gvillenative

I understand what you are saying but we have tried using tax dollars to lure retail companies but again same thing... "I want my,and everybody else' tax dollars to go for this, not for that so I'm going to cause so much of a stink that nobody wants to come here.." blah blah, so on, and so forth. Nobody said they are even going to use anything to lure them here. However, if they do that money has already been taken out of my pocket and I didnt even see it, so I'm definately not going to miss it. Taxes are never going to go away so I'm not going to hold my breath, so until then use it on something constructive. As far as the argument about the size of the planes. GSP can, in more ways than one, handle Southwest 737's. The runway is long enough to handle a fully loaded Antinov which is the largest plane in the world, and yes I know the one that came was the smaller version but even that one was larger than our C 5's which frequent the airport. The jet-bridges are amazingly enough designed for planes even larger than 737's, the terminal has are you ready...unused gates... so that answers another question, where could they go? The airport could accomodate them. Just don't know if the "small" metro of only 1.5+ million could accomodate. Here is a little tid bit I almost forgot about, I did this math off of the 55% number I had saw somewhere. I read that the bleed rate could be higher, but I digress. If they just capture 5% of that they would have enough to fill 5 flights a week for a year. Keep in mind they know and have said they can't get the whole number down, but that they know they can capture some of it. That in and of itself should be the incentive to bring them here. Keep in mind my math was generalized I didnt do exact numbers so if I'm not exactly right don't chastize me everyone.

The almighty "Tax Dollars" are used for everything under the sun. So, WHY NOT, put some of it to use to possibly lure them and bring some "REASONABLE" fares in here. I dont care how cheap the parking is, the tickets are, or the mocca soy latte's at Starbucks are for that matter, I wont drive to ATL, or CLT, or anywhere else when I could have a choice 15 miles down the road. Every low cost carrier that has come in here has had success here so why not help the people who dont want to drive an idiotic distance for a cheap flight. I'm for it spend my tax dollars, gotta pay them anyway we have been for the last 200 plus years obviously its not going to change anytime soon. Heaven forbid we put it to something useful, like a cheap way for people to go see thier families they only get to see once a year, or an easier way to get from point A to point B without having to go around our collective thumbs to get to the backside. So, here here spend some of my tax dollars if ya have to so I dont have to drive to the Moon to get a cheap flight.

Buried in the content of the latest article on greenvilleonline.com they airport director, in my opinion, hinted at something to the effect of new service or new cities within the next few months. Please read the article on declining traffic and tell me if I am wrong. I very well could be, but thats just what I deduced from it.

Just a bit curious that no one has commented on the latest story that was on channel 4 last night. I at least expected some of the nay sayers to chime in about GSP being full of it, or "too small for Southwest" or "too close to Atlanta and Charlotte" or something of the sort and that GSP needs to stop dreaming thier pipe dreams...End rant... I could be wrong but to the glass half fullers out there is it a good sign that they are in at least 2 way dialogue between the airport and the airline, instead of the usual we are actively seeking them and they arent saying much to us. Another thing with the other airlines saying competition wont bring prices down, Independence did before they went defunct, might I add not because of us because GSP filled thier flights on Independence. Sounds to me like like they dont want a little healthy competition because they wouldnt make that much of us anymore. And with that I will fade back into oblivion for a while...

Well looking at the pictures Embraer 175 looks a lot like a 737 so that could have been what I saw.

Was in Mauldin today by the MHS and saw a Delta 737 making its final approach to GSP. Never knew they used that equipment into or out of GSP or was this an emergency landing? Unfamiliar with the equipment Delta usually uses at GSP.

I personally think it is really annoying to keep a thread going for the sake of keeping it going when there has been nothing new to report for eons and eons.

I don't expect the city of Greenville to pay for something that connects to the Golden Strip, never have, thats why I said they and the county should start working together I failed to mention however that the other municipalities involved should be pushing this thing as well. You want people to ride this thing though go LRT, I could be wrong but, couldn't you fit more people on a train than a bus? Just a thought.

