Why drive and fly when you can just fly?

The Dane County Regional Airport has undergone a remarkable transformation over the last few years.

The renovation of the main terminal building is due to be completed by February, with more improvements planned to the regional terminal concourse. The terminal building's prairie-style architecture provides a bold and dynamic entry into our community.

Advertisement

Among the goals of Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk and the Dane County Airport Commission has been enhanced air service to support both business and recreational travelers. Helping to achieve these goals is the Community Air Service Support Program (CASSP), a partnership involving the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the airport.

The Airport Commission is the advisory panel consisting of five county supervisors and four citizen members to help ensure that the airport remains a functional and beautiful facility that supports the needs of our community.

The airport has funded the CASSP through airport revenues, which contain no property tax dollars, to help provide marketing support for new air service and to improve public awareness of new service. Typically, these routes are nonstop to destinations used by businesses.

In the past, airports have not typically provided marketing dollars to attract new air service especially in small markets, such as Madison/Dane County. But using marketing dollars to raise public awareness of new flights has now become an important way to attract new air routes and businesses that seek to move. As you can well imagine, the competition is extremely intense in these markets to bring in new air service.

One of the goals for the CASSP is to educate businesses about aggregate buying power and to encourage them to use the Dane County Regional Airport for business travel.

We have achieved almost immediate success: Recent nonstop additions to Dane County Regional Airport include American Eagle nonstop service to Dallas-Fort Worth; Northwest Airlines nonstop service to Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National; and Allegiant Airlines nonstop service to Las Vegas and Orlando.

Even though we have had initial success, other challenges remain. The cost for two 50-passenger regional jet flights a day to a major hub from Dane County Regional Airport is almost $7 million a year.

Consequently, we encourage business travelers to consider using the Dane County Regional Airport.

Not only is the airport facility state of the art with checked-baggage security devices behind closed walls, a business center and wireless Internet service in the near future, it also saves the travel time needed to reach airports in Milwaukee and Chicago.

If you haven't been to Dane County Regional Airport recently, drop by. We think you will find this to be a pleasant and surprising experience and well worth the effort.

If you have any questions or have ideas to identify and enhance travel needs for your business, please contact airport director Brad Livingston at 608-246-3380.