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County Legislator Mike Sigler told the Lansing Town Board Wednesday that the County is hiring a local resident to consult to the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport to identify measures that will bring passenger levels back after a 13% drop-off last year.

"There's been a large drop off of passengers at the Ithaca Airport and it's caused a lot of concern," Sigler said.  "The County is hiring a consultant to look at why and see what can be done."

Early in February the Legislature authorized funding capped at $50,000 to hire Lansing resident Ewan J. Barr as its airport consultant.  Barr has more than two decades of senior-level experience with national and regional airlines.  He will function as the County’s expert liaison with the airline industry to address a variety of factors that may be contributing to the decline in passenger activity.

Passenger counts steadily increased to record levels in 2010-2012.  But they declined last year after federal sequestration briefly threatened funding for contract control towers, including Ithaca's.  Passenger concerns about safety and reliability of airline flight schedules are thought to be contributing to the abrupt decline in passenger activity.  Sigler said that the Elmira and Binghamton airports are also seeing a drop in passengers.  He said Syracuse is holding steady.

"We have not cancelled that many flights," he said.  "That's something that is a misperception.  But we need people to believe that our airport is good and easy to use.  And it is.  Everything that you like about the airport, we need to get everybody believing that.  There are a lot of positives to our airport, as opposed to driving all the way up to Syracuse or all the way down to Elmira."

Town Councilwoman Ruth Hopkins complained that the length of trips from Ithaca are longer than from some other airports.  But Councilman Ed LaVigne lauded the convenience of dropping off and picking up passengers flying out of Ithaca, especially during bad weather.  Town Supervisor Kathy Miller noted that she and many other people fly out of other airports because there is a considerable ticket price savings.  Sigler agreed that fares from Ithaca are high at a time when passenger counts have dropped off for many regional airports.

"It's not just us," he said.  "But it costs more per person on United for Ithaca than it does at other airports."

Sigler was optimistic that Barr's work will help bring passenger levels up.  While the airport is financially self-sufficient, the county and the local business community have been very supportive in promoting it and finding ways to keep it viable and growing.  Sigler noted that a planned expansion will free counter space for new use by airlines when new space for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is added to the terminal.  He said hiring a consultant would be worth the expense.

"This was successful in the past and we hope it will be again," Sigler said.  "We obviously want to retain what we have, but adding airlines and flights would be helpful for the community."

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