Many of you received an e-mail from me with the graphs attached to it.
These graphs, according to Horry County, are "alleged" to "distort" the the "actual" current state of affairs at Myrtle Beach International Aiport. We report, you decide...a more complete and detailed set of numbers will be forthcoming!
Read the response at the end by Mr. Donald Wizeman, the true Watchman!
Lisa:
Appreciate your comments concerning Mr. Krieger's e-mail. I find them interesting!
BUT it brings to mind the question if as your figures say the "airport" is doing so well, why did they just lower the fees so much within the last several weeks?
I would think it was done to generate more business since it is not doing as well as stated by you, otherwise why lower them!
Richard Deitz
This e-mail is very interesting and thank you Mr. Krieger for including the links at the bottom of your email. We agree that the information attached to this e-mail should be “looked at very closely”. There is a minor difference between our in–house numbers and some of the numbers shown in the USDOT-stats, but not a major difference so I would assume the USDOT-data for CHS and ILM would be about the same. When comparing the PowerPoint slides to the USDOT “RITA” data shown in the web site links provided by Mr. Krieger, we believe the distortion / misrepresentation of information in the PowerPoint slides becomes very evident.
A few examples:
- Information in the PowerPoint slide titled “Scheduled Airline Carriers 2007” indicates that Myrtle Beach was “Down 2” scheduled air carriers from 2007 and that Charleston was “Add 4”. The “Summary Data” chart on the RITA pages clearly shows that MYR had the same number of Scheduled Carriers- 18 - in both 2007 and 2008. Based on the RITA data, the information for Charleston on that same slide is also incorrect.
- By showing only the percentage change, the PowerPoint slides distort the actual level of activity at MYR and the various comparison airports. The RITA charts show that while Charleston is still the busiest airport in South Carolina, MYR had almost five times as many scheduled departures as Florence and over 37% more departures than Wilmington. The RITA statistics also show that in the twelve months ending May 2008, Myrtle Beach had almost double the number of passengers at Wilmington, and more than 17 times the number of passengers at Florence.
- Another twisting of the PowerPoint slides is a misrepresentation of the FAA passenger forecasts. The “FAA FORECAST” shown on the PowerPoint slide titled “MYR PASSENGER ENPLANEMENTS” is NOT the current FAA forecast. MYR’s actual passenger activity in 2007 was greater than the current FAA forecast. It is not accurate to use old FAA numbers that were generated before 9/11/01.
Frankly, the RITA statistics could be easily interpreted to indicate the current management of the County’s airports has been very successful. MYR’s passenger traffic grew to over 1.4 million during the RITA reporting period; 3 mainline air carriers are listed in the top five carriers by passenger share at MYR compared to 1 in Wilmington, 2 in Charleston and 0 in Florence; RITA lists more than 10,000 annual passengers to 10 different destinations for Myrtle Beach and Charleston but only 4 for Wilmington and 2 for Florence. These type performance achievements certainly don’t indicate a “need” for a new management structure. The opponents of airport progress are continually trying to portray the current short term slowdown in Myrtle Beach’s economy as a “distortion” of future growth forecasts.
Lisa Bourcier
Public Information Director
Horry County
A few examples:
- Information in the PowerPoint slide titled “Scheduled Airline Carriers 2007” indicates that Myrtle Beach was “Down 2” scheduled air carriers from 2007 and that Charleston was “Add 4”. The “Summary Data” chart on the RITA pages clearly shows that MYR had the same number of Scheduled Carriers- 18 - in both 2007 and 2008. Based on the RITA data, the information for Charleston on that same slide is also incorrect.
- By showing only the percentage change, the PowerPoint slides distort the actual level of activity at MYR and the various comparison airports. The RITA charts show that while Charleston is still the busiest airport in South Carolina, MYR had almost five times as many scheduled departures as Florence and over 37% more departures than Wilmington. The RITA statistics also show that in the twelve months ending May 2008, Myrtle Beach had almost double the number of passengers at Wilmington, and more than 17 times the number of passengers at Florence.
- Another twisting of the PowerPoint slides is a misrepresentation of the FAA passenger forecasts. The “FAA FORECAST” shown on the PowerPoint slide titled “MYR PASSENGER ENPLANEMENTS” is NOT the current FAA forecast. MYR’s actual passenger activity in 2007 was greater than the current FAA forecast. It is not accurate to use old FAA numbers that were generated before 9/11/01.
Frankly, the RITA statistics could be easily interpreted to indicate the current management of the County’s airports has been very successful. MYR’s passenger traffic grew to over 1.4 million during the RITA reporting period; 3 mainline air carriers are listed in the top five carriers by passenger share at MYR compared to 1 in Wilmington, 2 in Charleston and 0 in Florence; RITA lists more than 10,000 annual passengers to 10 different destinations for Myrtle Beach and Charleston but only 4 for Wilmington and 2 for Florence. These type performance achievements certainly don’t indicate a “need” for a new management structure. The opponents of airport progress are continually trying to portray the current short term slowdown in Myrtle Beach’s economy as a “distortion” of future growth forecasts.
Lisa Bourcier
Public Information Director
Horry County
Lisa:
Appreciate your comments concerning Mr. Krieger's e-mail. I find them interesting!
BUT it brings to mind the question if as your figures say the "airport" is doing so well, why did they just lower the fees so much within the last several weeks?
I would think it was done to generate more business since it is not doing as well as stated by you, otherwise why lower them!
Richard Deitz
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