GSP International

[roads-scholar]

20 hours ago, gman430 said:

It’s too bad the City of Greenville doesn’t take over airport operations. I feel like they would have a lot better of a chance of convincing new carriers and service to come here. Why in the world is a textile company running an airport in the first place?  I miss the GSP that fought tooth and nail to get Southwest to come here. It’s almost like now they don’t even care anymore. Sad.

https://gspairport.com/commission-governance-info/

 

[gman]

22 hours ago, gman430 said:

It’s too bad the City of Greenville doesn’t take over airport operations. I feel like they would have a lot better of a chance of convincing new carriers and service to come here. Why in the world is a textile company running an airport in the first place?  I miss the GSP that fought tooth and nail to get Southwest to come here. It’s almost like now they don’t even care anymore. Sad.

What are you talking about? A textile company running GSP? Not even close to being true. 

[gman430]

I stand by my statement. 

Edited March 10, 2022 by gman430

[Exile]

I'd love to see how the City of Greenville would take over management of an airport that is almost entirely in Spartanburg County. That would be fun to watch.

[gman430]

Southwest will be ending non-stop direct service to Houston from GSP in early April. The last day looks to be April 2nd. I wouldn’t be surprised if they completely pull out of GSP soon. They will only be flying three flights a day after Houston is gone. One to BWI and two to ATL. Their load factors are awful especially compared to the other major carriers at GSP. 

Edited March 11, 2022 by gman430

[gman]

15 hours ago, gman430 said:

I stand by my statement. 

Seriously, if you can give us any information to back up your claim, we are listening. Waiting. 

I will add, we owe a lot to the history of the textile industry. We also owe everything to Mr. Milliken and Mr. Daniel  for their great leadership and vision for our area, especially for what they did to build GSP to what it is today. 

[motonenterprises]

On 3/11/2022 at 8:21 AM, Exile said:

I'd love to see how the City of Greenville would take over management of an airport that is almost entirely in Spartanburg County. That would be fun to watch.

The airport claims Greenville much more than it does Spartanburg. When flying to and from there I always hear and see Greenville. Really about half and half in both counties. Closer to Greenville City than Spartanburg City also. 1 or 2 exits and your on Pelham Rd.

[distortedlogic]

2 hours ago, motonenterprises said:

The airport claims Greenville much more than it does Spartanburg. When flying to and from there I always hear and see Greenville. Really about half and half in both counties. Closer to Greenville City than Spartanburg City also. 1 or 2 exits and your on Pelham Rd.

FWIW

I think it's pretty safe to say Greenville gets the most focus here, being that it's the principal city in the upstate. Of course it also serves Spartanburg, as it does Anderson, Greenwood, etc. I think at one time, Greenville and Spartanburg were pretty close to the same size; per the census county numbers Gville had 168K to Spbg 150K in 1950, and 117k to 116K respectively in 1930. It wasn't until the 50s and 60s that Greenville really started to outgrow Spbg (by 1960 it was 209K to 156K). Up through the 1920s Spbg was larger.

Edited March 12, 2022 by distortedlogic

[gman430]

Subject to change of course but here is the current outlook for the GSP passenger airline schedule:

 

American Airlines:

Charlotte-Going from 7X to 8X daily on April 16th then from 8X to 9X daily on August 16th.

Philadelphia-Going from 3X to 2X daily on April 2nd then back to 3X on September 7th.

Miami-Going from 1X daily to 2X on April 12th then back to 1X on June 3rd.

Dallas-Remaining at 3X daily.

Washington DC-Remaining at 3X daily.

Chicago-Going from 1X daily to 3X daily on August 16th.

 

Delta:

New York City-Remaining at 3X daily.

Atlanta-Going from 7X daily to 8X daily on July 5th.

Detroit-Remaining at 2X daily.

 

United:

Denver-Remaining at 1X daily.

Chicago-Going from 2X daily to 3X daily on June 5th.

Newark-Going from 2X daily to 3X daily on May 18th.

Houston-Going from 1X daily to 2X daily on September 7th.

Washington DC-No return to service through early 2023.

 

Southwest:

Atlanta-Remaining at 2X daily.

Houston-Going from 1X daily to no service on April 2nd.

Baltimore-Remaining at 1X daily.

 

Allegiant:

Ft. Lauderdale-Remaining at 2X weekly.

Orlando-Remaining at 2X weekly.

St. Petersburg-Remaining at 2X weekly.

 

Silver:

Jacksonville-Going from no service to 1X weekly on April 3rd then back to no service on July 3rd.

Orlando-Remaining at 2X weekly.

Tampa-Remaining at 2X weekly.

Edited March 12, 2022 by gman430

[motonenterprises]

9 hours ago, distortedlogic said:

FWIW

I think it's pretty safe to say Greenville gets the most focus here, being that it's the principal city in the upstate. Of course it also serves Spartanburg, as it does Anderson, Greenwood, etc. I think at one time, Greenville and Spartanburg were pretty close to the same size; per the census county numbers Gville had 168K to Spbg 150K in 1950, and 117k to 116K respectively in 1930. It wasn't until the 50s and 60s that Greenville really started to outgrow Spbg (by 1960 it was 209K to 156K). Up through the 1920s Spbg was larger.

