Sunday, March 15, 1998

Abilene needs jet service to move forward

Today is Abilene's birthday, and as Jay Moore's guest column reminds us, the city owes its very existence to the 19th century's most advanced form of transportation, the railroad.

As the railroad pushed west from Fort Worth, a rest stop was needed where no settlement otherwise stood, and so a town was created out of nothing, as it were, and christened Abilene. Fathered by the railroad, Abilene was nurtured by rail service through decades of growth and development well into the 20th century.

After World War II, however, a faster means of transportation emerged -- the airplane -- and it wasn't long, historically speaking, before passenger trains were no longer the primary method of long-distance travel. The railroad may be a rich part of the city's heritage, but it has been many years since passengers passed through the old railroad depot downtown. And during those years, air service in Abilene has not exactly grown to replace the key role played by rail service in the city's formation and early expansion.

Missing element

If you've flown into or out of Abilene recently, or if you've gone to the airport to pick up a relative or a business guest, the missing element is obvious -- jet service. Turbo-prop flights are available to Dallas and Austin, but the number of flights and their times are not always ideal. If you're headed west, first you have to fly east. Often, it's actually easier to fly into or out of Midland and then drive a car the remaining 140 miles.

Poor access by air is the first aspect of the city that many visitors and newcomers encounter, and it doesn't show our best side.

Clearly, better air service would be a major enhancement for the city -- for local residents who are traveling, for visitors and public officials and business associates and, of course, for individuals or businesses who might be thinking of relocating here. And with the airline industry's shift away from the use of turbo-props, better air service means jets.

No cost to taxpayers

The city is now considering a range of proposals to improve the facilities at Abilene Regional Airport -- none of which would rely on a penny of taxpayer funds but on $3 service fees added to airline passenger tickets. One plan would build a single jetway for loading and unloading passengers from the newer regional jets. The second idea is to build two such jetways, which is what we would end up needing if a carrier such as Continental Express or American decides to brings its jets in.

The plan to build two jetways is the one Abilene needs.

Sure, one $250,000 jetway would cost less initially, but halfway measures are less likely to be successful and thus more likely to be wasteful in the long run. And if one jetway succeeded in attracting an airline with jets, then a second jetway would need to be constructed to realize the full benefits we could get.

The question being voiced around town is: If we build it, will they come? And the answer is: If we don't, they surely won't. Two jetways would give us a fighting chance.

In Abilene's formative years, the city's survival depended on access to advanced transportation. Our future could depend on it, too.