Winter Texans lobby for nonstop air service to Canada [The Brownsville Herald, Texas]

Jan. 08--A bunch of Winter Texans think it would be a good idea for WestJet, a low-cost air carrier based in Calgary, Alberta, to begin offering nonstop flights between Winnipeg and the Rio Grande Valley, at least during the winter.

Behind the push is HotWinters.ca, a Winnipeg-based travel medical insurance firm, which sent a petition containing nearly 1,000 signatures to WestJet's CEO. The drive to collect more signatures continues via a downloadable PDF form. HotWinters says seasonal nonstop flights are important not just because of the potential convenience for the tens of thousands of Winter Texans from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario, but also for medical emergencies.

Monique Blahitka, a Canadian citizen who winters in Weslaco with her husband, Dan, has contacted various media outlets in hopes of drawing attention to the cause. She said the only thing that keeps their Canadian friends from coming down to the Valley to visit during the winter is that it's such a time-consuming ordeal getting here without a direct flight.

"They say, "See you guys in the spring. We're going to hop a flight to Phoenix,'" Blahitka said.

She suspects a lot of snowbirds are in the same boat, and that WestJet flights -- by providing easy access to the Valley, say from November to April -- would bring huge numbers of Winter Texans' friends and family members that aren't coming now.

"We're not asking (WestJet) to do a flight all year every day," Blahitka said. "Two flights a week for a selected period would be great. They'll make money because everybody's going to be bringing their golf clubs, and there's the $25 extra bag charge."

Plenty of wealthy farmers from Manitoba and Saskatchewan who spend their money in Arizona or Florida -- two markets WestJet currently serves -- could be spending it here instead, she said. While the HotWinters petition specifically mentions Harlingen or McAllen, Larry Brown, director of aviation for the Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport, said he would gladly welcome more Winter Texan business and that the airport would do a great job servicing WestJet, which he described as "sort of the Southwest Airlines of Canada."

"We're very interested in having them here," Brown said. "We have had meetings with WestJet before and they continue to be on our radar screen."

Valley International Airport's marketing director did not respond to a request for comment.

Airlines cost a lot of money to run and tend to avoid markets that aren't a sure bet. But never say never, according to WestJet spokesman Robert Palmer. That said, Palmer doesn't want to create false hope.

WestJet launched operations in 1996 with three 737s and 220 employees. Today it has 8,500 employees and 97 737s, with 38 more on order through 2018. The company, which indeed modeled itself on Southwest in the beginning, according to Palmer, flies to 71 cities in Canada, the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean. The company has made a profit every quarter but two during the 16 years of its existence -- highly unusual in the airline business, Palmer said.

Many questions have to be answered for WestJet to initiate service in the Valley, such as how many people would actually use it, and could a Winnipeg-RGV route fill the airline's 737s going both north and south?

"If you don't have sufficient numbers going south you need significant numbers of new people coming north," Palmer said. "Is there demand on the part of people from the Valley to come to Manitoba?"

Another key question is how much it would cost WestJet to fly one of its $50 million 737s to the Valley versus some other destination. In the business this is known as "opportunity cost." Other considerations include landing fees and terminal lease rates at the airport, the presence or absence of local tourist attractions, and whether a local convention and visitors bureau is able and willing to devote time and money to helping make the service viable.

"You have to make sure those folks are totally on board," Palmer said. "You can't do it alone. You need some help, particularly when you're new to a region. You need some help on the ground. Advertising and marketing are huge."

He confirmed WestJet had received the HotWinters petition and an accompanying letter. Palmer said that the airline's services are much in demand and it receives many such petitions and pleas, all of which he described as "hugely flattering."

"Nobody knows what's going to happen in the future," he said. "We're very grateful for that interest. Obviously as we take delivery of additional aircraft in years to come we'll be in a better position to take advantage of opportunities like this."

That's no guarantee the Valley will ever get WestJet service to Winnipeg, but if it did there's no doubt many Winter Texans and their friends would take advantage of it and benefit from it, as would the Valley's economy. Blahitka's attitude is that it doesn't hurt to ask.

"A little bit of push from the masses is never a bad idea," she said.

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