Newsstand - MIA ponders cutting landing fees to lure flights

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/nation/11266661.htm

Airlines may get a one-year waiver of landing fees if they add new flights from Miami. Airport officials hope to stop the shift of flights to Fort Lauderdale.

One year...That would make AA happy, no doubt, and it might get UA to restore direct flights to LAX and SFO, but I imagine it is not going to bring UA's South American service back from ORD and IAD...

"The goal, Bonzon said, is to bring in discount carriers, plus international flights to such places as Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Denmark, Belgium and Ireland."

Until the US decides to stop treating guests in this country, particularly transiting passengers, like felons, I can't imagine any international carrier seeing a preference of its passengers for connecting in the US when an non-harassing welcome awaits them elsewhere, possibly even a commie nation like Cuba.

"Regardless, the incentive program alone won't stop the hemorrhaging of passengers to Fort Lauderdale, said Michael Boyd, president of the Boyd Group in Evergreen, Colo.

''You have to have a whole slew of other things,'' he said. ''You have to have rates and charges that are comparable.'' Incentives would only make a dent in MIA's current cost per passenger of about $14.90 -- including landing fees, gate fees and other costs -- versus $4.29 at Fort LauderdaleHollywood."

Ding! Ding! Ding! As usual, Michael Boyd cuts to the heart of the problem. MIA is an expensive airport to use, particularly compared to the other South Florida airports!

Until the US decides to stop treating guests in this country, particularly transiting passengers, like felons, I can't imagine any international carrier seeing a preference of its passengers for connecting in the US when an non-harassing welcome awaits them elsewhere, possibly even a commie nation like Cuba.

And when will that be?

And when will that be?

When other countries start treating our citizens as craptastically as we do theirs, I imagine.

When US citizens scream at their Congressperson about being treated like a criminal when they travel overseas, those Congresspeople will demand State take action. And State will either have to tell DHS to lighten up, or tell Congress to suck eggs since it's about security.

At which points, Congress will take matters in their own hands and State and DHS won't like what happens then...

And when will that be?

Not soon enough.

One year...That would make AA happy, no doubt, and it might get UA to restore direct flights to LAX and SFO, but I imagine it is not going to bring UA's South American service back from ORD and IAD...


I keep thinking AA must be moving flights back to MIA from FLL. There have been so many flight cuts out of here over the past few months. As of next week, the early morning flight to ORD is gone.

The fact that the infrastructure at this airport is horrid is completely skipped in the article. I have both flow to and flown through this airport and I avoid it when I have other options.

The airport is old, the people are not very friendly, why would anyone choose to fly using this airport?

I keep thinking AA must be moving flights back to MIA from FLL. There have been so many flight cuts out of here over the past few months. As of next week, the early morning flight to ORD is gone.

Yep - AA has moved flying back to its hubs and away from some secondary airports it mistakenly thought it had to serve in order to compete against B6 and others, like FLL and LGB. AA's transcons are seeing higher yields now that HP has abandoned them, and AA is finding that passengers are willing to use LAX and MIA instead of LGB and FLL.

It had better come up with better than 'ponder cutting landing fee's'. The place is a joke...