We Better Hope Stieg Hoeg Does Not Land In A Competing City

Friday, January 16, 2009 03:46 AM

It is my view that the Prince George Airport Authority had better hope that Stieg Hoeg does not land on his feet in another similar sized city as PG , because I believe he has the ability to do some serious butt kicking and I wouldn’t want it to be us.

Was Hoeg a do it now and leave no prisoners man? You betcha. That is what made him so special and that is why he formed a part of the northern mosaic. The kind of folks we have around here that get things done are usually the kind that take the bull by the horns and get on with the job.

I could name a number of them, but I’m sure I might miss some so suffice to say they are out there.

Hoeg took the airport from the hands of the feds and turned the place into a top rated airport. To be sure we didn’t do so well with Horizon air, but keep in mind that we couldn’t have put the run into operation at a worse time. The economy was going into the can in the USA fuel prices were through the roof. Add to that the fact that Horizon showed up in the afternoon and couldn’t even connect with the moon and it really didn’t have much of a chance to succeed.

Hoeg’s idea was sound; get some competition into the area and the out of country lfights suddenly become much cheaper. Competition has a habit of doing just that. Well it didn’t work out and I’m sure that is not the reason why he is no longer there.

What is important, and I must reiterate, is that Hoeg knows his stuff. Trust me someone will be sniffing around looking for him. He is a bush bunny and that may keep him here for awhile but my guess is that with his talent, it won’t be for long and we can only hope that it isn’t with someone who we are in competition with.

I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.

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Posted on Friday, January 16, 2009 03:46 AM in Views by Ben Meisner

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Comments

Posted by: MrPG on January 16 2009 9:47 AM

The Airport has not been an unqualified success over Mr. Hoeg's tenure, IMO.

Some of this has already been mentioned:

Vancouver's Airport Improvement Fee - $5
Prince George's AIF - $15... this adds up to a lot of cash.

Still walking on the tarmac to go from the plane to the terminal.

Long term parking meters an ongoing problem, often not functioning.

Horizon Air. Hawk Air. 'nuff said...

No gift shop.

Runway expansion still yet to bear any economic fruit. Time will tell on this one.

Posted by: gamblor on January 16 2009 11:19 AM

Vancouver - millions of passengers
PG - a lot less???

Apples to oranges

Posted by: gus on January 16 2009 12:00 PM

To compare PG AIF fees to Vancouver AIF fees is like comparing apples to oranges for many reasons.

One of the easiest to explain is that the Vancouver AIF has two rates - $5 for flights internal to BC and Yukon; all others are $15.

In PG, close to 100% of the flights go to BC.

A significant number of passengers leaving from Vancouver fly to other provinces and other countries.

Posted by: gitterdun on January 16 2009 12:26 PM

Middle of December, going into the Christmas rush and it's -30 and blowing and the pay parking dispensers aren't working and everyone is expected to drag their luggage through 2 ft of snow, up the stairs, into the airport, check in and then buy a tag and return through the cold and snow to their vehicle to dispay the receipt. This is not the sign of a well thought out plan. If they can't keep the snow cleared out of the parking or at least keep the dispensers working then they could have at least waived the parking fees until they had their problems resolved........or at the very least kept a list of the vehicles/ plates that paid so that customers didn't have to make the additioal trip out to their vehicle and back. Just a little common sense.............

Posted by: MrPG on January 16 2009 1:09 PM

Well said, gitterdun. I have had to do this trek on a number of occasions. Due to the machines not working, I've had to drag my luggage into the airport wait in line to check in and wait in line to buy a ticket and then back out into the lot to put the ticket on the windshield. This has been an ongoing issue and I never get a straight answer when I ask when they're looking to fix this problem.

As for the comparison between airports, I realize Vancouver is a bigger airport, I should have checked on the AIF's of similar sized airports. I wonder how comparible we are to them?

Posted by: taxinapothole on January 16 2009 1:42 PM

A solution gitterdun, call our company (taxi). We will, for a reasonable fee, pick you up at your door, and drop you off at the departure door at the airport. No broken parking meters, no walking back and forth. One stop at the door, and you are on your way, while your vehicle is parked safely at home. Pretty simple don't you think?

Posted by: MrPG on January 16 2009 1:55 PM

Hm, a $25 one way taxi ride (+ tip, times two) or an $8.00 per day parking fee. If I was going to be out of town for a week, it would be worthwhile.

I was curious, so I googled the AIF's of other BC airports: (not sure if these are 100% correct, but these are as of the airport websites).

Kelowna - $5.00 or $10.00 depending on destination
Kamloops - $5.00
Ft. St. John - $12.00
Ft. Nelson - $15.00

Posted by: gus on January 16 2009 11:16 PM

Toronto .... $20

http://www.gtaa.com/en/gtaa_corporate/airport_improvement_

I think we are getting palaces for airports. Reasonable for international where one might wish to promote the country. But now the province is being promoted and the cities are being promoted.

At the same time as this pompous atmosphere is presented in the airports, passengers are being treated more and more like cattle.

Pay extra for seat selection, pay extra for too much luggage, pay extra for food on meal flights, pay extra for hearing the moving pictures being put in front of you which, on short flight to Vancouver, cannot even be seen for longer than 35 or so minutes, walk through snow and ice and climb stairs to get up to the planes.

A glass building looks nice, as do buildings with totem poles, exceptioanlly high ceilings, etc. etc.

I guess the grand central train stations of old. However, they will likely not be around for a hundred years except those in small places like Watson Lake and Fort Nelson.

Posted by: MrPG on January 17 2009 12:23 PM

I don't think we're getting our $15 worth.

The extras for seat selection, luggage, etc. are charged by the airlines, not the airport.

Posted by: gus on January 17 2009 2:13 PM

MrPG, I realize who is cahrging for those other service. The point I was trying to make is that while they are nice to have, we are getting some pretentious looking palaces for airports, including the smaller communities, while the passengers are not being pampered anymore.

Sort of like wondering through a mansion, but getting servants' treatment.

When one looks at the income at YVR versus YXS, it is easy to see why we would have to have a higher AIF if we are going to have proportional total income for operations.

The income at YVR is 52 times that of YXS at $368.3 million for YVR versus $7.1 million for YXSD.

Given that, the concession income at YVR is 310 times that at YXS, the general terminal charges are 111 times that YXS and the rentals are 75 that at YXS.

We do not have enough traffic to provide a good proportional income from concessions and rentals. If you want to build a palace for an airport, you have to pick up the dollars somewhere else. Proportionately we are picking it up with landing fees, parking and the AIF. Thus two of them have a direct impact on ticket price from PG.

Posted by: MrPG on January 17 2009 4:07 PM

If your contention is that PG's Airport is a palace, then I don't agree. It's got some recent renovations, but for my $15, I expect to see working parking meters and maybe and enclosed walkway into the terminal. Maybe I'm asking too much.

Posted by: rayban68 on January 18 2009 8:21 AM

I just flew to Vancouver on Friday - the airport parking has caught up to the rest of the world and is now pay when you leave, not when you arrive. You get a ticket to open the gate, put it in your pocket and pay inside at the baggage claim, or on the way out.

Posted by: MrPG on January 18 2009 5:36 PM

Thanks for the update, rayban. About time the PG Airport did something about the parking meter situation. I guess the existing non-working ones will be disposed of.