JayStream

Each week I receive a newsletter from Airfare Watchdog, aggregating low-priced airfares from my home airport in Sioux Falls. For months, about the only special airfares listed in the newsletter have been these four flights: to Las Vegas on Allegiant, to Orlando on Allegiant, to Mesa on Allegiant, and Los Angeles on Allegiant. Hey Delta and United – are you ever going to give Sioux Falls flyers a break? (I won’t call out American Airlines yet, because they are adding Sioux Falls-Chicago service in April.)

After writing a previous blog about the high cost of flying out of Sioux Falls, I asked the Department of Transportation for some data about Sioux Falls airfares. As of the second quarter of 2009 (the most recent data available), the average price of an airline ticket, excluding taxes and fees, was $397.91. Compare that to a single-ticket average of $354.83 in Des Moines, and $290.27 in Omaha. I created a chart from the long-term data, and it appears those booking flights out of Sioux Falls have paid premium prices for years.

Without Allegiant Air service in Sioux Falls, the price gap between Sioux Falls and other cities would probably be even greater. According to the Research and Innovative Technology Bureau of Transportation, the bargain carrier Allegiant now accounts for 21.43% of the passenger traffic in Sioux Falls, second only to Northwest (which used to dominate the airport) at 22.48%. Skywest (feeder for United) is third at 20.20%, followed by United at 11.40%, and Pinnacle (feeder for Northwest) at 7.58%. The numbers were compiled between September, 2008 and August, 2009. With a relatively even spread of passengers across several carriers, one would think that Sioux Falls would have a competitive price structure – but that does not appear to be the case.

I should perhaps mention that the entire Sioux Empire has fallen victim to full retail-priced ticketing. Airfare Watchdog says this about the airport in Sioux City, IA: “Sure there are fares from Sioux Gateway Airport…but they’re way too high to meet our Dealhound standards.”

Jay News, Travel Allegiant, Delta, Northwest, Sioux Falls airport

I’m not really a frequent flier anymore, but I travel enough to believe the merger of Northwest and Delta will be the death of small-market air service.

My airport, in Sioux Falls, was always Northwest-dominated, feeding into the airline’s main hub in Minneapolis. Delta and United also served Sioux Falls, acting as quasi-competitors. But now that Northwest and Delta are one, there is barely any competition in Sioux Falls.

I just had my first real experience with this, trying to book a one-way fare to Norfolk, Virginia for a Saturday in October. I didn’t expect it would be difficult to find a decent price, since I am pretty flexible in my travel plans, and was booking for a weekend over a month away. I have been shopping all of the travel websites to see what I could find. I have kept track of the fares for a couple weeks, and have truly been shocked by what I have been seeing.

Here is what I found on Orbitz.com, and the other travel sites are very similar. The least expensive one-stop fare for a one-way ticket out of Sioux Falls on a Saturday is $737 plus taxes? Really? The only conclusion I can reach is that Northwest and Delta are gouging Sioux Falls. I prefer to fly from my home airport, and I am willing to pay a little extra to do so. But this is ridiculous.

I then researched fares for the same flight out of Omaha, a three hour drive from here. I know that Southwest Airlines (which is not included in Orbitz listings) has routes into Omaha, and have always heard its influence is profound. Judging by what I see, I totally agree.

I checked the Southwest website to confirm what I suspected. Southwest’s price for the same route on the same day is so low that Northwest/Delta matches it, seemingly for competitive reasons.

Actually, the final price is not the same. I need to check two pieces of luggage, a simple act that would cost me 40 dollars in fees from Northwest/Delta. Two pieces of luggage are free on Southwest, so you can guess which airline I booked, even though it means a three hour drive to Omaha just to get on a plane.

One would expect more and more travelers will make the pilgrimage down I-29 to use the Omaha airport instead of Sioux Falls. As a former Northwest silver elite frequent flier based in Sioux Falls, I am sad to see it happen. But the new, merged, more expensive airline is forcing travelers to do it.

Postscript: Rather than booking a one-way ticket, I found it is more “affordable” to buy a roundtrip ticket from Sioux Falls-Norfolk for $497. But the point stands – even that is three hundred dollars higher than driving to Omaha – and that’s before you factor in the checked luggage fees.

Jay News, Travel airport, Delta, Northwest, Omaha