By Mike Fitts
mfitts@scbiznews.com
Published May 12, 2010

Midlands leaders said the region needs to come together quickly to help Columbia Metropolitan Airport be competitive in light of Tuesday’s announcement from Southwest Airlines.

Southwest will begin serving the Charleston and Greenville-Spartanburg airports in 2011, not waiting on a state incentives bill that has been bottlenecked by Midlands lawmakers in the S.C. Senate. Midlands leaders fear that Southwest, the nation’s biggest low-cost airline, will pull air customers out of Columbia in both directions, possibly costing it flights or even entire carriers.

If Columbia Metropolitan loses service, it could mean a “slow death” for the economy of the Midlands, said Ike McLeese, CEO of the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce. Businesses might become reluctant to open offices here or expand their current operations because of poor air service, McLeese said.

The next few months, before Southwest announces its routes and starts service, are a crucial time for the Midlands to respond, Columbia Mayor Bob Coble said. The Midlands should be united in coming together to find an option for low-cost service, he said. The proximity of Southwest should push airfares down across the state, and the Midlands needs to work to make sure it’s a part of that movement, he said.

“I think it’s an opportunity,” Coble said.

Just as Greenville-Spartanburg is mounting an incentive effort for Southwest — and the Charleston airport passed a general airline incentive late last year — the Midlands might try its own incentives, to get the legacy carriers that now serve Columbia to lower their rates.

But much of Columbia’s economy is dominated by the government, and big air users such as Fort Jackson and the University of South Carolina are not likely donors for such a project, McLeese said. That’s a hindrance to any effort going forward, and local governments might be asked to contribute, he said.

The Midlands has to get to work on answers, instead of just giving up on Columbia Metropolitan Airport because Southwest went elsewhere in the state, said Sen. Joel Lourie, D-Columbia.

“We’re not going to run up the white flag,” Lourie said.