By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Marketing for the Hays Regional Airport is now being done by the Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau, City Manager Toby Dougherty announced recently.
CVB Director Rick Rekoske has marketing and advertising experience; Airport Manager Nathan Marcucci does not, Dougherty told Hays City Commissioners last week.
Commissioners will be asked at Thursday’s Hays City Commission to authorize $25,000 from the City Commission Financial Policy Projects fund to help pay for airport marketing efforts. Another $25,000 would come from the CVB, combining the monies to be used in a “fall push” to promote use of the Hays airport, according to Dougherty.
“We lost passengers when we had Great Lakes (carrier service) because they basically had their fill of the airport with Great Lakes (poor service) and we may never get those passengers back. We did get a few of those passengers back when we received SkyWest’s service. Because of that six-month turnaround, and then losing the early morning flight by SkyWest, some of the people left and just haven’t come back.
“In the interim, SkyWest has actually modified their morning flight a little bit. They moved it up a little bit to take better advantages of the non-stop flights and mid-morning backs in Denver.
“It’s a lot easier now to get out of Hays to pretty much anywhere in the United States in one day–very easy.”
“This is the word we need to get out to the people who could utilize our airport. You need to check the Hays schedule first; don’t assume it’s not going to work for you and don’t assume it’s not going to work based on past practice.”
“People are working under the assumption ‘I can’t get east out of Hays in one day.’ I checked and I can go one-stop and get to Hartford, Conn. I can get to New York City. I can get to D.C. I can get to a lot of places on the eastern seaboard in the early evening with one connection. To me that’s a pretty good schedule out of Hays, Kansas, and if you’re going north or west, the schedule is absolutely great.”
Dougherty said a targeted message needs to be developed that stresses convenience, reliability and affordability in using the Hays airport.
The loss of the early morning flight was “purely a business decision on the part of SkyWest,” he said. Dougherty has talked with the SkyWest network planner and was told that “he’s happy with the way the enplanement projections are going. They understood that modifying the schedule would take away passengers. SkyWest still sees potential here,” Dougherty added.
“They feel confident the smaller number of enplanements will not cause them issues in the next bidding period of EAS (Essential Air Services).
“There’s money to be made in the Hays market,” Dougherty emphasized.