Maybe, but Greenville is a great deal larger now and is well outpacing Spartanburg in growth and has become much more popular. According to the map you just posted it shows GSP to be about in the middle of the 2 cities, but Greenville's urban area is larger. If there wasn't a huge Spartanburg County sign right before the Hwy 14 exit you'd never know you left Greenville. It has grown across the lines.

[apaladin]

10 minutes ago, motonenterprises said:

Maybe, but Greenville is a great deal larger now and is well outpacing Spartanburg in growth and has become much more popular. According to the map you just posted it shows GSP to be about in the middle of the 2 cities, but Greenville's urban area is larger. If there wasn't a huge Spartanburg County sign right before the Hwy 14 exit you'd never know you left Greenville. It has grown across the lines.

Not to mention the airport is much closer to downtown Greenville than downtown Spartanburg. 

[Exile]

My point is the airport's county jurisdiction. The airport is at least 75% contained within Spartanburg County. Maybe a bit of runway and taxiway in Greenville county. It doesn't matter what it's closest to when it comes to potential issues of oversight/governance. SP will always be a major player in GSP's oversight.

Not that I was taking Gman's "wish" seriously, in the first place.

But I'll bring the popcorn if they ever try.

Edited March 13, 2022 by Exile

[gman430]

Correction: HOU will still served by Southwest but only on Saturdays after April 2nd.

Edited March 13, 2022 by gman430

[motonenterprises]

On 3/13/2022 at 12:02 AM, Exile said:

My point is the airport's county jurisdiction. The airport is at least 75% contained within Spartanburg County. Maybe a bit of runway and taxiway in Greenville county. It doesn't matter what it's closest to when it comes to potential issues of oversight/governance. SP will always be a major player in GSP's oversight.

Not that I was taking Gman's "wish" seriously, in the first place.

But I'll bring the popcorn if they ever try.

Can't underestimate the power of money. Lol.

[gman430]

GSP is not alone. For Charleston:

-Allegiant has dropped service to Cleveland

-Frontier has dropped service to Cleveland. 

-United will not be resuming service to Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee this Summer.

[gman430]

Passenger traffic continues to recover at a much better rate. For January 2022, passenger traffic was 71.0% of normal traffic levels. Preliminary passenger numbers for February 2022 are currently trending at a 90.1% recovery level as well. In January 2022 passenger traffic reflects a 92.6% increase over the same month in 2021. Cargo numbers for January 2022 were up 25.1% for the same period. Passenger load factors were up 16.8% for the month, at an average of 58.3%.

Providing a look forward into the service levels for March 2022 is a schedule comparison for the month vs the same month last year, including flights and seats by airline and nonstop markets served. Currently in the schedules, GSP flights are up at 22.4%, and seats are up at 34.4%. This includes United Airlines ending service to IAD but does not include Southwest cutting service to HOU. By the way, CLT has lost non-stop direct service by Southwest to PHX, DEN, and HOU completely so GSP is not alone. 

 

Palmetto Distillery not surprisingly will be closing. Hudson is currently in the process of finding a replacement tenant. 

 

 

Edited March 22, 2022 by gman430

[GvilleSC]

2 hours ago, gman430 said:

so GSP is not alone. 

I'm glad you've come around to this realization. 

[gman430]

5 hours ago, GvilleSC said:

I'm glad you've come around to this realization. 

But I want Alaska Airlines. 

[gman430]

Palmetto Distillery, RJ Rockers, and Thomas Creek were all closed at the airport today. Sad.

The airport is slated to receive $5.3 million in October from the Build Back Loser plan that passed. If the airport uses this money for anything other than trying to land a new carrier like JetBlue then have failed the entire upstate area. Please don’t use it for something stupid like paving the tarmac. 

Also, there is a budget request working its way through the state House of Representatives that would provide $50 million to GSP from the SCAC. It has a lot of support from area legislators, SC Port Authority, the Chamber of Commerce, and upstate county councils. No word on what the money would be used for or when it could pass the House and Senate.

Edited March 24, 2022 by gman430

[vicupstate]

$50mm to spend and no details. Kind of strange.

[gman430]

6 minutes ago, vicupstate said:

$50mm to spend and no details. Kind of strange.

Hard to tell if it’s just for GSP or if it will be split among several different airports throughout the state. Here is what it says exactly: 

Edited March 24, 2022 by gman430

[rssgvegas]

13 hours ago, gman430 said:

Palmetto Distillery, RJ Rockers, and Thomas Creek were all closed at the airport today. Sad.

RJ Rockers and Thomas Creek still have not reopened since closing at the start of the pandemic.

[gman430]

HOU with Southwest will be going completely away on September 10th.

Edited March 30, 2022 by gman430

[distortedlogic]

I am glad that we got SW and we are better off with them than without; BUT... I have been very disappointed with them at GSP. I remember all the fanfare and talk of the "SW effect." I have never found their fares to be cheaper and they have so few options they just don't seem practical most of the time.

[GvilleSC]

19 minutes ago, distortedlogic said:

I am glad that we got SW and we are better off with them than without; BUT... I have been very disappointed with them at GSP. I remember all the fanfare and talk of the "SW effect." I have never found their fares to be cheaper and they have so few options they just don't seem practical most of the time.

If I recall correctly, their previous appeal and a part of their "SW effect" was the result of their flight setup (I don't recall the term). However, shortly after (or just before?) they came to GSP, they changed to a hub system. I'm sure someone else can speak more intelligently on this topic, but GSP (by no fault of the airport) ended up with a bunch of ATL connection flights.