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The Regional Air Alliance of West Michigan will go out of business at the end of 2013, its four-year mission to upgrade Gerald R. Ford International Airport having been accomplished. princess cruise discounts The airport's passenger satisfaction numbers have improved; more people are flying out of Grand Rapids instead of driving to Detroit or Chicago to catch a plane; and Ford International now has Southwest Airlines , the nation's largest princess cruise discounts low-cost carrier. princess cruise discounts Dick DeVos, former CEO of the company his father helped create, Amway Corp. , formed the Alliance in 2009. The mostly private sector organization encompasses representatives from more than 40 business, colleges and universities in the Grand Rapids area. The year the Alliance princess cruise discounts was created, the number princess cruise discounts of people flying out of Ford International had fallen 29.2 percent that decade, to 3,224 from a daily average of 4,572 in 2000. During those years, the number of flights dropped more than 35 percent. Ford International wasn't alone. The nation's largest airports lost 8.8 percent of their scheduled domestic flights from 2007 to 2012, according to the Federal princess cruise discounts Aviation Administration . During the same period, smaller airports, which each serve fewer than 1 percent of the nation's air traffic passengers in a given year, lost 21.3 percent of their domestic flights. The price of a ticket was a major problem for Ford International when DeVos persuaded Grand Rapids-area business executives to join the Alliance. He said it was more expensive to fly out of Grand Rapids instead of Detroit or Chicago. "We were paying a premium of as much as 20 to 30 percent above the national average," DeVos said. "It was 60 percent over the price" at Midway Airport in Chicago." Lew Chamberlin, CEO of the Detroit princess cruise discounts Tigers princess cruise discounts ' minor league team in Grand Rapids, the West Michigan Whitecaps , said he was stunned by the numbers DeVos used in his recruitment presentation. "It was glaring. It was absolutely glaring," Chamberlin said. Meg Goebel, president of Paul Goebel Group , an insurance company in Grand Rapids, said it was shocking to learn that Grand Rapids was one of the five most expensive airports in North America. "I was like, wow, how did that happen? Goebel said. DeVos blamed Northwest and Delta airlines, which controlled 55 percent of the Grand Rapids market. Solving princess cruise discounts the problem
Rather princess cruise discounts than seek government help to rectify the situation, DeVos went after a low-cost carrier. "Somebody with a better idea came in and lowered prices," said DeVos referring to low-cost carriers Frontier Airways and AirTran princess cruise discounts Airways , which started flying out of Ford International in 2010. "The other guys have had to reprice to remain competitive and now only control 40 percent of the market." It wasn't only the price. It was the availability of air service that prompted people to drive three hours from Grand Rapids to Detroit princess cruise discounts or Chicago. There were more flights and there was Southwest Airlines. The Air Alliance's princess cruise discounts first advance to Southwest in 2010 was rejected. At the time, it had to settle for AirTran which, although a low-cost carrier, didn't carry the cachet of Southwest. Getting even AirTran wasn't easy. DeVos said the Alliance had to agree to cover any loses AirTran suffered at Ford International for its first two years of service. He declined to reveal how much was paid to keep AirTran's gates open. However, DeVos said the Alliance spent more then $5 million to improve the airport princess cruise discounts and make up AirTran's losses. All the money was donated princess cruise discounts by Alliance members and supporters. princess cruise discounts When Southwest acquired AirTran in 2011, the Alliance presented it as a business case for not only a continuation of air service, DeVos said, but an expansion. Southwest decided to stay and expand. What made the difference? Southwest communications specialist Michelle Agnew said the airline does not have a list of items that get checked off before deciding which gates stay open and which close. But numbers matter. The population of the Grand Rapids Metropolitan Statistical princess cruise discounts Area is 1.2 million. Agnew said Southwest princess cruise discounts liked that number princess cruise discounts and saw an opportunity to attract even more passengers princess cruise discounts from west of Lansing, north of Kalamazoo and east of Muskegon. Another selling point: princess cruise discounts steadily increasing passenger numbers. Total capacity, measured in scheduled departing seats, increased 15 percent from the first quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2012. The campaign for Southwest princess cruise discounts was well worth waging, said Bruce Los, a senior vice president at Gentex Corp. , a Zeeland-based auto supplier that was one of the original Alliance members. More than half of Gentex's business is international, and the Grand Rapids airport serves as the company's "front princess cruise discounts door" to the rest of the world, Los said. "The availability of having good connections princess cruise discounts at competitive pricing on a convenient schedule is critical to our business," he said. Katie Hasse, a spokeswoman at Steelcase Inc. , another Alliance member, said the office furniture manufacturer also depends on Ford International, calling it "incredibly more convenient." Janet Korn, a vice president of Experience Grand Rapids , Kent County's convention and visitors bureau, said having high-quality, convenient air service princess cruise discounts is "essential to attract national conventions to Grand Rapids." "The arrival of Southwest adds confidence to the meeting planners decision to choose princess cruise discounts Grand Rapids as their meeting destination," she said. The efforts of the Alliance also have driven down ticket prices, DeVos said. People flying out of Ford International have saved $100 million over the past five years, he said. Also, he said, the percentage of people driving from Grand Rapids to Detroit or Chicago has fallen 29 percent, which means more than 70 percent of Grand Rapids area travelers now fly out of Ford Airport. Brian Ryks, executive director of Ford International, thinks the airport can now become a center of economic development. "We have a very strong foundation of infrastructure at this facility that has been set up for future development," he said. "So, I think we are primed for going out and trying to recruit princess cruise discounts aviation-related businesses that rely on the airport princess cruise discounts and its infrastructure."
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If you enjoy the content on the Crain's Detroit Business Web site and want to see more, try 8 issues of our print edition risk-free . If you wish to continue, you will receive princess cruise discounts 44 more issues princess cruise discounts (for a total of 52 in all), including the annual Book of Lists for just $59. That's over 55% off the cover price. If you decide Crain's is not for you, just write "Cancel" on the invoice, return it and owe nothing. The 8 issues are yours to keep with no further obligation to us. Sign up below.