From the air, Atlantic City International Airport resembles a perfect miniature—a child's toy complete with a gleaming white terminal, rich blacktop and the precise geometrics that automatically signal "aeronautics." From the ground, the single terminal is so manageable that it seems more like a large corporate campus than an airport. In fact, onlookers might dismiss this smaller, cozier venue as less serious than its "super size" competitors.
Don't make that mistake. Atlantic City International Airport has come of age, offering a more peaceful, efficient—and often cheaper—alternative to Philadelphia and Newark. Last year, a million passengers flew out of Atlantic City, according to the South Jersey Transportation Authority (SJTA). That number has grown considerably from the 281,000 total passengers the airport serviced in 1985.
SJTA Chairman of the Board Frank Spencer is noticeably proud of the airport's growth. "Notwithstanding the price war going on in Philadelphia, we're up almost 11 percent for the year," he says. "And that's competing with Southwest and Frontier, coming in as low-cost carriers to Philadelphia."
The airport has come a long way since the early days at its former location of Bader Field. "There was clearly regular service back in the 1930s and 1940s," says Spencer. "What ‘regular' meant for that time, I can't say." Service continued over the years at Bader, mostly with charter flights.
The numbers and sizes of those charter flights increased dramatically with the influx of Atlantic City casinos. "Deregulation in the airline industry came about the same time as casino gaming," Spencer notes. "Before the casinos developed the local market, they used to fly people in. It got to the point where it wasn't unusual to see several casino charters lined up on the runway, waiting their turn to let passengers off."
Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was testing planes and systems at another airport just a few miles away in Egg Harbor Township. A small civilian terminal was kept there by the city of Atlantic City but the property was mostly known to military and government pilots. But because of its potential for growth and development, this was the airport that would ultimately replace Bader Field.
The turning point would be the creation of a regional transportation authority. Legislators lobbied heavily for the SJTA, which was finally established in 1991. The SJTA oversees Atlantic City International Airport, as well as the Atlantic City Expressway, over which it also has jurisdiction. It was set up under control of New Jersey's governor, who appoints the board of directors in non-paid positions like Spencer's.
The board provides guidance to SJTA Executive Director James A. Crawford. The Commissioner of Transportation sits on the board to apprise the governor of actions, which are also sent for review after each meeting. In fact, the governor holds veto power over any decision. "That means if he says, ‘nope,' I don't want you to build that,' then we don't get to build it," acknowledges Spencer.
Once the SJTA was established, it took control of the small civilian airport at the FAA site. The SJTA expanded the civil terminal by adding a second level and reopened the airport in 1996 to handle commercial traffic.
At the time, the commercial carrier on board was Spirit Airlines. Spirit had been a scheduled airline in Atlantic City since 1990. At the beginning, they offered four flights daily on DC-9 aircraft—traveling twice to Detroit and once each to Providence and Boston, according to Lynne Koreman, senior director, marketing and communications.
Today, Spirit offers 10 to 11 flights daily on larger aircraft—MD-80s which carry 150 passengers. Spirit offers service not only to several destinations in Florida, but to Cancun, Detroit, Las Vegas, San Juan, and will be flying to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, starting November 18. Soon they'll also be introducing their new Airbus A321 that carries 198 passengers.
"We plan to double our size in the next five years," says Koreman. "As Spirit adds new destinations to our route map, Atlantic City service will grow accordingly with both non-stop and connecting service. Spirit has a long history of serving Atlantic City International Airport and we look forward to a bright future."
The other commercial carrier in Atlantic City is Delta. Delta flies passengers to its second-largest hub in Cincinnati, and then on to 134 cities including Rome, Amsterdam and Paris. Delta started service at Atlantic City International in October 2002.
"Atlantic City is a market we are extremely pleased to serve," says Katie Moser, spokeswoman for Delta Connection Comair, "and overall the service has been positive for our customers and the airline." Moser notes that Atlantic City is a "fantastic leisure destination" so Delta not only connects Atlantic City with the rest of the world but connects Delta passengers with Atlantic City.
"Comair and Delta already have a commitment to this community," says Moser. "We view Delta Connection service in Atlantic City as being a gateway to the world."
"We never stop going after new carriers," adds Spencer, "but we're also doing everything we can to make it attractive for existing carriers to expand service. We're hoping, for example, as Spirit adds more aircraft capable of long distances, that we'll see even more service. We'd love to have direct West Coast service by the end of next year."
Spencer acknowledges that there is a need to continue to grow the market. "Obviously we are a natural originating airport for people who live in Cape May and Atlantic Counties," he says. "They pretty much have to go right by us in order to get to another airport. But if we had to rely solely on Cape May and Atlantic County, as important as those people are to us, we wouldn't have any air service."
"We need a broader, and larger, population base to support air service," he acknowledges. "Luckily we're convenient to residents in southern Ocean County, and parts of Burlington, Gloucester, Camden and Cumberland Counties. People from those counties use the airport on a regular basis."
The combination of competitive fares and the ease of using Atlantic City are compelling for many travelers. Atlantic City International Airport's smaller size means just a short walk from the parking lot to the terminal. There are no airport buses and longterm parking lots with which to contend. It's faster to the counter and faster to the gate.
However, while smaller in size, Atlantic City International continues to "pack a punch." For example, it not only caters to commercial carriers, but it is also home to the FAA Technical Center, the Coast Guard Air Station and the New Jersey Air National Guard 177th Fighter Wing.
In fact, Atlantic City International also holds two special distinctions, unrelated to commercial flight, says Spencer. "One is that the airport is a designated reliever—or alternate landing site—for the space shuttle. Secondly, the 177th Fight Wing is on ‘ready alert' here to launch intercept flights in the event of another terrorist attack. It's a great group of guys and they have a well-trained team out there." Passengers may care more, however, about simply flying in and out on time and Atlantic City has a good record. Plus, future work will further improve the efficiency of the airport.
"We're working right now on a series of phased improvements that will lead us eventually to substantial expansion of the terminal," says Crawford. "We're planning to move ‘bag screening' behind the ticket counters and away from ‘the front of the house' to improve the flow."
"Eventually, we'll relocate the ticket counters to new areas to free up more space. We're also going to be moving the screening area to the second level, but that is a little way off. Ultimately, we'd like to add as many as six or seven more gates which can include both new carriers and expansions for Spirit and Delta."
"We're actively pursuing what it takes to make this airport the best it can be," concludes Spencer.
Now that's "taking off" in the right direction.
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