AIRPORT JUGGLES, STRUGGLES WITH LEAN PASSENGER YEAR

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, January 14, 1992                   TAG: 9201140044
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DANIEL HOWES and LISA SWIRSKY STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
AIRPORT JUGGLES, STRUGGLES WITH LEAN PASSENGER YEAR
It was a lean year at the Roanoke Regional Airport, with boardings off, concession sales down and the airline industry roiled by takeovers, bankruptcies, even the disappearance of one-time giants.
Passenger boardings in 1991 were 11.4 percent below the year before, driven first by fears of the Persian Gulf War and later by the recession. For the year, 307,978 passengers boarded planes at the airport last year, compared to 347,893 in 1990.
"It's simply the economy," Jacqueline Shuck, the airport's executive director, said Monday. "We were down in the spring something like 13-some percent."
By the end of November, boardings were off 12.5 percent from the year before, and a stronger-than-expected December edged the rate up another point or so. December boardings totaled 26,536, up 1.1 percent over 26,255 in December 1990.
The drop in boardings "says something about Roanoke in terms of the local economy," Shuck said. "What we're seeing is the same as the national trend, and that's down. The national trends aren't down as much as we are.
"I don't think it's a matter of leakage to another airport" such as Greensboro, N.C., "or fares rising," she said.
Things haven't been much better at the airport's concessions, operators said. Indeed, consultants who track the airline industry say sales at airport restaurants, gift shops, even newsstands can be leading indicators of a region's economic health.
Business at The Snack Bar on the Roanoke airport concourse has been so slow that manager Larry Shadeed is closing nearly eight hours early instead of finding a replacement for an afternoon worker who is sick. And that could last several days.
It's not much better at The Mountain Restaurant, which, like the Snack Bar, is owned and operated by Delaware North Co.
"The people that do come are spending a lot less," he said, and that means fewer hours for employees. "We're trying not to lay off anyone. So far we've been juggling hours so that everyone gets . . . just less" hours.
Clarence Lee has been working at Don's Shoeshine Concession for four years now and business is the worst he's ever seen.
"Some days I may get only one or two people, but that is a really bad day," Lee said, guessing that business is off about 30 percent from he has seen.
Bill Roberts, owner of Roanoke Airport Limousine Inc. and Yellow Cab Co. of Roanoke Inc., estimates his business is down by 20 percent. "Whenever ticket sales are down, business suffers, but I am hoping for a better year."
And rental-car agencies are seeing fewer requests for luxury cars. "Businessmen aren't going for upscale cars," said Nita Herndon, an agent for Avis Rent A Car. "They're getting the basic rental."

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB