Airport expects more good news - Gas prices increase Buckle up the children Delta news
This should be another big week for Erie International Airport. Continental Airlines is expected to give the official announcement that service between Erie and Cleveland is coming back, and Northwest Airlink is scheduled to put a regional jet on one more of its six Erie-to-Detroit flights. Northwest now uses three 50-passenger regional jets and three 32-passenger turboprop commuters. As of Thursday, the schedule calls for four regional jets and two turboprop commuters. According to the schedule on Continental's Web site, it will launch Erie service with two flights on April 6, and after that go to a regular schedule of four roundtrips a day, using 19-passenger Beechcraft. Erie officials have hinted that the service could be upgraded in the future, depending how the market responds. Northwest Airlink is getting praise from Erie International officials, first for bringing in regional jets in the post-9/11 days when things looked dark, and then for continuing to upgrade with more jet service to Erie. Of course, the bottom line is that all of the airlines in Erie are here because they believe they can make money in this market. Erie officials are waging a "Fly Erie" campaign and are working with the airlines to maintain competitive fares in hopes of generating the business needed to support four carriers. Airlines once had service representatives who checked prices in places like Erie to watch for imbalances in fare structures, but they haven't been able to afford to do that for years. Airport officials say they are now trying to fill that role. Local officials are paying close attention to fares and letting airlines know if they believe some fares are out of line with those the airline has posted in surrounding airports. That would help keep Erie competitive with the major carriers. Of course, discount carriers Southwest and Jet Blue still have fares that will lure some Erie travelers out of town, but local officials believe they can offer a combination of convenience and price that will lessen that impact and increase Erie's share of the market. Federal energy analysts described the oil markets last week as being "tight as a fully-stretched rubber band." Fuel experts with the National Association of Convenience Stores said domestic crude stocks are at their lowest point in 25 years — that current reserves are about 1 percent above the minimum acceptable level of 270 million barrels. The prospect of war with Iraq looms and unrest in Venezuela continues to reduce imports. If all that sounds like a recipe for higher prices, well, it is. The survey that OPIS Energy Group does for the AAA auto club showed the average price being charged by Erie gas stations climbed another 5 cents a gallon during the week that ended Friday. The average among Erie stations was reported to be $1.625. That is only 6.1 cents away from the survey's all-time Erie record of $1.68, which came in May 2001. The survey's averages in other nearby metro areas show $1.563 in Pittsburgh, $1.61 in Cleveland, $1.575 in Youngstown and $1.652 in Buffalo/Niagara Falls. State averages were reported as $1.561 in Pennsylvania, $1.607 in Ohio, and $1.677 in New York. This week is Child Passenger Safety Week and that is a good reminder of a new law will go into effect Feb. 21 to require parents to place children 4 to 8 years old in child safety seats or booster seats. Children aged 8 to 17 will be required to buckle up when riding anywhere in the vehicle, not just in the front seat. Research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that children ages 4 through 7 are three times more likely to sustain serious injuries in a traffic crash if they are using adult seat belts instead of booster seats, said Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials. PennDOT reports police agencies will be out in force to check for child seat belt use when the new law takes effect. Delta Air Lines was making news over the past week. For one thing, the airline is falling in line with other carriers and charging passengers more if their suitcases are too heavy. As of this month, there will be a $25 charge for any bag weighing more than 50 pounds, and a $80 charge for a bag that weighs more than 70 pounds. The airline will not take a bag that weighs more than 100 pounds. Elite frequent fliers will not be charged extra for bags that weigh between 50 and 70 pounds. Also, the new policy does not apply to military duffels and sea bags up to 70 pounds, nor sporting equipment, wheelchairs and some other items. Delta also said it hopes to use lobby redesign, an increase in self-service kiosk technology and new customer service roles for employees to significantly reduce airport check-in wait times and lines at 81 airports. It didn't say which ones. But look for the airline to have lobby assist agents and service coordinators posted in airport terminals and more than 400 more self-serve kiosks and direct phone service to reservation agents. JIM CARROLL,who writes about transportation each Monday, can be reached at (814) 724-1716, 870-1727 or by e-mail at jim.carroll@timesnews.com.
Last changed: February 08. 2003 3:08PM