John Brantley Airport Director

Looking Back on 2009
Editorial: John Brantley,
Airport Director

As the year 2009 began, the evidence that the nation's economy, and that of many other parts of the world, was in a steep decline and had been for most of the previous year was clear. Air travel and air shipping already had been negatively affected to a great degree, and there was little reason to believe that a turnaround was near at hand. Business travel already had been heavily curtailed, and the big question was whether or not leisure travel was going to decline even more rapidly. Optimism about the near term future was hard to find. Thus, we prepared for the worst but hoped for better.

Now that 2009 has come to a close, we can look back and say it turned out much as we expected and relatively good for RDU as compared with many other parts of the country. For that we are most grateful. And light is beginning to appear at the end of the tunnel. For the first time since March of 2008, RDU's passenger numbers grew over the same month of the previous year in November. That didn't continue in December, but both that month and October were within 2-3 percent of the same months of 2008. And airlines began announcing new flights for the coming Spring rather than speaking only of downsizing. Most certainly, the recession isn't over, but at least there is beginning to be more good news than bad, and with it comes optimism for the future.

Air passengers traveling to or from RDU during 2009 declined 7.6 percent versus 2008 to 8.973 million from 9.716 million, still higher than any year prior to 2005. Air cargo shipping and flight operations decreased even more in 2009 versus the prior year, the former by 17 percent and the latter by 11.5 percent. Air shipping clearly reflected the effects of the recession on business in general, while flight operations fell to a level last seen in the latter part of the 1970s due to both flight reductions by the airlines and retreating use of corporate aviation. That being said, use of business aircraft continues to be of great importance and benefit to many companies and will be even more so in the future given the substantial contraction of the airlines as an industry.

Flight losses and downsizing of aircraft caused the number of seats that were available on departing flights to decline by 9 percent, while the average load factor grew by one percentage point to 77 percent. The number of vehicles parking in the public lots fell by 10 percent, the number of taxicab trips was flat, and the number of car rental transactions dropped by 18 percent, the last reflecting a substantial decline in business travel. On a positive note, however, SuperShuttle averaged transporting 3,800 passengers per month to and from the airport after beginning operation at RDU in early February. This ground transportation alternative was well received by residents of and visitors to the region alike.

Construction of the second and final phase of new Terminal 2 that began soon after the first phase opened on October 26, 2008 continued at a fast pace throughout 2009. As the year drew to a close, the south concourse was fully enclosed, and the extension of the main terminal should reach that same state by late winter. Completion is expected by the end of 2010, with occupancy and relocation of Continental Airlines and US Airways from Terminal 1 following in February 2011. The first phase of Terminal 2 functioned very well from its opening throughout 2009 and has drawn a multitude of positive comments from its users. The hundreds of people who have contributed to the creation and operation of this magnificent building deserve high praise for their work.

Another of our projects that deserves mention is the conversion of RDU's extensive airfield lighting system from incandescent to LED fixtures, which began in 2008 and will conclude in the late spring of 2010. Energy savings from this work, much of the cost of which has been funded with federal and state grants, are considerable. Equally important, however, is the substantial reduction in maintenance requirements due to LEDs having operating lives 10-20 times that of quartz bulbs. This is only one of our initiatives in improving sustainability on the airport, but one which also provides considerable economic benefit as well.

The year 2010 will bring its own challenges to RDU that must and will be met. Because the Airport Authority has been ever mindful of its heritage and consistently maintained a conservative position, however, it continues to be fiscally well positioned to do so. Its operations during 2009 as usual have been better than budgeted with respect to both revenue and expense and are expected to continue to be so in 2010. No staff positions have had to be eliminated, there has been no reduction in force, and customer service has not been curtailed. All in all, 2009 was a good year and ended on a positive note. Our charge is to keep the ball rolling forward in 2010, and we will do so.

At RDU, we and our many tenant businesses appreciate your support and thank you for your patronage. Have a great year in 2010 and allow us to offer you excellence in customer service whenever you use the airport! And please continue to travel by air.

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