Scott Van Laningham
Scott Van Laningham has been CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport since 1998, when it opened.
Before taking over at the airport, Van Laningham, 64, worked 18 years in the newspaper industry at the Arkansas Gazette, Springdale News and Northwest Arkansas Times.
He was born in Kansas but grew up in Siloam Springs. Van Laningham graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville with degrees in political science and history. He returned to northwest Arkansas in 1992 with his wife, Kathy, who is now vice provost for planning at the University of Arkansas. Van Laningham joined the campaign to open a regional airport in 1992 and was later public relations director for the Northwest Arkansas Council.
What are the expansion plans for XNA as the region it serves continues to grow?
The next two major projects will probably be a parking garage and an access road. We are in the early stages of the financial feasibility and conceptual planning studies now on the parking deck, but it appears that a three- or four-level parking garage near the front of the terminal building will be the next major expansion project. It will provide close-in and covered parking, which our customers have told us would be a welcome addition.
A consultant said that XNA loses about 30 percent of its potential travelers because of fares that are about $100 higher than the national average. Have you made any progress toward lowering fares?
Attracting another low-cost carrier to XNA is our No. 1 priority. It’s also our No. 2 and No. 3 priorities. We have Allegiant Air now, but it is geared entirely toward the leisure traveler. We need, and we know we need, a low-cost carrier on a regular basis. The Northwest Arkansas Council has joined the airport in those efforts, and we are convinced we are making progress. We saw an increase of just over 10 percent in our passenger levels last year. That’s the first double-digit growth rate that we’ve seen in six or seven years. We know that also helps our case as we continue to talk with other air carriers.
How important has XNA been to the growth of northwest Arkansas?
I’d contend that XNA has been very important to the growth of the region. But we are also very aware at the airport that we have been able to develop an excellent level of air service for a market of our size because of the successes of Wal-Mart, Tyson Foods, J.B. Hunt Transport, the University of Arkansas and many others. Their growth makes it possible for the airport to support some 40 flights a day to 13 destinations, and the airport’s success makes it possible for those businesses to continue to grow and prosper.
XNA is a heavy business-traveler airport. How can more nonbusiness travelers be wooed?
The existing airlines at XNA are, for the most part, filling up their planes with business travelers. We need to attract additional new low-cost carriers, and that will help us get back the nonbusiness travelers.
Will air travel ever be enjoyable again?
I really wish I knew the answer to that question. Many of us who work at airports are very much aware of the difficulties of air travel these days. Some of the problems are inevitable, like inclement weather. We all do everything we can to be prepared for that, and for the most part we do a pretty good job. Also, the airlines have done a very good job in recent years of getting the excess capacity out of the air travel system. So when there is a problem, be it weather or mechanical, the air travel system simply doesn’t have the seating capacity to accommodate large numbers of displaced passengers.
At XNA we have tried to offer amenities and better facilities, a full-service restaurant, for example, to accommodate passengers. And we continually stress the importance of customer service to the airport’s employees.
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