Air traffic at Reno-Tahoe Airport hasn't
entirely recovered from the Sept. 11 fallout
and isn't likely to improve any time soon.
In October, there was an average of 81
daily departures at the airport. That's
down from 83 daily departures before
Sept. 11, 2001, according to the Airport
Authority. The average so far for
November, though, is 78 daily departures,
and the projection for January is just 75,
said Tom Medland, director, marketing
and air service development at the Airport
Authority.
Reno Airport is suffering along with
the rest of the nation's commercial air
industry. Airlines have lost between $5 billion
and $7 billion since the 2001 terrorist's
attack, and are still losing between $6
million and $9 million every day, said
Medland.
National Airlines, which had four daily
departures from Reno, just went out of
business. Frontier Airlines recently
dropped one of its Reno flights. And most
other airlines that fly into and out of the
airport are reporting passenger loads
between 61 percent and 91 percent.
There are a few bright spots, said
Medland. Continental Airlines is planning
to add some flights in March and April for
the ski season. Reno-Tahoe is now ranked
17 on Southwest Airlines top 50 domestic
nonstop markets. And air travel nationwide
is expected to jump 6.5 percent during
the Thanksgiving holiday.
Another silver lining is an increase in
charter traffic. For the first nine months
charter passengers to the airport totaled 19,000, up
21 percent from 15,688 passengers during the same
period last year. The number of international charter
passengers plummeted, from 680 in 2001 to just 108
through October this year. But the number of
domestic charter passengers jumped 26 percent,
from 15,008 last year to 18,892 this year.
The airport is also in the process of meeting the
Dec. 31 deadline to provide security screening for all
baggage. The project is to comply with the federal
Aviation and Transportation Security Act that created
the Transportation Security Administration.
The airport will be installing explosive detection
systems to screen baggage throughout the airport.
That equipment includes 36 Ionscan 400B systems
that fit on a desktop; two, 26-foot CTX-5500 that
weigh 9,350 pounds each; and five, 20-foot CTX-
2500s that weigh 7,350 pounds each. The two larger
machines will be dedicated to Southwest and
American Airlines.
About 350 federal employees will eventually be
employed to handle the baggage screening. Most of
the costs of the program, including equipment and
personnel, will be borne by TSA. But the airport
plans to install a canopy in the front of the airport to
protect passengers from inclement weather during
curbside check in. The cost of that is estimated to be
$1.5 million.
The airport is also installing a new carpet and
new signage and the concessions area is in the midst
of a $6 million upgrade. Most of that has been
financed with private money, said Krys Bart, executive
director of the Airport Authority.
Meanwhile, the Reno-Sparks Convention and
Visitors Authority is doing what it can to book trade
shows and conventions that bring in air passengers
and room stays. Next year the convention center will
host several adventure-related shows that will bring
in more than 13,000 attendees.
Reno is also under consideration for the ESPN
Great Outdoors Game in July, which would attract
over 100,000 people. ESPN officials were in town
last week and RSVCA expects a decision from them
by early December, said Jeff Beckelman, president
and CEO, RSCVA.
The convention center has also booked a number
of other trade shows for next year, such as the
Computer Crimes Conference in May, but
Beckelman warned that they are so-called launch
shows and only one out of five such inaugural shows
are successful.
In the long term, the RSCVA has scheduled the
American Legion conference in 2007, which should
bring with it 18,000 attendees; the National Parks
and Recreation meeting in 2004 that should have
10,000 attendees; and the Hearth Products trade
show in 2009 that is expected to attract 10,000 people
to the convention center.
