YOUR COMMENTS

Bryan in Manchester

I'll be the first to admit I don't fly very often. But as some one that works at the airport for 6 years I'll say this. They both have GREAT gate agents and ticket takers. The reason I"ll take US Air if I had to pay for a flight is they are they have no problem pushing a flight out a 1/2 early. I've seen them do it about 20 times in the 6 years working there. You will not see any other airline do that. Union or non union.
- Michael, Salem

Paul & Zizzy,

Apparently reading comprehension isn't among your strengths and slinging insults is.

"When I bought my place 10 years ago, there was 1/2 the air traffic that we have now so a reduction is fine with me!"

I live in the center of the city, 6.53 miles from the airport. Within one month of purchasing my place, the air traffic doubled. Since then, the airport expanded the runway, again increasing the traffic. Nowhere did I complain about the noise. I said that a reduction in traffic would be fine. Obviously, I am okay with living in the flight path or I would not live here.

As for motorcycles, there is no need for them to sound as loud as airplanes. The motorcycles in Manchester are truly obnoxious. In the past, people were ticketed for cars with loud exhausts. I don't know when noise pollution became the norm in this state.
- Debra, Manchester

I love the sounds of the planes landing and taking off. the bigger the plane the better. Especially those Fed Ex ones. my son and I think planes are cool. I don't mind living close to the airport at all.
- Sue, Manchester

Michael in Salem: USair is on average 3 times the price of Southwest. While I don't argue the point about the 10 Million fine for their collusive behavior with the FAA, you need only look at the canceled flights and delays American dealt with and United later on. Soutwest is the future of the airline industry. Ever since US air merged with America West their service has gone to the trash heap. Fees for 2nd bags, fees for window seats and aile seats! Soon to be fees for 1st checked bag. I can't redeem my 25 thousand miles for a free ticket to Vegas (noe one of their hubs) for the summer, tried to book end of last year. They also expire their miles faster than anyone else. What else can they take from their customers. I used to be Gold preferred on USAirways, now I avoid it like the plague. Also, call their 800 number, bet you get a call center in India where you then ask for a manchester flight and they book you out of the UK. I also needed to change a business ticket for DC and they had no clue to check into BWI as well as DCA and DIA. Nevermind the obvious language barrier. Best of luck to them and to you with them.
- Bryan, Manchester

Manchester has a $200,000. a year airport director who was a total zero when he was at TF Green in Warwick. Why are news releases always given by a deputy director? What does he make and why would you even need a deputy director?

That's two political blow-hards doing nothing instead of just one. Kind of like having a flock of deputy school superintendents sitting around on their thumbs.
- Bill Howard, Exeter

Zizzy, some people bought their homes decades before the runway expansion was even planned, an expansion that put airplanes over their house.
- Jeff, Bedford

Paul, I had always thought that was a figure of speech, I really didn't think anyone was really dumb enough to move in next to an airport then complain about the noise....Now I know. Similar to people buying ocean front property then demanding "the town" does something to
stop their yard from being eroded.

I do like how SW charges double for obese people. To bad movie theaters
don't do the same.
- Zizzy, Manchester

The price of fuel is largely driven by speculation. In the same way that real-estate prices climbed and fell sharply, there’s no iron-clad rule that says the same can’t happen to oil prices. The only questions are: when and to what degree? And when that fall inevitably happens, the question becomes whether airlines will be as enthusiastic about returning the service they slashed? My guess is they might return 60 cents on the dollar, meaning they might replace only about 60% of the seats they are in the midst of cutting now. Hopefully these cuts aren’t permanent because Manchester Airport has proven itself to be a sensible, self-sustaining airport for the region. Indeed, Southwest Airlines counts MHT as being at or near the top of the list for system-wide load factor. The good news is that our biggest airline is also one of the smartest and best-managed. The bad news, potentially, is that our eggs are very much invested in that one basket. The hope here is that Southwest Airlines doesn’t have any designs to fly out of Boston’s Logan Airport. That would cause some angst within the ranks, no doubt.
- Chris, Brookline

Maybe they need to rename the airport Manchester-Boston-Concord-Portland-Burlington-Providence-Worcester-Hartford-Merrimack-(Pick a Town) Regional Airport to drum up some business.
- Eric, Laconia

It is sad to hear they are reducing flights to MHT....Just this year we got a Flt straight from S. FL (Ft. Lauderdale) to Manchester now if they keep cutting we may be back to connecting flights to get up there.
- Mike, Miami, FL

Matt, Southwest is currently hedged for fuel until 2012. They also have a department whose only job is the hedging of fuel, so they are constantly adding to their hedges. The advantage of fuel hedging for Southwest is that it allows them to know what their fuel costs will be in the future, which allows them to better manage the airline.
- Tom, Rindge

Joel.
SWA is a honest company????? There is no such thing in the airline industry. Its a lie and deny industry.

SWA just got hit with a 10 million fine for fabricating inspections records on their aircraft.

I'll admit SWA has been great for MHT. But if I had to catch a flight out of MHT and had to pay for it my first choice would be US Air.
- Michael, Salem

One other thing I'd like to point out about Southwest. They are the most highly unionized airline in the industry and their employees are highly paid compared to other airlines like United or USAirways. So strong unions, good management, and happy well compensated employees equals good service and a profitable company. Why can't other companies understand that simple concept?
- Richard, Manchester

Jeff's comment made me go to Delta's website & look up the price difference from MHT & BOS back and forth to ATL. I checked originating flights in both directions.

