How Important is an airline to a school's growth?

Colleges & Universities University of Tennessee
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So Southwest Airlines has announced it will begin flying to Knoxville from various "hubs’ even though they technically don’t have hubs - Baltimore, Dallas, Nashville, Orlando - these are all easy to get to cities for Southwest so at worst case, for most, it’s a one stop and for some a non-stop.

While someone may have had that before, the difference is with Southwest, fares go down - hence cities beg for them. Usually Southwest gets a financial guarantee to ensure profitability - at least the first few years - and I’m guessing it happened here as well.

So this makes me wonder - how important is a major, much sought after airline starting impact the local college?

If you look at the main university - UTK - it’s already rising in profile with top programs in supply chain, sports journalism, nuclear engineering and more.

WIll this help grow the # of applicants? Will this help the school move up in notoriety / overall ranking?

Does it now give it a tangible advantage over like schools (others with airports, but not Southwest) - such as UF, UK, U of SC, Texas A&M, U of Arkansas?

I know when Amazon or Wal-Mart warehouses come in, housing prices rise.

Wondering if a similar effect happens when a much sought after airline comes in - what other benefits will the area see from this, besides lower travel costs and easier access to other destinations?

Article linked to discuss and the potential impact on UTK.

Southwest, McGhee Tyson got to ‘yes.’ What that means for Knoxville

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I don’t know enough about Southwest to know (it’s not a major presence where we live) but I do know that our kid attending a school half way across the country has been made much more doable by both our home airport and the destination airport being hubs. Multiple (and inexpensive!) direct flights daily makes life so much easier.

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I would say Southwest is easily the most sought after but there are now many ‘secondary’ airlines like Allegiant, Avelo, Breeze doing off airports. Next month, I’m flying Nashville to Cedar Rapids on Allegiant and you can fly to Wilmington NC now on another.

Those are the types of flights that are 2x a week.

Given Southwest moves more domestic passengers than anyone, in many places, their presence will be outsized vs others.

Does that positively impact a college - more apps, etc is what I’m wondering ? Does its presence add UTK to a consideration set where it might not be otherwise ?

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Direct flights are a factor we look at.

The problem is that airlines can and do change routes away from particular airports, so relying on something to be the case for 4 years - especially if it’s just one airline that flies direct - can be risky.

Southwest itself has stopped flying certain routes from our closest airport, as an example.

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They stopped flying all routes from ours 6 years ago.

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It does happen - they have cancelled routes - they left Bellingham WA last year and Jackson MS years prior but are back.

Still, I wonder if it brings increased apps…the school seems to think/hope so.

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I would think it helps a little, but Knoxville already had direct air service to numerous big metro areas. If Southwest was the first national airline, that would have been a big deal.

Tennessee started becoming popular in the northeast ~10 years ago, along with other schools in the I-81 corridor such as James Madison and Virginia Tech. I know people driving to these places. Kids interested in the big state schools where school sports are fun. And not being able to get into UVA, UNC, UGA, Georgia Tech. Though Tennessee is now a lot more competitive too. Not as much interest in the deep South, AL-MS-LA. Knoxville is an older city, feels more like other cities in the northeast or midwest.

If air connections were a huge factor, then UNC-Charlotte would really be taking off. But out of state students would rather go to Wilmington and the beach, even if if is harder to get to.

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Agree. I don’t think Southwest will have a major impact at all. UTK’s popularity continues to increase on its own merit. I live in Charlotte and in my little neighborhood, I count at least 6 houses with UTK flags & signs. Heck, VT is not serviceable by any major airports (Roanoke- small & expensive flights, limited regional flights, Charlotte/Douglas is 2.5 hours away and 3.5 to Dulles) yet this doesn’t affect the number of applications. I’m always shocked to read about how many families don’t even plan how their kid is going to go back and forth before committing and are then shocked that there are no major airports close by. Every major holiday break, parents are scrambling and trying to find rides for their kids from these airports.

If UNC-Charlotte could figure out its football program and become more competitive in that regard, I think application numbers would rise. Competitive Football & basketball programs generate many applications, but most students are looking for the big sports atmosphere and Charlotte doesn’t have that yet. Wilmington gets away with not having it due to its close proximity to the beach.

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Well…folks need to understand that airline offerings and prices have a huge potential to change while their kid is in college.

When our kid across country started college, there was a direct flight from our closest to home airport and it was about $250 round trip. That increased every year, and the non-stop went away. By the time the kid graduated, the costs was double…$500 round trip.

For us, we felt proximity to an airport and ease to get there was far more important than the airline (or the ever changing cost). Our kid went to college at Santa Clara University which has a free bus from the San Jose airport which is all of ten minutes away. To us, that was the win.

And our kid managed a stop and plane change well…kid is a huge traveller, and for this kid, that’s a life skill. And yes, she has been stranded at airports more than once. She also manages that well.

ETA…I don’t think a specific airline flying to any airport will have an impact on college admissions.

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Yup, anticipate change.

One of our kids landed on the West Coast after college (3,000 miles away). It wasn’t the only opportunity, but it was hands down the best opportunity.

Year one the airport was a cheap Jet Blue ticket… grandparent’s funeral, a few happier family gatherings, a memorable trip we took to see the apartment, meet some of the new friends, etc. Year two the airport was a massively expensive United (change in Phoenix), Delta (change in Salt Lake)-- you get the idea.

So while predicting travel costs is important for a college kid, no airline commits to a route four years out; prices wobble with the dynamic ticket models; even ground transportation costs fluctuate (there was an el cheapo shared van service from my town to two different airports in my region. Loved it. Took it dozens of times. And then it went bankrupt. Everyone said “oh that’s ok, we have UBER and Lyft”. And now the price to get to the airport is essentially double!)

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