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Comments (5)
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Save/ShareHouston is the costliest large airport to fly out of nationwide. Bush Intercontinental tickets cost about $85 above what they should, says a survey.
Newark and Dallas are the next worst offenders when it comes to high fares.
Here's how the study worked. Silver studied prices for domestic round-trip tickets in coach class. He made an estimate of what a "fair" ticket price should be at each airport. His formula is complicated, but it's based on a simple question: What if no single airline had a near-monopoly at any airport.
For example, Delta controls about two-thirds of the traffic at Memphis's main airport. Silver says fares would be about $100 cheaper in Memphis if more airlines competed for business there. (We'll soon find out. Last month, Delta said it would soon cut one out of four of its flights departing from Memphis.)
On this score, the most expensive airport in America is Fayetteville, Ark. Its coach-class round trip tickets cost $527 on average. That's $158 above the estimate of "fair" prices. The reason is simple, says Silver: There aren't enough airlines competing to serve local customers there.
Here are the largest airports with bargain prices:
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Milwaukee, Wisc.
Orlando, Fla.
Tampa, Fla.
Las Vegas, Nev.
These are the five mid-sized airports with the lowest average fares:
Atlantic City, N.J.
Fort Myers, Fla.
Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Long Beach, Calif.
West Palm Beach, Fla.
These numbers aren't perfect, as critics Gary Leff and Seth "the Wandering Aramean" have pointed out. What's considered "fair" by one person may not by another. Yet there are clearly many airports in the country—especially ones not served by many airlines—where locals pay very high prices to fly.
The key lesson: Poor Texas! It's stuck with Houston and Dallas as costly gateways.
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So a person can save a good chunk of money just by adjusting their flight? What about layovers?
Posted By Aleida on April 10, 2011, 7:26 PM
Hi Aleida,
Yes, you could save money by going to an airport that has more airlines competing to serve passengers. That's not always practical, of course.
The question about "layovers" is a lot more complicated than it sounds. The study's analysis was questioned by critics on this point. I'm afraid I'm not enough of a math wizard to offer you an answer.
Happy travels,
Sean
Posted By Sean O'Neill on April 11, 2011, 3:21 PM
it's pretty hillarious that I can fly direct to memphis for 700-900 dollars from charlotte NC, indirect for 500-600 dollars or fly THROUGH memphis to little rock for 200. I'll fly through and drive back if I have to. Delta is now listing only ONE direct flight and using memphis as a flythrough hub for everything else. WISE UP! Quit jerking your passengers around so much. We do have choices and memphis is fast becoming the airport I will avoid for all flying, and I am a big consumer averaging 4 flights per week.
Posted By kathryn on April 18, 2011, 5:55 PM
Dear Delta,
I am a frequent flyer of the Memphis International Airport, a Delta medallion member (6308985651), and a Delta American Express cardholder. So far in January 2012, I have been on 11 Delta flights traveling over 20,000 miles. My life, for more than a quarter of year revolves around Delta airlines because traveling to visit clients is an important part of my career.
While on a flight last month, an article in Delta's Sky Magazine really peaked my interest. Delta featured the City of Memphis in its December 2011 issue. The article praised the city as the hub of "America's Aerotropolis", where more than 10 million people are serviced by the airport annually. Delta is the leading commercial passenger airline in MEM. These advertisements for the city were exciting and impressive, but lead me to think about the real relationship the city has with Delta Airlines.
In the same month of this article release, The Research and Innovative Technology Administration's Bureau of Transportation Statistics named The Memphis International Airport the most expensive airport in America to fly out of. At an average of $476.22 for a round trip ticket, Memphis beat out Cincinnati, Washington Dulles, and Newark. In this same month, Delta also pulled 100 flights out of the Memphis airport.
The relationship Delta has with Memphis appears very one sided. How is it justifiable that that city named the poorest large metro area in the nation by the U.S. Census Bureau, is also ranked the most expensive to fly out of? It appears that Delta has the upper hand in this relationship, taking advantage of Memphis travelers, who really do not have much of a choice when it comes to selecting an airline. It is time for Memphians to take a stand against the unreasonable and out of control airline ticket prices.
I am a Delta fan, but the continued increase in ticket prices and reduction of the number of flights, leads me to believe there is another travel option out there. Southwest continues to make promises of a presence in Memphis, but I hope that we do not have to wait that long to see a reasonably priced ticket.
It is time for Delta executives to takes a step back and consider what the airline is doing to Memphians (especially after posting around $800 million in profits in 2011). According to the article in Sky, Memphis has worked so hard to create a city that locals are proud of and that tourists want to visit. Delta, please do not hold Memphis back by forgetting how important reasonably priced tickets are to the city and its travelers and tourists. I am not requesting $100 fees and hourly flights (although I would not mind a $100 ticket). I simply ask that you re-evaluate the relationship the airline has with the City of Memphis.
See you on my Monday flight,
Laura D'Antoni
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