The Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport is sounding the alarm.
The economic chaos sown by the new coronavirus — and the recent federal stimulus law designed to alleviate that chaos — could lead to the end of commercial air service at the airport, local officials fear.
On the surface, the stimulus bill, signed into law by President Trump almost two weeks ago, requires airlines to promise to keep flying out of markets they already serve to be eligible for billions of dollars in bailout money.
But in an order Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Transportation interpreted that provision to mean that airlines serving Hampton Roads need to fly out of only one of the region’s two commercial airports in order to comply.
Delta Air Lines and American Airlines — the two remaining carriers serving Newport News — have not announced plans to consolidate operations at the larger Norfolk International Airport, where both already have service.
But the possibility that they could do so is alarming airport and government officials on the Peninsula.
York County Board of Supervisors Chairman Chad Green said he was highly concerned. “On a scale of one to 10, I consider it an 11,” he said of his level of worry. “If they leave, we might never get commercial air service back.”
“The airport is on the right track, and I would hate to see it lose service,” Green said. “People who don’t live here or haven’t been here don’t understand the different communities — the bodies of water and the community boundaries. If they kill air service out of Newport News, this could have a definitive negative effect on the public and all of the businesses around here.”
Given that airports are considered national assets, there’s little chance the Newport News airport would ever be closed for a lack of commercial flights.
But air carriers leaving the Peninsula, even temporarily, could significantly harm the airport and its crucial revenue streams — from parking fees to car rentals to plane landing fees.
The airport’s other revenue streams — such as general aviation flights, military warfare training companies and an on-site trailer park — won’t pay the bills, Green said. “That won’t keep the lights on on the runways,” he said.
“We were blindsided,” Newport News Airport Executive Director Mike Giardino said of learning last week of the DOT’s interpretation of the stimulus bill. He immediately called on city and county leaders to drum up support, telling them in bold lettering: “We need your help.”
He also got in touch with U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, U.S. Reps. Bobby Scott, Elaine Luria and Rob Wittman, and state officials.
While Delta and American “have given us no indication that they are leaving,” Giardino said, the possibility is highly concerning.
“If you’re the airline and you have the ability to consolidate your service in one location when you’re bleeding money, you might do it,” he said. “They’re in dire straits … and this could incentivize them to consolidate in Norfolk.”
Giardino asserted that Congress did not envision that airlines could get federal money and then stop serving particular airports.
“I don’t think (the lawmakers) contemplated this,” he said. “The fact that airlines can choose to do this at all was not the intent of the legislation. The intent was to keep the airlines whole while they maintained some level of service.”
One paragraph in the $2 trillion stimulus bill, also known as the CARES Act, was designed to protect air service to smaller communities.
That paragraph said the Transportation Department is to require “to the extent reasonable and practicable” that airlines getting the money continue serving “any point” in the country they were serving before April 1. The law added that the agency “shall take into consideration the air transportation needs of small and remote communities.”
But the rub is the phrase “any point.”
Lawmakers didn’t define that term, and the Transportation Department used Bureau of Transportation Statistics to determine the locations.
When the DOT’s proposed order last week defined Norfolk and Newport News as serving the same point — meaning only one of the airports need be served — government officials from the Peninsula voiced objections.
“It has been brought to our attention that our airport is being excluded from the provisions of the CARES Act because of our seeming proximity to Norfolk,” Green wrote to the DOT on April 2.
Traffic issues in the region, he said, are a huge issue that make two airports crucial.
“Our connectivity and economic prosperity is dependent upon our citizens and visitors being able to transverse major waterways that include numerous bridges and tunnels,” Green wrote in the letter. “It is not uncommon for any one or more of the bridges or tunnels to be obstructed or closed due to accidents or other traffic related issues resulting in extended delays.”
The Peninsula, Green wrote, is home to Newport News Shipbuilding, the Jefferson Labs, NASA Langley, Fort Eustis, Langley Air Force base and the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station. “The elimination of commercial air service at our local airport, which provides the quickest and best option, will impact their operations,” he said.
Such a change would have a large impact on the Peninsula economically, he said, meaning the stimulus bill will “not only fail to provide relief,” but “will instead compound the impact of the recession.”
