Holiday Travel Horror Story

On December 28, 2006, the News Herald printed a letter to the editor ("Danged If You Don't") from a Panama City resident describing her son's very difficult journey to Panama City through Atlanta on Delta Air Lines.

A Panama City Beach business traveler commiserated with a letter of his own ("Airline Sickness") on January 2, 2007.

Our current air service is expensive and unreliable. For those forced to travel through Atlanta to or from Panama City, it's a game of chance. Will your flight take off on time? Will it take off at all?

To make matters worse, we have to pay the highest fares per mile of any airport in the state, according to a U.S. Department of Transportation survey.

Critics argue that the service will be there when there are enough travelers to justify better service. This is a passive, head-in-the-sand attitude that ignores the reality of airline industry economics.

We have an airport with a short runway that is expensive to serve. It is largely a leisure market, so it is very price sensitive. (This makes us different from Reagan National in Washington - which also has a short runway - because it is primarily a business market and less price sensitive).

We need an airport where the airlines can operate affordably, without constraints. And most importantly, we need to attract a low-cost carrier to the market, which will improve Delta service and fares faster than you can say "competition."

We should all feel encouraged by Southwest's fact-finding trips. The fact that they are interested in Northwest Florida is important. Now we have to earn their service.