$120 Million For Airport: Necessity Or Waste?

"Last year, 359,949 passengers flew in or out of Panama City's airport. The number of total passengers will rise to 581,000 by 2038 if a new airport is built, according to a cost benefit analysis prepared by airport consultants.

The consultants also projected that the total passengers at the existing airport would increase to 542,000 during the same 30-year period. Hodges argues that the 39,000 difference in passengers between the existing and new airports could be handled by one 737 jet airliner or two or three smaller regional jets, hardly a reason to expend hundreds of millions in public dollars."

Nice to finally see some traffic projections for the new airport. So we're not talking daily BA flights from London here, folks. And not only significantly lower numbers than Pensacola is showing now, but it's also not that much more than the predictions for VPS in 2009 or so.

I don't doubt that the new airport will greatly benefit St. Joe (which is why the politicos they bought got it passed for them) but when I consider all of the things the government wastes money on, a newer and safer airport that would provide us with more flight options isn't the worst thing.

I've never flown out of Panama City - what is people's opinion of the current airport and its airline/flight options?

I love the Panama City airport. No parking problems, no lines in security most of the time, friendly staff and the connections/prices are often better than VPS.

I will miss it.

It's a hit piece. It's like complaining about asphalt donated to add an extra lane to I-10. Anything good in the panhandle will benefit Joe. So what? They bought the land years ago. Complaining about an infrastructure piece that will benefit the community is wasted energy. 200-300 mil a day to Baghdad, now that's waste!

I agree with Bob. The fact is that this area has grown there is no disputing that fact. With growth comes the need for larger infrastructure. No one *****ed about the new Hathaway Bridge when it was built. The fact that you could spend close to $400.00 on a round trip ticket to anywhere out of a local airport is rediculous. As for the statement about BA to London, that's not the international traffic that will be coming thru. The international traffic will mostly be South America and the majority of it will be cargo headed for Atlanta via FedEx and UPS.

The thought of low cost carriers such as Airtran (they are foaming at the mouth in anticipation) and Southwest really makes me smile. While I do love this area and have no intentions of leaving permanently I would like to visit friends and relatives in other parts of the country more frequently. A new larger airport + new low cost carriers = lower fares. If someone wants to argue that point, BRING IT.

It's a hit piece. It's like complaining about asphalt donated to add an extra lane to I-10. Anything good in the panhandle will benefit Joe. So what? They bought the land years ago. Complaining about an infrastructure piece that will benefit the community is wasted energy. 200-300 mil a day to Baghdad, now that's waste!

Not the first hit piece by the Tampa Tribune. Check out this response to a previous one. It provides a possible motivation:

"In fact, the federal and state funding for the project is coming from dedicated transportation funds. This money is generated by transportation user fees (for example user fees collected when you purchase an airline ticket) and the money is solely available to be spent on transportation projects.

If it?s not spent in Panama City, it will be spent on other airports (like Tampa?s perhaps?)"

http://westbayflorida.blogspot.com/2007/07/tampa-tribune-errors-how-many-in-one.html

Also, when are people going to realize that when something benefits St. Joe it benefits us all? We live here too!

"Last year, 359,949 passengers flew in or out of Panama City's airport. The number of total passengers will rise to 581,000 by 2038 if a new airport is built, according to a cost benefit analysis prepared by airport consultants.

The consultants also projected that the total passengers at the existing airport would increase to 542,000 during the same 30-year period. Hodges argues that the 39,000 difference in passengers between the existing and new airports could be handled by one 737 jet airliner or two or three smaller regional jets, hardly a reason to expend hundreds of millions in public dollars."

Nice to finally see some traffic projections for the new airport. So we're not talking daily BA flights from London here, folks. And not only significantly lower numbers than Pensacola is showing now, but it's also not that much more than the predictions for VPS in 2009 or so.

Who in the heck thinks they can project 30 years into the future for the growth rates in the panhandle? Thirty years ago Orlando had a crappy afterthought terminal setup off the north end of McCoy Air Force Base. Sound like any local airport you know?

I flew through the old Orlando airport when I was a wee mouse. (Wonder if my parents still have my souvenir plastic Republic Airlines wings in a box somewhere) And from what I remember of how insanely overcrowded it was at the time, there were certainly far more than 13 flights an hour going out of there, not 13 per day.

I'd guess they were putting 5-10 million passengers a year at the time through what was basically a Greyhound bus terminal.

Scooter,

I, too, much prefer the Panama City airport over Ft. Walton. There's NEVER an issue with parking and it's only 33 miles from my front door. At Ft. Walton you drive around in circles and feel like you've won the lottery if you find a spot. I personally am looking forward to the new airport with one exception, It's going to open this area up to even more people and that I am not excited about. YUCK

My only possible issue with the Ft. Walton airport is the parking as it CAN take a while to find a spot, but compared to other or larger airports, parking is still a breeze. I feel the golf cart that picks you up and zips you to the terminal makes up for any space search, though I was quite mad one time when I spent 15 minutes searching for a spot in the full lot and my suggestion that "a sign at the entrance telling us that it was full would be helpful" fell on deaf ears!

Love flying out of regional airports instead of "hubs" - I hate the sprawl, confusion, and level of customer service at mega airports!