Free Tickets Boost Traffic At Airport Promotions Fuel 33 Percent Increase During February

Travelers last month buried Spokane International Airport and its stable of airlines in a rush to cash in on free tickets and deep-discount promotions.

But some say the giveaways by Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines were a money loser for both travel agents and the airlines.

“We had to turn away paying passengers because there were no seats for them,” said Cece Miller, manager of Global Travel downtown. “We didn’t make anything and my gut feeling is that the airlines lost a lot of money.”

The number of airline passengers coming and going in February jumped 33 percent from a year earlier to a daily rate of 8,745 people, the airport said Friday. A total of 253,592 passengers moved through the concourses, up from 191,627 in February 1995.

Thus far in 1996, passenger traffic at the airport is up 24 percent, from 399,772 to 497,250 people.

Southwest Airlines, one of five major airlines serving Spokane, triggered the flight frenzy by giving free roundtrip tickets to passengers who departed Spokane Jan. 22 to Feb. 5. The tickets are good through May 22 to 14 Southwest destinations.

Alaska Airlines and its sister carrier, Horizon Air, followed suit with similar deals on the same dates. The airlines also sold some Spokane-to-Seattle fares for as little as $38 roundtrip.

“Travelers are getting a good deal, and that benefits the economy,” said airport spokesman Todd Woodard.

United Airlines, Northwest Airlines and Delta Airlines are the three other major airlines that call on Spokane.

The airport’s two regional carriers, Horizon and America West Express, showed a decline in passenger traffic in February. The airport reported a 7 percent drop in total regional airline passengers for the month, from 78,800 last year to 73,584 in February 1996.

, DataTimes