Local Officials, Media Experience New Low-cost Carrier – AirTran Airways

Recently, local media and elected officials joined Huntsville International Airport executives on a one-day trip to Baltimore/Washington using AirTran Airways’ new nonstop service to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI). Mayor Tommy Battle, City of Huntsville; Mayor Paul Finley, City of Madison; Chairman Mike Gillespie, Madison County Commission; and Councilman Will Culver, City of Huntsville were among the group, as well as representatives from the regional chambers of commerce. The trip, which was co-sponsored by Huntsville International Airport and AirTran, was devoted to showing support of the Tennessee Valley region’s new low-cost carrier as well as an opportunity for the media to showcase the new BWI service as an option when traveling to the D.C. area.      

Pictured below left to right: Councilman Will Culver, City of Huntsville;
Mayor Paul Finley, City of Madison, Mayor Tommy Battle, City of Huntsville                                                                        

The one-day trip provided the media with a first-hand experience at flying into BWI and taking the train into Washington D.C. The group was greeted by BWI Executive Director, Paul Wiedefeld, and later provided with a behind-the-scenes tour of AirTran’s BWI operation.

From BWI, it is eight miles to the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, 18 miles to Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, 26 miles to the Capitol, and a quick 20-minute Amtrak ride into Washington’s Union Station. According to one participant, The Huntsville Times writer, Mark McCarter, “Travelers (to BWI) land in a bright, attractive airport as tidy as Disney World and undergoing some aggressive expansion. It has a baggage-handling system so elaborate – "The Jetsons" meet Samsonite – that a tour of the facility was even on the agenda.”

Gary Bolton, Vice President of Global Marketing, Adtran is thrilled with the new service and was delighted to be along for the trip, representing his company –  the first corporate partner to support the Airport Authority’s initiative to bring expanded AirTran service to the community with the addition of its Atlanta hub. A frequent business traveler, Bolton flies to Washington, D.C. often and said it is ridiculous to justify four digit fares. And flying AirTran, no justification necessary!