First, let me ease your fears. This is not an article about politics!
But with the Democratic and Republic National Conventions taking place over a compact two-week span this is a truly historic time for the United States of America, and a unique time for countries around the world to gain insight into our democratic process. As an aviation enthusiast, I naturally want to link these events to the aviation world in which I live each and every day.
What intrigues me is the choice of cities to hold this year’s party conventions – Denver, Colorado and Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. Denver last hosted a convention in 1908 – 100 years ago. And the Twin Cities have waited even longer to bask in the political limelight – you have to look all the way back to the Republican National Convention of 1892.
From an air service perspective, both Denver and Minneapolis serve as important U.S. domestic connecting hubs, and both suffer from limited international service. To some extent, Denver and Minneapolis compete for connecting passengers – both have central locations in the U.S. and are natural connect points for transcontinental travelers.
And in the climate of high fuel prices, a convenient stopping point in the middle of the country is an increasingly valuable asset. So, let’s look at Denver and Minneapolis/St. Paul in more detail.
Denver
For a city of only 2.8 million people, Denver’s airport ranks as the fifth-busiest in North America and, incredibly, the 11th-busiest airport in the world. Nearly 50 million passengers passed through the facility in 2007, with nearly half simply connecting to other flights.
Denver is the second-largest hub for Star Alliance member United Airlines. United provides an extensive network that includes over 100 nonstop domestic destinations from Denver. But in terms of international service, United flies to only nine cities – six in Canada and three in Mexico. United initiated its first-ever nonstop service between Denver and London/Heathrow in March 2008 following the implementation of the U.S.-EU Open Skies agreement.
But over the summer United announced this new service would be permanently suspended in October 2008.
Despite this failed experiment by United, Denver’s efforts to sustain transatlantic service have been rewarded over the past decade. On September 1, 2008, British Airways will celebrate 10 years of service between Denver and London. Additionally, Lufthansa provides daily nonstop service between Denver and Frankfurt, and seasonal service between Denver and Munich. Other international service is provided by Air Canada, Mexicana and Frontier.
Most recently, Denver has been in the aviation news due to the astounding growth of Southwest Airlines. In fact, Denver is the fastest-growing station the carrier has opened in the past 20 years. In three short years, Southwest has grown from offering 13 daily flights to three nonstop destinations to 112 daily flights to 32 nonstop destinations. As a result of Southwest’s dramatic growth, travel to and from Denver has increased by over 20 percent, far outpacing the national average.
This growth has put pressure on all carriers serving Denver, but most especially United and Denver-based low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines. Frontier filed for bankruptcy protection in April 2008 and as a result decreased its capacity in Denver. But despite these reductions, Frontier still accounts for over 20 percent of flight departures from Denver.
Minneapolis/St. Paul
The metropolitan area of Minneapolis/St. Paul is nearly the same as Denver – totaling 3.2 million people. And, like Denver, Minneapolis/St. Paul is a popular airport for travelers – ranking as the 14th-largest airport in the United States, over 35 million passenger passed through the facility in 2007. The headquarters of Northwest Airlines – soon to finalize a merger with Delta – is located in suburban Eagan, Minnesota.
Like United in Denver, Northwest provides a large network of service in Minneapolis/St. Paul – over 140 domestic and international nonstop destinations. But only 10 percent of these destinations are to international cities – most in Canada and Mexico. Amsterdam, London and Tokyo are the only transoceanic destinations served from Minneapolis/St. Paul by hub carrier Northwest. And, like United in Denver, Northwest started and cancelled transatlantic service from Minneapolis/St. Paul in the summer of 2008. In this case, the service was to SkyTeam hub Paris. Currently only two other foreign-flag carriers – Air Canada and Icelandair – provide nonstop service to Minneapolis/St. Paul.
The large air service question that looms for the Minneapolis/St. Paul community is how the airport will fit into the merged Northwest/Delta structure. With headquarter operations to move to Atlanta, and with numerous hubs scattered across the country, there is some level of uncertainty as to the role that Minneapolis/St. Paul will play.
Final Thoughts
While there are many similarities between air service patterns in Denver and Minneapolis, they each face unique challenges. Minneapolis remains a fortress hub for Northwest, with very little presence by low-cost carriers. As a result, average domestic fares in Minneapolis are nearly 20 percent higher than Denver’s average fares. In fact, less than five percent of flights from Minneapolis are on low-cost carriers, compared with over 30 percent from Denver. Denver now finds itself in the unique position as home to three carriers that have over 100 daily nonstop departures – air service levels that may or may not be sustainable over the long-term.
Fundamentally air service levels are a reflection of a community – specifically the businesses and tourism activities in each community. Minnesota is home to the headquarters for 19 Fortune 500 companies compared to only nine that call Colorado home. These headquater operations generate the all-important high-yield travel that is so valuable to airlines. (This is also one of the reasons that Minneapolis/St. Paul had an easier time raising money for their convention… But I promised this wouldn’t turn into a political discussion!) But let’s give the advantage to Colorado for tourism – the state boasts 26 world-class ski resorts home to the famous champagne powder of the Rocky Mountains.
Beyond the foundation described above, the strong aviation infrastructures in both Denver and Minneapolis/St. Paul are the direct result of the longtime commitment by hubbing carriers United and Northwest, respectively. Without the connecting passengers provided by the networks established by these two airlines, both cities would simply serve their local populations and have around 20 or 25 million annual passengers. And the choice of these two cities to host – arguably – the most important political conventions of this century (to date!) is the result of the growing importance of the Midwestern and the Western United States to the decisions facing the country’s leaders.
Like politics, aviation is a dynamic field. And Denver and Minneapolis/St. Paul will continue to compete in both areas for many years, and political campaigns, to come.
Source: Laura Jackson for OAG
Note: Includes only scheduled commercial air service; Air service levels for July-October 2008, unless otherwise noted; Low-cost carriers include AirTran, jetBlue, Frontier, Southwest and Sun Country.
Source: Official Airline Guide (OAG) Schedule Tapes.
