WisBusiness: Madison adds key non-stop flight to New York

By Brian E. Clark
WisBusiness.com

Madison-area business people have complained for years about the lack of
direct flights from the Dane County Regional Airport to major urban
centers around the country.

In the last six months, however, the airport has added non-stop flights
to Washington, D.C. (Northwest); Atlanta, (Atlantic Southeast); Dallas,
(American Eagle); and Las Vegas, (Northwest).

And on Monday afternoon, American Eagle will kick off its
its new Sunday-Friday service between Madison and New York La Guardia –
giving business, biotechnology and arts leaders quicker access to
Manhattan.

“Time is money,” said Jennifer Alexander, president of the Greater
Madison Chamber of Commerce.

“These are exciting developments,” she said. “A lot of organizations have
worked hard to improve air service. And it’s paying off.”

Alexander said improved air connections have a direct impact on the local
economy.

“You need to have a strong infrastructure to build a strong economy,” she
said. “Twenty or 30 years ago, most companies around here did the
majority of their business in this region.

“Now they do it across the country and world,” he said.

Alexander said having better access to New York City and its deep
financial resources can only help Madison-area companies grow.

“And for start-ups, venture capital is dependent on easy access,” she
said. “People don’t like to take connecting flights.”

Alexander said the new non-stop flights that have been added since
last June will help prevent “leakage” to other airports.

“The more direct flights, the more people will use our airport,” she
said. “And the more people who use our airport, the more direct flights
we’ll get.”

Alexander said when she worked as a consultant in years past, she would
have “killed” for more non-stop flights out of Madison.

“Travel is glamorous for about the first 20 minutes,” she said. “Then
it’s grueling. The easier and faster we can make it for people, the
better.”

Sharon Wisniewski, spokeswoman for the airport, said while Atlanta,
Dallas, Washington D.C. and New York are either financial, government,
science or high-tech centers, Las Vegas is the country’s dominant
conference city.

“Bill Gates just spoke there to the big electronics gathering,” she said.

Wisniewski said the business community has been outpsoken in stressing
the need for more non-stop flights.

“We’ve been working hard on this,” she said. “We’ve also doubled the size
of the terminal and upgraded other services.

“We’ve heard from business leaders that getting to and from the nation’s
financial capital to meet with investors is very important.

“Scientists also need to get to research centers and Atlanta is now the
world’s busiest airport, so it’s an important place for making
connections. It is one of the main doors to the rest of the world.”

Wisniewski acknowledged that the airline industry is shaky. But she said
she is confident that if one pulled out of Madison, another would take
its over its non-stop flights.

“There might be short-term disruptions, but nothing more,” she said.
“These flights are well used.”

Tom Still, president of the Madison-based Wisconsin Technology Council,
said Madison has long been tagged as a two-flight city.

“One of the complaints that we heard at the Tech Council from companies
here was that their people had trouble flying to places around the country
and world,” he said.

“And that hampered efforts to attract investments and work with other tech
companies,” he said.

“We’ve all tried to pull together and I would give a lot of the credit to
airport director Brad Livingston,” he said.

“He has done a fantastic job to reach out to convince the airlines that it
makes good business sense for them to add these flights,” he said.

And that has not been easy, Still said.

“It’s been a real struggle for them since 911 in most cases,” he said.
“They have to be careful.

“For us, though, you can hardly overstate how important it is to be tied
into this country’s tech and investment hubs with non-stop flights,” he
said.

Washington, D.C. is close to the National Institute of Health – which
hands out several hundred million dollars in grants each year to
Wisconsin universities. It also is home to hundreds of high-tech
companies and major universities.

Likewise, Atlanta is the base for the Centers for Disease Control,
Georgia Tech and 11,000 technology companies that employ 180,000 people.

As for the future, Still has his eye on two other coastal cities.

“It would be great if we could get non-stop flights to Boston and San
Francisco, both of which are important science and finance centers,” he
said.