I checked flights in July, since a month out is usually what most folks do, if they're price conscious.

I found a $100 to $150 difference, not DOUBLE the price diffference. When one adds in the traffic hassles, I personally, can't see why ANYONE would choose Boston, if their destination is anywhere in the Manchester area.
- Donna, Manchester

I use Southwest when flying to NH and I like it, it's the best airlines to fly on, have used other airlines, but didn't care for them. Get the airlines going, your the best. Bev, Fl
- Bev Hughes, New Symrna, Fl

Southwest is the best airlines to fly on, I use it all the time to go to NH, have used other flights for flying, but didn't care for them at all. Southwest is mine by all means, if they go out of business, that's the end of flying for me....GOOD JOB SOUTHWEST
- Bev, Fl

I am constantly amazed at how people like Debra buy homes under airport flight paths and then complain about the noise. Go figure!
- Paul, Hampton, NH

Southwest Airlines is doing better in part because they locked in most of the fuel they expect to use this year at about $51/barrel.
- Tim, Manchester

Jeff, I completely understand what you're saying. For the last couple of years I've been flying in and out of Boston to get to NH. I used to think it was great the NH had a "real airport". But that certainly hasn't been a great benefit lately, especially when you want to fly your family with you. They mentioned the fees the airport charges the airlines to land/gate fees but they didn't not make a comparision to other airports, such as Logan. What a shame that with the number of passengers actually increasing, they have to cut the number of flights.
- KB, Georgia

Less flights = less money for the airport. So,, how is Manchester supposed to pay for the $40,000 per year janitor, the $200,000 per year head janitor, and all the little inbetween janitors? Just another example of the failure of Manchester. The poor in the city can't afford to fly, the city employees at the airport are fat and happy even though their clients [ the airlines ] are laying folks off, cutting back. But oh noooooooooo,, Manchester can't lay off anyone.. just ask alderman Mark Roy.
- tom, manchester,nh

Joel in Nashua- Southwest has aggressively hedged against higher fuel costs, most so than other carriers. Their reprieve will be ending, too, as they only have contracts through 2009. I fly Southwest sometimes and love being able to fly out of Manchester. It's so much more convenient than Logan.
- Matt, Derry

Joel, you are correct that Southwest's management is much more competent and dedicated than those of the other airlines. This is illustrated by the main reason why Southwest has not had cut capacity or workforce - they bought over a decade's worth of gas futures back when gas was still cheap. As a result, they are still flying on those prices while everyone else is paying current rates. That is visionary management.
- Jason, Londonderry

Regarding the noise of planes, I don't think it's so much the traffic, as the planes blatantly ignoring noise abatement standards. I've heard a lot of groundshaking throttle-ups and throttle-downs as a plane comes in, while the next plane of that exact airline and model aircraft will come in with only a throttled-down whine.

Isn't there any standards for noise abatement? I thought there were?

Oh, yes, and what's with the occasional 3am takeoff of what sounds like a 747 heavy, judging by the amount of noise?
- Jeff, Bedford

I live in the flight path & am actually happy that there will be fewer flights.

When I bought my place 10 years ago, there was 1/2 the air traffic that we have now so a reduction is fine with me!

Now, let's get rid of the obnoxious motorcycles w/o mufflers. They're as loud as the planes and even more offensive because they are on ground level.
- Debra, Manchester

Manchester has an airport???
- Bob, Manchester

I have no choice but to fly to and from Logan now. Delta's fares to Manchester are more than double the price of a Boston fare.
- Jeff, Atlanta GA

Anyone remember when it was so expensive to fly, back in the 60's and 70's, that most people didn't fly more than once a year if that and most of the fliers were businessmen? Well, those days are coming again. Let's face it, with high fuel costs here to stay, the airlines simply won't be able to sustain their current business models. The low fare airlines will have to jack up their rates, routes that are unprofitable will get dropped, there will be fewer flights elsewhere, and the marginally surviving airlines will fold, resulting in far fewer seats and much higher fares. Unless of course the federal government uses your tax dollars to bail the industry out with subsidies, which has happened before.

Couple that with the high gas prices that will keep people from driving long distance instead, and anywhere there's a tourist economy has to be pretty concerned right now.

Too bad there isn't really any alternative to flying or driving, such as long distance rail to get people where they want to go reliably and cheaper than flying (yes, there's Amtrak, but reliability and routes are both lacking).
- Mike #2, Bedford, NH

I find it very telling that Southwest is the only airline at Manchester to ADD flights to their schedule in Manchester. It is also very telling that Southwest is also the only major US airline to specifically state that they will not charge for 1st or 2nd checked bags and they've not had a layoff in an extended period of time.

Am I a Southwest cheerleader? Not at all though I do only fly Southwest. But it does bring forth my point...the management at Southwest works. They take pride in their jobs and have moved up through the ranks. And, call me naive, but loving your job makes all the difference. They're an honest company.

The other major US carriers would be wise to take a page from their book rather than treat their customers poorly as they do.

Peace
- Joel, Nashua

The one positve in this article is that because of fewer flights their will be less noise pollution in the greater Manchester area!
- Mike, Prehistoric district of Bedford