Bishop International Airport: Smart Way to Fly
Transportation
Written by Meghan Flynn   
Tuesday, 01 September 2009
Bishop International Airport: Smart Way to Fly
Jim Rice and his team have the smarts to keep this small airport flying high in a recession.
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Jim Rice has been in the aviation industry for a number of years and, when asked about his best practices for management, he had three pieces of advice: establish a conservative saving plan to maintain a rainy day fund; surround yourself with good people; and criticize in private but compliment in public.

“The number one reason the Bishop International Airport Authority has been so successful in recent years is the high caliber of the people we have here,” explained the director for the Flint, Mich.-based airport. “And the only way to retain those people is to allow them the freedom to make mistakes and show them how much they are appreciated.”

It doesn’t hurt that Bishop International is conveniently located a half mile from two main highways through Michigan and 30 minutes or less from top business destinations such as the I-75 Detroit corridor, North Oakland County, Frankenmuth, Birch Run, and Pontiac. For the last decade or so, the team at Bishop partnered not just with the government leaders in Flint, but also those in Oakland County to the south, which is home to a diverse business community with numbers that consistently impress air service carriers.

Bishop International Airport: Smart Way to Fly
Jim Rice, director
Furthermore, Rice added proudly, Bishop has the lowest fares in the state and has maintained them for years. Unlike some airports that charge airlines $2 or $2.50 per 1,000 pounds, Bishop charges $0.65, which makes a big difference for 150,000 pound airplanes.

“We work with our air service partners almost on a daily basis to make sure they can be profitable flying through our airport,” explained Rice. “That’s what it takes for a small facility like us to be competitive.”

Bishop’s primary competitor is the giant Metro Airport in Detroit. Rice said there are two things the flying public looks for when booking a trip, one being availability and the second the bottom line. The airport has the short lines and convenient location more travelers are looking for these days, but Rice said it’s the low rates that prove more important, especially in today’s economy.

That’s why Bishop spends more than $1 million annually on marketing, primarily on radio and TV. “Everyone knows about Metro; we want people to remember our name and check the fares through us too. Once they do, they’re hooked on our low rates,” said Rice.

Teamwork
Before the recession, Bishop was growing rapidly. Rice reported the airport jumped from roughly 150,000 passengers in the mid-1990s to 1.2 million in 2004. Unfortunately, the recession has pushed usage down 12%, but Rice said that is about what he and his team predicted. And, because of a well-established conservation saving plan, the airport has more than a year’s worth of expenses in an account as support until the market turns around.

“For every passenger we lose, we don’t just lose the ticket fare they would have paid but also the lunch or newspaper they might have bought,” said Rice, who added that the airport is maintaining its conservative outlook as it plans for the next year. “It’s difficult to see very far out, so we are revisiting our five-year, short-term and 20-year, long-range plans as the need arises.”

The main terminal at Bishop opened in 1993 and has gone through four expansions since then. Rice and his team are currently wrapping up the latest expansion projects as part of an upcoming five-year capital improvement plan that adds up to nearly $100 million. The project includes an $8.5 million parallel taxiway that should be finished by October and links to a new inner-model hub, which should be completed next year. In addition, the airport will soon be opening a new FedEx sorting facility.

Also completed is a computerized maintenance system for Bishop’s heating and air conditioning. Now, lights and temperature control in certain rooms are programmed to turn off when the room is not in use, saving the airport an estimated 10% in electric and gas consumption annually. Rice said since the system was put in place in 2008, Bishop has saved almost $60,000.

Bishop recently earned FAA funding for a deicing pad. Phase one is funded up to $3 million; Rice hopes to gain the last half of the funding in order to finish the pad before winter. “This will allow us to collect, recycle, and properly dispose of the chemicals we use to prepare planes for take off in icy conditions, which is something we’ve been eager to do for a few years now,” said Rice.

Prioritizing projects at Bishop requires more than a quarterly strategic session; Rice said he and his team regularly meet with local government leaders and other agencies to make sure everyone is on the same page in pursuit of state and federal dollars. With the new stimulus money available, Rice said the group wants to present a united front for the state government and representatives in Congress to attain the maximum benefit for the region as a whole.

“It all comes back to relationships. Internally and externally, communication is key to healthy relationships and effective teamwork,” concluded Rice.
 
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