It would only be amazing in my mind if they would talk about plans for say A REGIONAL line that dont just serve downtown and CU-ICAR and points in between. I dont work at ICAR nor anywhere between here or there. If they want to truly get people out of their cars go where ALL of them go and not just where SOME of them go. I work in Fountain Inn and if I didnt have to drive to work I wouldn't. Maybe the city and county should get together and make this happen instead of always working against each other. The CAT serves Clemson but ya know what Clemson students that I have known go to Anderson to Target and the mall and things like that and ya know CAT GOES THERE, heck they probably even go to Seneca. The other talk about density, I could give a damn how many people per square mile live here I want rapid transit that goes where I go too. People here absolutely can not drive and I despise having to deal with it everyday but since I dont work at ICAR, the Carolina First Center or anywhere between there and downtown I'm left to play Russian roulette everyday... Classic... I know small towns with a better transit system than Greenville even dreams of having.

Actually it was Larry the flight attendant who butchered it. The pilot got it right ...barely...he had to stop for a sec. The gate attendant had to look at the board every time she had to tell us we were delayed which was about 5, just to make sure she said it right.

I just flew in today from Philly to Greensboro/ Spartansburg. Really didnt care how they announced I've been trying to get home since 4 yesterday afternoon. Was just glad we finnaly got home.

It's a start. I hope these flights do good so we get more in the near future. I'm still holding my breath for a direct flight to Boston, and for JetBlue at the end of the ye..., Wait was that the end of 06 or 07?

Can somebody please explain to me what the heck an oxygen bar is. I have no idea.

Ok I see your point, if they are making so much money here why don't they add routes and make more? Just a thought.

I apologize in advance for the late response, my internet has been down for a couple days. I believe I was taken a little out of context by whitehoursview. I was just trying to say that the airlines need to stop with the excuses and offer more service, give us more options at a less expensive rate. I wasn't saying anybody needs to invest any money into GSP, they just need to stop with the malarkey of we are "too close" to Atlanta and Charlotte and just man up and say "...you are intentionally being overlooked because you are a smaller market..." thats all I'm saying. I don't care what anybody says Atlanta and Charlotte are nowhere near being too close. 150 & 110 miles are both long distances and not worth my time or money. Back on subject I think I would see a flight to Canada before I see any other international flight. Who knows they might try that Toronto route they tried some years back. Asia, if we ever got it would be a very long way off.

It does seem unlikely for long international flights in the near future. Although there is some interest from a bussiness standpoint. As far as can they accomodate the size of plane needed I think they can. All they have are single jet bridges, I've seen 747's and 777's using a single jet bridge, and the runway at 11,001 feet can accommodate any size plane maybe even the new Airbus A-380. We had a fully loaded Antinov land here with a 100-ton payload with no problem at all. A fully loaded passenger plane would be well beneath that number. They can accommodate international flights. It just won't happen because of all they crazy variables that GSP seems to lose out on. Such as needing a second runway for some of these carriers. Can't get a second runway till the first one is at like 60% capacity can't increase capacity because the existing airlines won't add destinations; with the exception of Allegiant. Can't get people to use GSP because of the stupidly high prices, the airlines won't lower the prices because the flights are 80% full, so on and so forth. It's time for someone to quit find reasons why not and go against the grain, step up to the plate and make it happen.

It isn't complete the flyover was already in the master plan they just didn't plan on building so soon but apparently there are still problems with the merge from the airport exit to I-85 and with the curve being too sharp. My question is once they build the flyover what is going to happen to that second lane are they just going to make it 2 lanes coming from Greenville? or just cut that lane out altogether. Once the flyover is done the interchange will be complete.

