August 2014 - Southwest Florida International Airport · 2014-10-17 · Locally, United has nonstop...

e-LinkVolume 4, 3rd Quarter, 2014

e-Link is a quarterly newsletter for our tenants, vendors and business partners to stay linked in with the projects, accomplishments and development at Southwest Florida International Airport and Page Field.

Robert M. Ball, A.A.E., Executive Director

July 2014

¾ Frontier Airlines announced nonstop service between Southwest Florida International Airport and Lambert-St. Louis International Airport beginning Oct. 3, 2014. Frontier will operate two weekly flights on Mondays and Fridays.

¾ Fitch Ratings affirmed the outstanding ‘A’ rating on Southwest Florida International Airport’s $307.4 million airport revenue bonds. The Rating Outlook on all bonds was changed by Fitch to Stable from Negative.

The ‘A’ rating is based on Southwest Florida International Airport having a well-balanced mix of major air carriers serving leisure travel with a competitive cost per enplaned passenger, operating with a conservative debt structure and robust liquidity as compared to peers.

The change to a Stable Outlook reflects traffic levels that are showing signs of improvement amid an economic recovery within the RSW's greater service area.

August 2014

¾ The Federal Aviation Administration Southern Region Airports Division honored Southwest Florida International Airport with its 2013 Air Carrier Airport Safety Award, which is given annually to a commercial airport deserving special recognition for improving airport safety.

Some of the 2013 initiatives to promote and improve airport safety at RSW included the Apron Expansion and Taxiway Project, which enhanced aircraft safety and increased airfield capacity; the Wildlife Remediation Project, which mitigated high-risk areas near the active airfield; and a focus on Runway Safety including the relocation of the Aircraft Rescue & Fire Fighting Station, stringent controls on airfield and movement area driving privileges and proactively working with FAA to develop strong programs for the Runway Safety Action Team

¾ The FAA Southern Region Airports Division also honored Page Field with its 2013 General Aviation Airport Safety Award, given annually to a general aviation airport deserving special recognition for improving airport safety.

Some of 2013 initiatives to improve airport safety at FMY included the construction of an Airport Perimeter Road, which allowed operations and service vehicles access to various portions of the airport while reducing the need to operate on active runways and taxiways; providing a Professional Line Service Training program with an emphasis on safe procedures and policies for ground handling and fueling personnel and conducting Safety Risk Assessments to identify potential airfield hazards.

¾ Frontier Airlines announced new nonstop service between Southwest Florida International Airport and Milwaukee County's General Mitchell International Airport with three weekly flights commencing on Jan. 8, 2015.



¾ The Florida Department of Transportation honored Southwest Florida International Airport with the 2014 Commercial Service Airport Project Award for its Apron Expansion and Associated Taxiways project. This award was presented to the Lee County Port Authority, AECOM and Manhattan Construction at the Florida Airports Council Annual Conference held in Jacksonville, Fla.

The Apron and Taxiway Expansion Project at RSW provided more space for aircraft taxiing between the runway and terminal gates, additional paved areas for overnight and diverted aircraft parking and a long-term, cross-field taxiway system linking the existing runway to the future parallel runway.

September 2014

¾ JetBlue announced they will now operate year-round service between RSW and Washington Reagan National Airport. This service will start Dec. 18, 2014.

¾ Spirit Airlines announced nonstop service between Southwest Florida International Airport and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Spirit will operate four weekly flights starting Jan. 15, 2015.

¾ The Airport Police Department K-9 Teams successfully completed their annual re-certification under the TSA’s National Explosives Detection Canine Program.

Officer Eric Burton and K-9 Zita, Sgt. Keith Francis and K-9 Judge, Officer John Heald and K-9 Beyer



¾ The Port Authority has replaced all Flight Information Display Screens throughout the airport with new flat screen LCD monitors. The project also included new electronic terminal directory maps and signs, new baggage information displays and charging stations in the main terminal and concourses. In addition, many of the advertising displays throughout the terminal have been upgraded to feature new video walls, providing more dynamic advertising opportunities for our business community. These technology updates not only look modern, but they are more efficient and will help enhance the overall travel experience for our passengers.

