MANAGER OF COMMUTER AIRLINE SAYS ROANOKE RESPONSIVE TO NEW SERVICE

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

DATE: SUNDAY, January 24, 1993                   TAG: 9301260161
SECTION: ECONOMY                    PAGE: EC-25   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOHN GIBBONS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
MANAGER OF COMMUTER AIRLINE SAYS ROANOKE RESPONSIVE TO NEW SERVICE
With so many jobs being transferred out of the Roanoke Valley, Sharon Sikkema could consider herself good news for the community.
She was a transfer into Roanoke.
Sikkema is station manager for the operation that Mesaba Aviation Inc. of Minneapolis established last year at Roanoke Regional Airport when it began operating flights between here and Detroit.
Sikkema relocated from Grand Rapids, Mich., to Roanoke a couple of weeks before Northwest Airlink, a regional commuter carrier of Northwest Airlines, opened here Aug. 1.
Mesaba is one of the commuter airlines operating under contract with Northwest.
On Jan. 11, another Northwest commuter affiliate began Roanoke's only non-stop service to Newark International Airport in New Jersey, one of the three major airports serving the New York metropolitan area.
As station manager, Sikkema says she not only oversees the operation, but also does "a little bit of everything. . . . Some days I work ramp and help load the luggage and unload it, board the passengers. The majority of the time I'm inside with operations, selling tickets, reservations and so forth."
Sikkema, who was a station manager in Michigan before coming here, says Northwest Airlink's 1992 start-up was "pretty much up to our expectations - very good response. People seem to be pleased with the Detroit service.
"I think it was needed, because Northwest has so many connections and possibilities for worldwide travel out of Detroit. I think it is a good service offered to the public for them to be able to make those connections from Roanoke without having to make several stops in between."
The flights to Newark, she says, are going "pretty good - but a little slow. We didn't get the advertising out right away, but we're quite pleased with some of the [passenger] loads.
"We think it's going to be very good. There's a lot of businessmen who need to get into Newark in some non-stop" way, she said. She finds the Roanoke airport "comparable [to others she's worked in] and better than some."
Now living in North Lakes with her husband, Andrew, Sikkema says she likes her new home. "I like the people, they're very friendly and real helpful as far as finding things and asking questions. If you ask somebody how to get someplace, it's not unusual for them to say, `Well, follow me and we'll show you.' "
"Its a pretty town. . . . I find the city is easy to get around. It seems to be laid out well with the expressways and things. Its real easy to find stuff. Being from a very large city, that's nice - being able to find things easy," she said.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB