Archive for the ‘vacation’ Category:
Fly to Nashville For A Taste of Country
Social Flights offers service into Nashville from Branson, Milwaukee, Austin. We also offer flights from any where your group or organization originates. Take advantage of the taste of country package or any of the exciting vacation packages below.
Country music fans get a taste of Nashville’s most popular attractions when they visit Gaylord Opryland Resort!
Availability: Select dates through October, 2012
(Note: This package is not available October 5-7, 2012, due to the Opry’s 87th Birthday Celebration)
Duration: 2 nights (extra nights may be available at prevailing rates)
To Book: Call 1-866-972-6779
Package includes:
- Two night room accommodations at Gaylord Opryland Resort
- Reserved seat ticket to the Grand Ole Opry – the show that made country music famous! Valid Tuesday, Friday or Saturday (plus special Wednesday performances July 18 & 25 and August 1 & 8 only)
-or-
Reserved seat ticket to Opry Country Classics at the Ryman Auditorium; this show shines a spotlight on the classic country songs that have defined country music for generations of fans (Thursdays, March 29 – May 24 and October 4 – 25)
-plus- - Grand Ole Opry House Backstage Tour
- Ryman Auditorium Museum Self-Guided Tour
- Voucher toward a meal at the Opry Backstage Grill ($20 per adult, $10 per child age 4-11)
- General Jackson Showboat lunch or dinner cruise and show
Package price:
With General Jackson lunch cruise: $280*
With General Jackson dinner cruise: $305*
*Rate is per person, based on double occupancy for traditional accommodations, plus applicable tax, resort fee and parking. Extra nights and atrium upgrades may be available at prevailing rates. Rate subject to change without notice. Restrictions apply.
Suggested Add-ons:
(per person, plus tax)
- Shuttle transportation to Ryman Auditorium; inquire about rates when making package reservation
- Enjoy lunch, dinner, or a concert at the Wildhorse Saloon®
- A relaxing spa treatment at Relâche – The Spa at Gaylord Opryland
- Gaylord Springs™ Golf Links – Tee times available 30 days out
- General Jackson® – Showboat luncheon cruise and show
- Enjoy a concert at the historic Ryman Auditorium
Current Nashville Vacation Packages and Specials at Gaylord Opryland
- A Night at the Opry – Our most popular vacation package!
- Summer Fun with Shrek & Friends
- The DreamWorks Birthday Celebration
- Taste of Country – 2-night Package!
- Gaylord Hotels’ Unforgettable Anniversary
- Remember Romance – 1 or 2 nights
- Gaylord Hotels’ Birthday Getaway
- Rooms for Good™ – Reward yourself by helping others
- Thank You Thursdays – Get 40%* savings on Thursdays. TN residents only.
- Nashville Nights – 1 and 2-night packages available
- 2012 CMA Music Festival / Fan Fair Package
- Opry’s 87th Birthday – 2-night Package!
- New Year’s Eve Celebration 2012 – A Southern Gospel Festival
102 Things To Do In Nashville Tennessee
Social Flights is introducing air service between Nashville Tennessee, Austin Texas, Milwaukee Wisconsin and Branson Missouri beginning in May 2012. The opportunities for travelers to access business opportunities, recreational experiences, family connections, and entertainment value has never been better.
Say Goodbye to the Hassle
The social experience of travel has finally been liberated from the boardrooms of the airlines and no longer subject to the fragile and abusive hub and spoke system. No more long lines, luggage searches or irradiation machines. Social Flights takes you where you want to go.
Visit all the Capitals
Nashville is the music capital of the world – without rival. For publishing, recording, and production Nashville has few peers. Nashville is located in the population center of the United States and perfectly accessible to many locations of magnificent beauty, culture, and business opportunities.
Your way, not the highway
There are many great things to do in Nashville and dozens of websites that will help you find the getaway of your dreams. Social Flights now makes these opportunities to a wider market of people than ever before. Fly to Nashville today with Social Flights – lose the hassle. (list compiled by: 365Nashville.com)
7. The Melrose Spring Beer Tasting
9. Glass Night at Flying Saucer
10. Train for the Country Music Marathon or 1/2 Marathon
11. Mulligan’s Pub and Restaurant
12. Frist Center For the Visual Arts
13. Radnor Lake
14. Art By the Glass
16. NashVegas Casino Night at Cannery Ballroom
17. Nuvo Burrito
18. Bluebird Café
19. Warner Parks
21. “8 off 8th” at Mercy Lounge
22. Two for Tuesdays
23. Climb Nashville
24. Nashville Lawn & Garden Show
25. Nashville Haunted Pub Crawl
27. Las Paletas
29. The Billy Block Show from 12th and Porter
30. The Pie Wagon
32. Belmont Mansion
35. Jacks BBQ
36. Volunteer at 2nd Harvest Food Bank
38. Disc Golf at Seven Oaks Park
40. Zumi Sushi
41. Musica Sculpture
42. Bongo Java Roasting Company
43. The Station Inn
45. Crow’s Nest
49. Hatch Show Print
50. Nashville Predators
51. Whiskey Kitchen
52. Love Circle
53. Dozen – A Nashville Sweet Shop
54. Laser Quest
55. Dragon Park
57. Eco-Adventure Canopy Zip Tour
58. Loveless Café
59. Commodore Grille
61. Nashville Zoo
62. Brunch at the Copper Kettle
63. Sweet CeCe’s
64. All Fired Up
65. Downtown Nashville Home Tour
65. Rajin’ Cajun Crawfish Boil
66. Taco Mamacita
67. Nashville Sounds
71. Donut Den
72. Dove Awards
74. South Street
75. Country Music Hall of Fame
79. Exit/In
80. Allium
83. Southern Bred
84. Franklin Rodeo
87. Tuesdays at the French Quarters
88. Music City Roots
89. Burger Up
90. We ART Nashville
91. Nashville Shores
92. Fido
95. Brown Bag Lunch Concert Series
96. Tennessee Renaissance Festival
99. Grassmere Bicentennial Picnic Celebration
100. Memorial Day Blues Festival
101. Movies in the Park
102 Things To Do in Branson Missouri
Social Flights is excited to bring Branson Missouri right to your doorstep in Nashville, Austin, and Milwaukee. Social Flights offeres the only non-stop air service to Branson from these cities. Branson has established attracts over 6 million people per year due to it’s family friendly recreation, mild climate, and stunning geographic beauty.
Check our website and book your tickets today.
Many people may have never heard about Branson, so we have provided the following links to 102 things to do in Branson. Of course there are many more, but spend a little time cruising these links and you’ll see a world of fun and excitement come alive. Consider Branson for your next family vacation and let Social Flights take you their in comfort and style.
101 Things To Do In Branson
1. Silver Dollar City
2. Swim at White Water
3. Ride The Ducks
4. Shop at Branson Landing
5. Watch the fountain show at the Landing
6. Ride the trolley downtown
7. Zip lining
8. See The Legend of Kung Fu
9. Watch the planes come in at the Branson Airport flight deck
10. Watch the Liverpool Legends
11. Watch an IMAX movie
12. Ride the Go Karts
13. Watch SIX
14. Visit the Titanic
15. Take pictures at the Wax Museum
16. Feed the fish at Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery
17. Visit the dam
18. Swim at Moonshine Beach
19. Watch the Cat’s Pajamas
20. Watch Jim Stafford
21. Visit Shepherd of the Hills
22. Rent a boat at State Park Marina
23. Go fishing!
24. See Kirby Van Burch
25. Go parasailing
26. Get stuffed at the Dixie Stampede
27. Golf-professional or mini!
28. Tour the wineries
29. Visit the Butterfly Palace
30. Tour the Auto Museum
31. Watch Todd Oliver’s talking dogs
32. Watch the Acrobats of China
33. Laugh with Paul Harris and The Cleverly’s
34. Laugh your Yakov with Yakov Smirnoff
35. Ride the Showboat Branson Belle
36. See the largest performing family, the Hughes Brothers
37. Watch the Baldknobbers
38. Ride the train at Branson Scenic Railway
39. Take an Old Time Photo
40. Visit the Shrine of the Holy Spirit
41. Visit the Veterans Memorial Museum
42. Visit the Worlds Largest Toy Museum
43. Tour and shop historic downtown Branson
44. Tour College of the Ozarks
45. Experience the Branson Ballknockers
46. Take a cave tour at Talking Rocks Cavern
47. Rent a canoe or kayak on Lake Taneycomo
48. Get scared at the Castle of Chaos
49. Go horseback riding in the Ozarks and at Shepherd of the Hills
50. Ride a segway
52. Take a ride up Inspiration Tower
53. Take a dam tour
54. Watch the stars at Legends in Concert
55. Eat Branson’s largest banana split at the Starlite Diner
56. Have the time of your life at Bill Medley’s show
57. Walk the red carpet to see Horray for Hollywood
58. See the brotherly love with the Rankin Brothers
59. Hear the smooth sounds of the Texas Tenors
60. Enjoy savings at the Outlet Malls
61. Go crafting
62. Start Your Christmas List early by shopping at the Grand Village Shops
63. Get your fix with the 3 Redneck Tenors
64. See the only dueling piano show in Branson at Ernie Biggs Piano Bar and Restaurant
65. Learn about Table Rock lake at the Dewey Short Visitor Center
66. Visit Shoji Tabuchi’s Theatre to see his world famous bathrooms
67. Learn something new at Ripley’s Believe It or Not
68. Eat at the Candlestick Inn
69. Take a helicopter tour
70. Eat at the Hard Luck Diner—the only diner where the waiters sing!
71. Mountain Bike and Cabin Rentals at Park Trails
72. Eat at Lamberts-home of the thrown rolls
73. Go to Bass Pro Shop for the fish feeding
74. Take a hydro-limo ride on Table Rock Lake
75. Visit Chateau on the Lake
76. Visit Big Cedar
77. Cakes and Cream
78. Take a carriage ride downtown
79. Dinosaur Museum
80. Eat ice cream at Andy’s Frozen Custard
81. Go Rock Climbing
82. Ride the Bumper Boats
83. Experience the thrill of the Ejection Seat
84. Pull the Rip Cord at The Tracks
85. Camp at Table Rock State Park
86. View the Trail of Lights November through January
87. Visit the spa at Chateau on the Lake
88. Enjoy the atmosphere at Level 2 Steakhouse
89. Eat on the lake front patios at the Landing
90. Build a car at Ridemakerz
91. Make a new friend at Build-a-bear
92. Learn about Our Body- The Universe Within
93. Go to the circus with Yakov’s Dinner Adventure
94. Get lost at Hannah’s Maze of Mirrors
95. Visit Grand Country Square for laser tag, mini golf, and of course the worlds largest banjo!
96. Eat at the Keeter Center
97. Eat Dino’s 24 Karrot Cake
98. Go souvenir shopping !
99. Walk the famous 76 strip
100. Take pictures at the scenic overlooks
101. Learn to scuba dive in Table Rock Lake
102. Fly Social Flights direct from Nashville, Austin, and Milwaukee!!!
Social Flights Discovers A New Class Of Entrepreneur
Social media is such an amazing tool – what was once just a shiny new soapbox for marketing to the masses, has now evolved into an entirely different way for people to coordinate, organize, and produce the things that society needs. And, when the economy slows down, people don’t sit around waiting for Wall Street to bail them out, they come up with the great ideas that change the world forever.
A New Class of Entrepreneur
Cassandra Harris is the CEO of Black Diamond Sanctuary, a boutique travel company that caters specifically to exclusive ladies leisure and recreation. From their Website:
“The Black Diamond Sanctuary specializes in fostering friendship and sisterhood through luxury retreat excursions. Our retreats are especially designed to give you a rich cultural travel experience that is sure to be tantalizing to all of your senses. We provide an environment where you can relax and revive, all while indulging in social enjoyment with others like yourself.”
Black Diamond Sanctuary has offered vacation packages to such places as the Caribbean, Antigua, South Africa, Dominican Republic, and Grenada. Domestic packages have landed in Santa Barbara, Niagara Falls, New York City, etc. Next year, Black Diamond is planning excursions to Abu Dhabi and Oman, among several other locales.
Keep in mind, these are not typical tourist traps, Black Diamond locations appeal to the adventurous, curious, educated, and even the politically intrigued. Once at the destination, the activities that Black Diamond Sanctuary plans include everything from casual relaxation to serious high-wired adventure.
At Social Flights, we see our partnership with Black Diamond Sanctuary as a natural fit with our business model. Currently, Black Diamond clients fly in on commercial airlines from all over the states. Social Flights can offer point-to-point service allowing Cassandra to focus on plugging into pre-existing social networks and seasonal opportunities.
Then the Magic Started
As I continued to speak with Cassandra, something magic started to happen – it was as if I could hear her brain jump into overdrive. She started rattling off all sorts of new business opportunities could be accomplished with her expertise combined with our national network of private air service operations.
We jumped all over each other’s thoughts, even finished each other’s sentences discussing weekend getaways, special events, and serial events where one group would fly in while the other group flies out. All of these scenarios would either be impossible with the dysfunctional commercial airlines or truly competitive in price, time, luxury, and convenience – yet superlative in the experience using our vast network of private jet service.
A Cast of Thousands
Soon I learned that Cassandra has a diverse background in many entertainment and hospitality verticals. It dawned on me that there must be hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs like Cassandra who have no intention of depending on anyone for their success and prosperity. I imagine legions of smart and motivated people like Cassandra Harris who can look at the data and see “supply = demand” where the rest of the world sees “recession = depression”.
Cassandra Harris is the New Class of Entrepreneur. We are proud to be a part of the her emerging revolution in social capitalism.
Social Flights Now Booking March Madness
Time to iron your favorite jersey, slap some war paint on and dust off that foam finger: March Madness is about to begin! Whether you’re an NCAA Basketball superfan or a casual bystander, everyone can get swept up in the magic and drama of the Big Dance.
The trouble with trying to see a game, is that nobody knows who will be eliminated and when. So you can’t book airline tickets to a final four game 4 weeks in advance because you don’t know if your team will be there at the chosen venue. Airlines can’t add seats to a route 4 weeks in advance either because they don’t know where the fans are flying from. This invariably means a March Madness Rush for transportation, hotels, rental cars, vacation days, both going to and coming home from the game.
Fear Not!
Social Flights has over 90 partner operators with over 500 aircraft evenly distributed across the United States. As soon as you know your team will be in the series, you and your friends can book a private jet to the game. The airplane will take you to the game, wait while you watch, and bring you home the same day for a price that will surprise you. No missed work days, and not fighting for a hotel room, and no rental cars. You can party all the way out and all the way back. Priceless.
Give us a call, let’s build your strategy. You call the shots and let Social Flights deliver you to all the March Madness without all the madness
March madness schedule
The Travel Market Races To The Bottom
There is a war brewing within the on-line travel agency space over Google’s recent move with Google Flights and Google Hotels.
Google began positioning its new flight-finding feature at the top of general search results for airline booking information earlier this month. And its new competitors in the $110 billion online travel industry aren’t happy about the search giant crashing the party, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report.
Chasing The Market To The Bottom
Travel is hot for 2012 and beyond. An increasing number of people say they’ll do more leisure traveling in the coming year, and even more say they’ll fly if they can find good deals in 2012. Good deals are going to be hard to find. The airlines attempted to raise prices 22 times in 2011 (and nine of those attempts were successful).
Business travel spend is expected to have grown 6.9% in 2011 compared to 2010, hitting $250.2 billion. The forecast for 2012 is 4.3% growth in business travel spend for 2012 (or $260.9 billion).
While revenue growth in the travel sector looks promising the user experience continues to decline. Flying today is like traveling by bus with few frills and even fewer fun times. Consider some of the recent headlines:
- Airline Technology Leading to Customer Alienation
- Airlines Score Lowest In Customer Satisfaction
- 92% of Executive Unhappy With Business Travel Experiences
I could go on with an endless list but by now the picture should be obvious. Current market dynamics within air travel services is propelling a race to the bottom and Google knows this. In other words air travel suppliers have boxed themselves into competing on price and thus air travel services have become a commodity. The meaning of the term commodity is used to describe a service for which there is demand, but which is supplied without qualitative differentiation across a market.
Google knows that search has the greatest influence over consumer choices for travel services. 93% of people who seek information on travel services use search. Consumers seek ratings and reviews, news articles, word of mouth and blog post which in the end influences their decisions. When there is little differential in a market then price becomes the initial decision factor followed by “social influences”, i.e. quality of the experience.
As a result, the present online travel bazaar is very competitive and the margins are shrinking . The tight competition led the market to compete on price rather than experience. Google recognizes this and simply stepped in and made the shopping experience better. Google doesn’t care about the price of air service they care about providing the price to consumers seamlessly.
As fortunes are made by leveraging technology to become ever more efficient, there is yet far greater wealth to be had by unleashing the discovery of new experiences and creation of new opportunities. That is exactly why we created Social Flights.
Why Google Is Chasing Travel
At Social Flights, we have said many times that nothing economic truly can happen until people get together to build something. Economics is the science of incentives and no incentive is stronger in the human species than family and community. It does not take much of a chasm of reason to see why Google is so interested in travel and travel related properties.
Travel is the keystone for change; change of ideas, change of relationship, change of intentions, and change of markets. A banker is not interested in money – they are interested in the rate of change of money; it’s called “interest rate”. People are not interested in the same old story, they want the story to change – this is what keeps their “interest”
Again, we find Google at the center of the social “Interest Rate” in travel. Don’t think for a minute that Facebook “timeline” is not also a move to capture how people change and react and adapt to the conditions around them. This almost makes it pointless for people to try to react to these changes because such a reaction is, in fact, registered by the platform driving the reaction. Is this a problem?
From http://www.tnooz.com/2011/12/12/news/google-quietly-introduces-social-travel-service-schemer/
What makes you want to go to a place to begin with? When you have chosen a place – what makes you want to explore further? The inspiration phase of leisure trip planning research has been by far the hardest for tech-based services to master.
Google has announced (and started sending out Beta invites to) a new service, known as Schemer, which attempts to compete in this gap. Effectively it is local destination ideas based on tips from your (Google+) friends, celebrities (oh yes!) and professional destination content producers (ie. travel writers).
If destination research moves to starting at Google Schemer rather than Google Search, then Google will be able to pitch flights, hotels and other travel services, without having to necessarily work within the confines of their existing web properties.
Everyone else who makes it their business to build P2P platforms such as tour guides and recommendation platforms will be cut out of the loop. If Google can now branch away from their core search and into the social connectivity business, they can compete with their own customers. Is this a problem?
What Google does not do, and cannot do, is actually operate a jet aircraft. They cannot clean a hotel room or manufacture a rental car. They cannot cook a holiday dinner or wax a snowboard. Real people need to do this. Why is Google chasing Travel? Google is chasing people. At the end of the day, people drive Google. Is that a problem?
Why Google Is Chasing Travel
At Social Flights, we have said many times that nothing economic truly can happen until people get together to build something. Economics is the science of incentives and no incentive is stronger in the human species than family and community. It does not take much of a chasm of reason to see why Google is so interested in travel and travel related properties.
Travel is the keystone for change; change of ideas, change of relationship, change of intentions, and change of markets. A banker is not interested in money – they are interested in the rate of change of money; it’s called “interest rate”. People are not interested in the same old story, they want the story to change – this is what keeps their “interest”
Again, we find Google at the center of the social “Interest Rate” in travel. Don’t think for a minute that Facebook “timeline” is not also a move to capture how people change and react and adapt to the conditions around them. This almost makes it pointless for people to try to react to these changes because such a reaction is, in fact, registered by the platform driving the reaction. Is this a problem?
From http://www.tnooz.com/2011/12/12/news/google-quietly-introduces-social-travel-service-schemer/
What makes you want to go to a place to begin with? When you have chosen a place – what makes you want to explore further? The inspiration phase of leisure trip planning research has been by far the hardest for tech-based services to master.
Google has announced (and started sending out Beta invites to) a new service, known as Schemer, which attempts to compete in this gap. Effectively it is local destination ideas based on tips from your (Google+) friends, celebrities (oh yes!) and professional destination content producers (ie. travel writers).
If destination research moves to starting at Google Schemer rather than Google Search, then Google will be able to pitch flights, hotels and other travel services, without having to necessarily work within the confines of their existing web properties.
Everyone else who makes it their business to build P2P platforms such as tour guides and recommendation platforms will be cut out of the loop. If Google can now branch away from their core search and into the social connectivity business, they can compete with their own customers. Is this a problem?
What Google does not do, and cannot do, is actually operate a jet aircraft. They cannot clean a hotel room or manufacture a rental car. They cannot cook a holiday dinner or wax a snowboard. Real people need to do this. Why is Google chasing Travel? Google is chasing people. At the end of the day, people drive Google. Is that a problem?
Is There An Alternative To Commercial Airlines?
In Japan and Europe, high speed rail often competes with air travel for short distance routes. While it may take 3-4 hours door-to-door to travel 300 miles in an aircraft, the high-speed train can cover the same door-to-door distance in more comfort, the same time, and for less money. An automobile may need 6 hours to complete the same journey at a similar cost of ownership.
What many peoples fail to realize is the possibility that a community can operate their own airline. This alternative is being pioneered by Social Flights. The regionalization of air service is a new concept that allows communities to own and operate one or more aircraft maintaining control over the schedules and locations where the aircraft flies.
In the United States, a rift continues to grow between available air service and reasonable alternatives to air service. This creates a substantial burden on families; but it also creates a compound burden on the economy upon which those families depend for their livelihood. If corporate travel is constrained, the economy as a whole is constrained.
From this article in the NY Times:
Consider the new realities of air travel. Competition is decreasing, fares are rising and airlines are adjusting routes (and charging extra fees) in ruthless calculations to extract the greatest possible revenue per mile flown.
Many airlines will continue shrinking overall capacity and trimming domestic routes in 2012, and the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of AMR, the parent company of American Airlines, will merely exacerbate the situation. In 2012, American will “ground some planes and resize our network,” the company’s chief executive, Thomas W. Horton, recently told employees.
In addition, John P. Heimlich, the chief economist of the trade group Airlines for America, said, “Capacity reduction is one of the steps the industry is taking to preserve profitability.”
Several articles are now popping up comparing the alternatives that are available. An overnight Amtrak in a cozy sleeper car can cost the same for some routes as the aircraft - unfortunately, Amtrak is not universally connected to very many routes. High speed rail is still on the drawing boards but still many years away with fewer stops and likely connecting major hubs anyway. The other alternative is to simply drive; with the ground travel and delays incurred t hub airports, a commercial flight less than 750 miles can have an door-to-door average speed of around 70 miles per hour.
Michael Boyd, the president of the consulting company Boyd Group International, sums up the phenomenon succinctly. “The cost of flying airplanes across the sky has eclipsed the ability to support it at many communities,” he said in a recent forecast. In 2012, he predicts, airlines will accelerate the mothballing of smaller 50-seat jets, the workhorses for connecting service between many midsize airports, and even some big ones.
Social Flights can provide the knowledge, expertise, personnel, certification, and equipment to maintain and operate an aircraft fleet, as well as the social media backbone that allows people to self-organize around the aircraft asset.
As such, the community can create direct flights bypassing hubs, they can schedule flights for their corporations and shuttle their executives to new business markets for a price that is hugely favorable to any existing alternative; which is often nothing.
Another Travel Tax Clips 4M Wings
Few people take into account the social value of air transportation. There are very few studies that can measure the impact on a community when they are immobilized due to lack of a service that had previously been available. There is no true economic category to describe such loss except as a tax on travel.
A regressive tax is taxation that takes a larger percentage from low-income people than from high-income people. A regressive tax is generally a tax that is applied uniformly. This means that it hits lower-income individuals harder. Social Flights can restore this value with a regionalized public jet charter system.
Now we can add “Travel” to the list
Sales taxes that apply to essentials are generally considered to be regressive as well because expenses for food, clothing and shelter tend to make up a higher percentage of a lower income consumer’s overall budget. In this case, even though the tax may be uniform (such as 7% sales tax), lower income consumers are more affected by it because they are less able to afford it.
<via American Eagle to park planes, reduce service – Dallas Business Journal>
The small city gets the regressive travel tax
American Eagle announced that they would reduce frequency in a few select markets, they would discontinued seasonal service from D/FW to Augusta, Ga. Eagle would also discontinued service from Chicago to Tri-Cities, Tenn as well as discontinued service between Miami and Savanna, Ga., and Miami and Fort Myers, Florida. American Eagle would also hasten the cancellation of Los Angeles-Boise, Chicago-Calgary and D/FW-Fayetteville, N.C., service from Feb. 9 to Jan. 31.
So how many people would these reduction in service decisions impact? If we just add up the populations of the smaller metropolitan area in each city pair, we can estimate economic loss of opportunity under the assumption that the larger city would have alternate options. Fair enough?
Augusta, GA: 556,877
Tri Cities, TN: 500,538
Savanna, GA: 347,611
Ft Meyers, Fl: 618,754
Boise, Id: 616,500
Calgary: 1,230,248
Fayetteville, NC: 366,383
The Creeping Costs
The total is at least 4 million who will lose one more degree of economic freedom. 4 million people will pay a regressive tax denominated in time, money, and dignity in some form or another for the benefit of stockholders in American Eagle. 4 million people will lose the economic benefit of travelers from large cities.
On closer inspection, with the exception of Calgary and Boise, all of these cities are well within 1000 miles of each other. Each of these cities is well within 1000 miles of cities just as large as those that American Eagle is diminishing service.
While a hub and spoke model may break down economically, a regionalization strategy may work quite well. It has been proven that people are willing to pay a premium for direct service (otherwise the airlines would not be dropping less profitable indirect service). It is also obvious that people place a premium on their time and hassle as demonstrated by trends in online shopping, communication, and social organization.
These ingredients simple add up to a regionalization air transportation route structure enabled by online social organization tools such as Social Flights where community airlines can form around community priorities. Social Flights can restore this value with a regionalized public jet charter system.