-Why Skybus won't work in Springfield Ohio-
First off I live in central Ohio, Wilmington to be exact, about 40 miles from Springfield.
-The people of Springfield alone could never support enough pax demand to support the loads needed to be profitable. There is only maybe 60K residents in Springfield, and it's by no means a wealthy city.
-Springfield is only easily accessible by one east-west highway (I70). (50 miles from Columbus, about 30 from Dayton). If you live in any of the urban cities in central Ohio (like I do) then it's a pain in the *** to get to Springfield because of all the backroads you have to take. I drive to Springfield to get my ATV's serviced and it takes longer to drive there than to drive down to Cincinnati, Dayton, or Columbus.
-The Employment and Economy in Central Ohio are Taking a huge hit. The biggest is the DHL pullout of Wilmington. Over 10,000+ jobs will be lost by the end of next year. These people live all over Central Ohio, not just Wilmington. This will have a huge trickle down affect on all the surrounding communities, many foreclosures, already a record number of homes for sale (nobody buying though),many people will have to leave the region to find work. Plus the closing of the GM plant in Moraine (Dayton),many job losses in Ohio. Unemployment will be at an all time high in Central Ohio by then end of next year. People won't have money to fly much less pay bills.
-no one from the Cincinnati will drive to Springfield to fly. They will drive to Dayton, Indianapolis, or Louisville. all three have direct highway access with more selection and cheaper prices than Cincinnati.
-The farmers ,even with corn prices at an all time high, are now gonna have to deal with lower harvest expectations due to lack of rain in August. In Clinton county we are looking at a lot of stalk rot. Farming makes up a lot of Central Ohio economics.
-The airport isn't setup for the demand Skybus would put on it. Ramp space needs to be added, Parking is an issue, the roads in and out of there (which are back roads not highways) need to be worked on to handle the increase in traffic,etc.
-Overall the location is bad and the timing is worse.
-just opinions from someone who lives in the region.