¾ Fiscal Year 2013-14 passenger traffic was 7.8 million, an increase of 3.7 percent compared to last fiscal year.



Meet United Airlines @ RSW

United Airlines (UA) has a comprehensive global route network serving 374 airports in 59 countries, with 5,229 daily departures and is known in the industry for having a modern, fuel-efficient fleet, an extensive loyalty program and optimal hub locations including the four largest cities in the United States. United, with more than 85,000 employees throughout the world, is a founding member of the Star Alliance and served 139 million passengers in 2013.

United offers more flat-bed seats in its premium cabins and more extra-legroom economy-class seating than any airline in North America. They were the first U.S. global carrier to offer satellite-based Wi-Fi on long-haul overseas routes and feature DIRECTV® on many of their aircraft, offering more live television access than any airline in the world. UA continues to look for ways to offer more technology including new mobile applications, upgrading their check-in systems to a web-based program to help make the experience faster and more onboard amenities like streaming on-demand video services. Locally, United has nonstop flights to Cleveland, Chicago-O’Hare, Houston, Newark and seasonal flights to Denver. In 2013, United carried more than 700,000 passengers, which represents 8.5 percent of our total traffic at Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW). When we sat down to talk to United employees for this article, the first thing they mentioned was how proud they were of the record-breaking month they had at RSW in March 2014.

The United team at RSW is led by Joe Barnes, who has been a station manager here for more than 24 years and has spent half of his airline career in Southwest Florida. UA has 60 employees at RSW, split evenly between ticket counter/gates and ramp, and many of these employees have been here a long time, with some senior staff members reaching 28 years or more. This is undoubtedly one of the reasons the UA team at RSW has earned its place as one of United’s top customer satisfaction performers. United receives ongoing feedback from their customers and measures their passengers’ entire experience, starting with airport cleanliness, skycaps, check-in, TSA security, inflight service and more. Barnes said, “We are lucky to have a beautiful airport and partners to help our customers have a positive travel experience from the moment they walk in the door or step off the plane.” RSW has consistently

United (Continued on Page 5)

United Airlines inaugural nonstop flight from Denver to RSW



been rated with high marks, so other stations and United personnel visit our airport to see their team in action. Eileen Larson and Ronda Laupert, UA supervisors at RSW, attribute their station’s success to senior employees who know their customers and really try to care for them while they are at the airport, including extra assistance with wheelchairs or pets. United also handles their under-wing ground handling services as well, so from start to finish, they have a hands-on approach to their passengers. Barnes says, “Bottom line, we have great team of employees at a really great airport!”

United employees are encouraged to be good corporate citizens in the communities they work in, which includes volunteerism, sometimes as a group, but also individually. Barnes says, “We have good folks working for us. Many of my employees support local charities and events and then help each other in their efforts.” United has an impressive list of company-wide employee programs including perfect attendance awards and the United 100, where employees nominate fellow employees for excellence and from which the United 100 is selected each year. Other programs include scholarship funds to benefit employees and their children and the United We Care Employee Relief Fund, which offers financial assistance to employees in a time of need and comes from employee donations, fundraising events and net proceeds of the airline’s onboard recycling program. We are not surprised that local UA employees have been the recipients of scholarships and other company recognitions. In addition to all this, Joe’s team participates in airport events as well, including our annual United Way campaign. Last year, we had the honor of “Judge Joe” showing up as a celebrity judge for the Great Airport Bake-Off, a friendly competition to raise money for a good cause while having fun. In the end, two United employees placed first and second in the baking contest!

Having chaired the Airline Managers Council (AMC) for 13 years, Joe has been instrumental in building and maintaining relationships between the airlines that operate at Southwest Florida International Airport and LCPA, TSA and other airport business partners. He assists in annual events like the Airline/Airport Golf Tournament and is the go-to person for project discussions and other efforts at RSW.

We are glad RSW fits into the route network of United Airlines, so local residents and visitors can take advantage of flying on this world-class airline. Moreover, we are lucky to have the United team of dedicated airline employees as part of our airport family!

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Joe Barnes (center) and some of the United Airlines team at RSW

United Airlines aircraft at RSW

August 2014 - Southwest Florida International Airport · 2014-10-17 · Locally, United has nonstop...

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