“We strongly believe even a temporary loss of air service at (the Newport News airport) would have a negative, long-term impact on our business and regional economy — exactly what the Department and Federal government are trying to alleviate,” Green wrote.
Identical letters were then submitted by Newport News City Manager Cynthia Rohlf, Hampton City Manager Mary Bunting, Williamsburg City Manager Andrew Trivette and Poquoson Mayor W. Eugene Hunt Jr.
Bob McKenna, the president and CEO of the Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, agreed that it would hurt the local economy if the airlines pulled out of Newport News.
“And selfishly speaking, I live in Newport News and like being able to drive 10 or 15 minutes to the airport, park and be at the gate in five minutes,” he said. “It’s a well-run and well-equipped airport, and it’s a great asset to have that airport here.”
But airlines also wrote to the DOT last week, saying they liked the flexibility afforded by the proposed rules.
“Delta strongly supports the (Department of Transportation’s) proposals to give each carrier maximum flexibility to meet its domestic service obligations by … serving any airport or combination of airports that provide reasonable access to the communities the carrier serves,” the airline wrote.
The DOT’s proposal, Delta said, “reflect sensible, balanced approaches” that will provide “minimum air transportation access for all Americans during this emergency while recognizing the economic reality that carriers must still attempt to match capacity to demand.”
The DOT issued its final order Tuesday, siding with the airlines.
“The ability of carriers to consolidate operations at a single airport serving a point is an important flexibility that furthers the objectives of the CARES Act,” the order said. “Requiring carriers to continue service to multiple airports serving a single point would impose undue costs on covered carriers.”
The agency added, however, that “nothing in this order prevents carriers from serving multiple airports at a given point, if they so choose.”
The Newport News airport is the only airport in Virginia affected by the DOT’s order. Commercial airports in Roanoke, Lynchburg, Charlottesville and the Shenandoah Valley — most of them smaller than Newport News — are not in the footprint of a larger airport and as such are their own “points.”
But a handful of other airports around the country are in the same boat.
The Akron-Canton Airport in Ohio, for example, is in the same “point” as a larger airport in Cleveland, the DOT ruled. The T.F. Green Airport outside of Providence, Rhode Island, falls into the same zone as Boston’s Logan International Airport.
On Wednesday, JetBlue announced that it’s consolidating its Providence flights with Boston for eight weeks, the Providence Journal reported.
American Airlines said Tuesday that it “continues to serve” both Newport News and Norfolk.
When asked if that would continue in the months ahead, American spokesman Ross Feinstein wrote in an email: “Due to decreased customer demand, we have made several changes to our schedule in this rapidly changing environment. At this time, none of those changes include ending service to Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport.”
A Delta Air Lines spokeswoman, Kyla T. Ross, on the other hand, released a far shorter statement: “We’re reviewing the final DOT order and have no plans to share at this time.”
With planes flying only about 10% full these days, both airlines have already cut back service to Newport News, as airlines have to other destinations around the country.
Delta had been flying three times a day to Atlanta — with connections from there to other destinations — but has cut that back to one a day, Giardino said.
American, for its part, was flying 7 flights a day to Charlotte and three to Philadelphia. But under a new schedule released this week, American now flies three times a day to Charlotte and five flights a week — less than once a day — to Philly.
“On Monday we had 28 passengers — 28,” Giardino said of the Newport News airport. “Normally this time of year, the week before Easter, we’d have 600 passengers a day.”
It’s in the airlines’ best interest to continue flying out of Newport News, he asserted. Before the coronavirus struck, Giardino said, “our load factor was extremely high” — meaning that planes were often packed.
“When everything is normal, we have very good cost structure for airlines,” he said. “We’re a good value for the airline when things are going well … So if they leave, the airlines would be walking away from a model where they are actually making more money per trip” than at other airports.
Giardino — who has spent the better part of two years trying to bring new carriers and flights to Newport News — said he’s going to work hard to keep American and Delta here.
“My mandate is to maintain service and grow service,” he vowed. “My job is to keep the airport going, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Peter Dujardin, 757-247-4749, pdujardin@dailypress.com
