How could you read anything but signals of prosperity in the move of two bus giants to establish routes between Montreal and Plattsburgh International Airport? If any doubters of the potential of the local airport persist, they should take note of this encouraging development.
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When local officials began talking about reinvigoration of activity of local air traffic several years ago, some people were skeptical. After all, at the old Clinton County Airport off Route 3, annual boardings were counted in the hundreds. If people weren't flying out of Plattsburgh then, why should even Pollyannas believe air service had a future here? The line from "Field of Dreams" -- "If you build it, they will come" -- was invoked, both positively and negatively, to support either side of the debate.
The visionaries saw a market in Montreal for flights out of Plattsburgh. The Canadian metropolis is a city with 4 million people in and around it. Flying out of Montreal is expensive and inconvenient. The visionaries foresaw an appetite for cheap fares with free parking in Plattsburgh.
They were right. Allegiant Air and Myrtle Beach Direct both have enjoyed full bookings since beginning service out of Plattsburgh International. The long-term parking lot has been full most of the time, an indication that travelers appreciated the convenience of leaving their cars at the airport and especially the fact that there was no charge.
If there remained any doubt whether the service would thrive, it should have been erased by the announcement that Greyhound and Adirondack Transit were going to start ferrying passengers twice daily between Montreal and Plattsburgh International. Anytime a firm as opportunistic as these busing legends undertakes a new route in response to a trend, the trend must be a proven winner. They clearly see hefty and long-term profits in making the trip at $20 a seat one way.
What's especially encouraging is that the new routes are being undertaken at a time when horrible conditions prevail everywhere else.
Gasoline prices are at an all-time high, meaning people don't want to drive, but also meaning the trips are costing the bus companies more, too.
Travelers are paring their plans as costs have soared. Yet the trips between Plattsburgh and South Carolina and Florida continue to flourish.
Airlines are cutting routes; instituting new and outrageously unpopular charges, such as for transporting luggage; and going bankrupt all over the nation. But the local flights continue and at unbelievably low prices.
Meanwhile, daily service continues between local airports in Plattsburgh and Saranac Lake and the Boston hub.
If people don't see success etched sharply in the eagerness of Greyhound and Adirondack Transit to cash in on the flood of travelers from Montreal to Plattsburgh, they are indeed myopic. Even the inconvenience and possible delay of going through the border haven't deterred them.
An objective observer of progress at Plattsburgh International has no alternative but to agree: so far, so good.
