's improved airline foundation, and we're going to have to work together if we hope to �s make it solid enough to be built ontol H� STILL GOING UP December boardings on TWE surpassed the '91 and '92 numbers, giving June - December, 1993 a steady increase over recent years. Although some flights were cancelled due to weather and a holiday schodule was flowr for approximately nine days, passenger count for the last - and tiaditionalll the wore t - month of the year was still 395!! WERE HERE TO HELP We're aware that at times plays g A changed - either by choice or necessity. If you encounter problems travelling from the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport - and someone connected with the airport causes these problems - then let that company or person know you're unhappy and what you feel should/could be done to make the situation a little better. If you don't receive a response in a timely manner, please notify our office and we'll do whatever it takes to get an answer for you! For your information, our mailing address is P.O. Box 617; Cape Girardeau, MO 63702-0617 and our telephone and FAX numbers aro 334-6230 and 334-0499. �W NEW HOURS "The Runway Restaurant and Lounge", located in the airport terminal building, is operating under winter hours. They're open from 7:00 AM - 7:00 PM, seven days a week. If you've never tried The Runway, you really should - they have good food at reasonable prices, and serve everything from biscuits & gravy in the morning to New York strip at night! For dessert, their Strawberry Chiffon Pie and Bailey's Irish Cream Cheesecake are favorites among airport employees! A portion of the restaurant can also be partitioned off for meetings and parties; the size of the private area can be adjusted depending upon how many people will be in attendance. One aspect of the 'banquet area' which has proven to be a favorite is the 'presentation wall unit'; when not in use there are decorative doors to conceal the white dry -erasable marking board and pull-down projection screen. Inside one of the doors is a large writing pad, and there is a corkboard strip for tacking up presentation sheets. This area would be ideal for executives flying into Cape, who need to hold a quick meeting with their local management people before heading to another location. If you need more information on 'The Runway", whether it be to place an order or to schedule the banquet/meeting"area, their phone number is 651-3834. Mary Bergen is the owner. TO BE ANNOUNCED 0 A short while back we told you we were working on TWE sponsoring another ticket giveaway, perhaps to coincide with spring break. Due to changes in chairmanship at TWA, that promotion has temporarily been put on hold. TWE does want to do it, but until they receive official notification "from the top", their hands are tied. If we receive the go-ahead before our February newsletter is mailed, we will FAX the information to the travel agents. For those of you who receive our newsletter but aren't connected with a travel agency, please watch the Southeast Missourian for an announcement.