Fort Smith enplanements up in February

The trend of enplanement gains at the Fort Smith Regional Airport that began in June 2010 continued into February with a 1.8% increase in the number of travelers.

For the first two months of 2011, enplanements total 11,648, up 8.34% compared to the 2010 period.

Enplanements at the airport totaled 86,129 during 2010, up 9.81% over 2009 — an increase that ended two consecutive years of enplanement declines at the airport. Enplanements in 2009 at the Fort Smith airport totaled 78,432, down 9.8% from the 87,030 enplanements in 2008. Passenger enplanements at the Fort Smith Regional Airport totaled 87,030 in 2008, down 12.2% from the 99,127 enplanements in 2007. The 2009 traffic total was the lowest at the airport in the past 10 years.

American Eagle reported enplanements systemwide of 1.09 million in February, down 0.3% over February 2010. For the year, American Eagle enplanements systemwide are up 1.8%. American Eagle cut one flight between Dallas-Fort Worth and Fort Smith beginning Dec. 16.

Delta, the other carrier at the airport, reported that its regional U.S. enplanements were down 6.4% in February.

Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA) also is recovering from two years of consecutive declines. For 2010, the airport had 570,625 enplanements, up 5.49% over 2009. In January, enplanements at the airport totaled 42,088, up 19% over January 2010.

There is concern that the rise in fuel prices will reduce enplanement gains seen nationwide.

“As fuel prices increase, flights become less profitable so airlines may also reduce capacity, and some carriers already have reported downward growth plans,” John Heimlich, vice president and chief economist for the Air Transport Association, noted in this report. “Unfortunately, fuel-hedging programs are increasingly expensive and provide only limited protection when jet-fuel prices are outpacing crude-oil prices.”

Heimlich said a 1 cent increase in a gallon costs U.S. airlines $175 million annually, and a $1 increase in a barrel costs them $415 million.

“To put this into some context, in 2010, U.S. airlines posted an estimated net profit of $3 billion with a meager 2 percent margin, one of only three profitable years in the entire decade. From 2001-2010, U.S. airlines had a cumulative net loss of approximately $54 billion,” Heimlich explained.

On Monday (Mar. 14), United Continental announced it would pull 44 planes out of service to cope with rising fuel prices. American Airlines and Delta, the two carriers that service Fort Smith, have said they will also pull less fuel efficient planes from service and place fuel surcharges on overseas flights.

In mid-January and early February, U.S. airlines began raising fare prices as much as $20 to cover rising fuel costs.

ENPLANEMENT HISTORY (Fort Smith Regional Airport, since 2000)
2010: 86,129
2009: 78,432
2008: 87,030
2007: 99,127
2006: 94,717
2005: 102,607
2004: 92,928
2003: 90,493
2002: 87,944
2001: 95,419
2000: 104,182