I believe daily flights is the key. I know for me not really having much of a choice of how long you want to stay or what day you fly out there probably had something to do with the low numbers. If there was like even one departure and arrival per day to give you a little more of a choice it probably could have worked. I am not bashing Allegiant in the least I for one was jumping for joy at the prospect of a non-stop route to Vegas, but I only wanted to spend maybe an extended weekend out there 3 days max. Seems like you would have to stay out there almost a week before you can leave. I believe if we get Frontier they would have at least one departure/ arrival per day if not more. if that is the case Frontier probably stands a better chance of succeeding. At least Allegiant stuck their necks out there and gave us a chance. Oh well we are losing one but gaining another in the process.

I emailed Rosylin Weston a few days ago and asked about the cancellation of that route, and the status of the grant which they applied for and here was her response: Dear Mr. Owens: Thank you for your email and your concern about the Allegiant Air Service. Yes, Allegiant has announced that they will stop service to Las Vegas. Airlines can and do stop service to a particular market for a whole host of reasons and sometimes those reasons have nothing to do with the flights being full or not. Unfortunately, service decisions are made solely by the airlines and not the airport. The airport has applied for a grant to assist in the recruiting of an airline to provide direct service to the mid-west - Frontier is an example of such an airline. We are waiting on grants to be awarded. We are told these awards will be made prior to the end of September. We'll keep you posted. Thanks again for your support and your concern. Sincerely, Rosylin Weston Director of Public Relations GSP International Airport

Well alright, thanks for clearing that up for me. That's probably why I said I didn't know what they called their main destination airports. I know now they aren't hubs, rather "bases". So that is clear now, what is an O&D airport?

I was wrong earlier there are other airports with four or more Rockford and Peoria, Illinois have service to all five Fort Wayne Indiana as well and Knoxville has four along with GSP, still its a good thing that we have service to four out of the five destinations.

I only say this because Phoenix-Mesa is the only hub or focus city (or whatever they are calling it) that we don't have a flight to. We got flights to the other 4: Las Vegas, Orlando, Tampa/ St. Pete, and now Ft. Lauderdale. I would love to have the route as well. Maybe they read this forum and see there is interest. Who knows. Could be wrong but going by the most recent goings on, now a GSP to Phoenix route doesn't sound so unreasonable. We have more allegiant flights(according to the route chart) than any other non-hub airports for Allegiant. The only ones that have more than us are the 5 hubs.

Having said what I said before the last announcement about Ft. Lauderdale, I said I wouldn't be surprised if we got that route. Low and behold we got it. I'm just gonna go out on a limb here and say they same for Phoenix-Mesa. Not saying it's gonna happen, but with all the success Allegiant is having at GSP it just wouldn't surprise me. Distance isn't a factor because it's a few hundred nautical miles (as the crow flies) maybe closer to us than Las Vegas is.

Before I start I realize this is all out of the blue, but was looking on AirTran's website at the route map. I saw something that I must say is very intriguing. Now I remember having discussions about yeah AirTran has been looking at GSP for possible routes and well the reason they are reluctant is because of Delta and I remembered another argument and there was the same argument about JetBlue and just about everything else we can't get down here, which was well we are just too close to ATL, or CLT, or RDU, so on and so forth. Why does that matter here and in DC AirTran serves Dulles and Reagan. To me the too close justification is just malarkey. They are just scared because it is not a huge airport and they think they would lose money and figure they can make people believe whatever they want to. All praise be to Allegiant for having the courage to do what they are doing here, and going against their own grain by going to Vegas from here. Hopefully there is more to come. Would like to see the airport live up to it's International billing with at least a regular flight to like Canada or like Cancun or Cozumel, then in the future Europe. Would be nice but the way things go here won't happen because we are just "too close" to everything.

Let me say however that even though I pay the prices to fly out of GSP I do agree that $300-$400 price range is still ridiculous with a capital RIDICULOUS! Hopefully it'll change in the not too distant future. Sorry for all the edits lately, grammatical errors.