DATE=4/8/02

TYPE=English Feature

NUMBER=7-36149

TITLE=Smaller Airports Attract Travellers

BYLINE=Jonathan Ahl

TELEPHONE=260-1623 (Editor)

DATELINE=Peoria, Illinois

EDITOR=Faith Lapidus

CONTENT=

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INTRO: Americans are flying again, six months after airplanes were transformed into instruments of terror... although major U-S airports report the number of passengers is down by as much twenty five percent. But some smaller, regional airports are seeing an increase in business. Jonathan Ahl reports from Peoria, Illinois, it seems that travelers are finding shorter lines and less hassle at the smaller airports.

TEXT: Barbie Ricketts flies about ten times per year. Before September 11th, the Peoria hairdresser and grandmother would drive two and a half hours to either Chicago or St. Louis to catch a flight instead of using Peoria's Regional airport. But no longer. She says she wants to stay closer to home.

TAPE: CUT 1 Ricketts

The amount of security going through a larger airport is very time consuming. I think it's very stressful. I don't feel that in Peoria. I feel secure, but I don't feel stressed out with the security.

TEXT: For Miz Ricketts and others like her, the trade off of saving a little money isn't worth it if it means standing in line for up to two hours to get through security at a bigger airport. Things are much different at facilities like the Greater Peoria Regional Airport:

TAPE: CUT 2 SFX Ambience at the checkpoint

TEXT: On a recent weekday morning, four airport employees and two Illinois National Guard members are staffing the single security checkpoint. There are never more than ten people in line, and the average wait seems to be about five minutes. This scene is repeated at smaller airports across the country.

Officials in Akron, Ohio; Manchester, New Hampshire; Flint, Michigan; and Southern California are seeing an increase in the number of passengers while nearby larger airports post a huge drop-off from September 11th levels. Peoria Airport director Mary DeVries says these numbers will encourage airlines to consider scheduling more flights to the nation's smaller airports:

TAPE: CUT 3 DeVries

That baits our hooks (eds: attracts attention) and it makes other airlines look at our numbers. Of course, they look at every market share, they know where our numbers are. They are booked to capacity and we need the seats, and the airlines look at that (eds: most flights from Peoria are full, and if more flights were added, those seats would be sold, too.) They really do.

TEXT: Miz DeVries says she hopes that even as bigger airports work to streamline security procedures, travelers will continue to choose to fly out of smaller ones. But Mike Boyd, a Colorado based aviation consultant, thinks this trend may be short lived. He says the number of passengers that can make a small airport more successful isn't large enough to justify major route changes, and he doubts Americans will give up the convenience, amenities and lower fares of big hub airports.

TAPE: CUT 4 Boyd

The thought that suddenly we are going to relieve Chicago ('s O'Hare Airport) because everyone is going to go to Rockford (Regional Airport) just isn't going to happen. These big metropolitan airports are going to continue to be the places people want to go.

TEXT: Mister Boyd says it is too soon to know the long-term effects of September 11th on airports across the country. But he says smaller airports have done a better job so far to recover and convince travelers it's safe and convenient to fly. I'm Jonathan Ahl in Peoria, Illinois.

NEB/JA/FIL