MEMPHIS – Regional carrier Southern Airways Express has announced that its August passenger count at DuBois Regional Airport has reached 1,000 passengers for two consecutive months, representing the best performance at the airport in over four years.
The growth comes on the heels of Southern’s interline ticketing and baggage agreement with American Airlines, which launched in June.
In addition, Southern posted completion and on-time statistics that earned the carrier some of the highest marks in the industry.
In August, Southern’s passenger count in DuBois totaled 1,020, which is slightly less than the most recent record-setting month, which was set in July.
The two-month average represents an 83 percent increase in passenger traffic from January.
Since the launch of the American Airlines interline in June, the percentage of passengers using Southern’s DuBois air service has grown by 43 percent, proving that consumers are responding to the combination of Southern’s low fares and American’s convenient connections at Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
In addition to the record numbers at DuBois, Southern’s system-wide performance statistics revealed another stellar month for the nation’s third-largest commuter carrier.
The airline posted a completion rate of 99.0 percent (all) and 99.5 percent (controllable) in August, which beat all of the top 5 U.S. airlines, according to the flightstats.com database.
“The traveling public from the tri-county area of Jefferson, Clearfield and Elk counties, are supporting their local airport,” said Jack Matson, Jefferson County commissioner.
“Price, reliability, the hubs, short check-in lines, quick TSA and free parking all combine to make it an easy decision to fly from the DuBois Regional Airport.
“The schedule of four times daily to Pittsburgh and twice daily to Baltimore is perfectly meeting the needs of both leisure and business travelers.”
In the highly-watched on-time performance statistics, Southern likewise posted numbers, which beat all major U.S. carriers, except Delta. For the month of August, Southern’s percentage of flights that both departed on schedule and landed on-time was higher than that of United, Southwest, American and JetBlue, to name a few.
“When our passengers gave us feedback that reliability and on-time performance were as important to them as our superior customer service, we took that to heart,” said Stan Little, chairman and chief executive officer of Southern.
“We’ve amended our company motto, Every Passenger, Every Flight, Every Day to now include the words ‘On Time!’”
In addition to the positive passenger trends in DuBois, Southern is also announcing passenger records in the Pennsylvania cities of Lancaster, Altoona and Franklin.
Passengers looking for more information about Southern Airways may call the customer service center at 1-800-329-0485 or visit Southern’s Web site at, www.iFlySouthern.com.