Low Cost at Any Cost?

A new year, and with it, new whines from certain factions here in the Azores. Now, it seems that the flavor of the month is from a group of people, hammering, whining and complaining that there are no low-cost flights here in the Azores. And I seem to be one of those who actually OPPOSES this idea.

Now, I know there are some of you that read that and think I've gone insane. Hear me out first before passing judgment.

For those who aren't familiar with the Azores, we're a tiny archipelago almost dead center in the Atlantic, between Lisbon and New York. There's slightly under 250,000 people here, 54.5% of which is based on one island, São Miguel, who, surprise surprise, are the ones yelling the most for these flights.

But what these people forget is that there 45.5% of the population, scattered throughout the 8 other islands: Terceira, Faial, Pico, São Jorge, Santa Maria, Flores and Corvo. These people are no different. They go to work, pay their taxes and, in the smaller islands, have an even bigger burden due to the products being more expensive on the account of it being more costly to ship there.

The Regional Government, many years ago, have understood this and also understood that those who live on each island generally have vested interest in going to Lisbon. To some it's for business purposes. To others, it's to go to school, to others it's to visit family, and of course there are those who simply want to take a trip and be in a bigger area for a short while, just to shrug off a bit of the isolation these islands may bring(especially in the wintertime). For that reason, they came to agreement with not only the airlines that service this region(TAP and SATA) under a code share agreement, but also established a Public Service statute. This means that the service MUST be maintained all year round and on a daily basis, even if the planes fly empty for a period of time. Nobody in the Azores is denied this service due to geographical limitations.

To pull that off, the Regional Government, in cooperation with the National Government, has helped to heavily subsidize these flights in order to keep them flying. The cost of the ticket an Azorean pays is merely part, a good part of it was already subsidized.

Now, you have a half dozen people, maybe good natured in their intentions but definitely myopic in their thought process, who see the term "low cost" and become instantly enamored by it. See, we here tend to aspire to that which we will never be. They see how someone can fly from Lisbon to anywhere in Europe for a ham sandwich, and they think they can have it too. This would be like driving a Pinto and thinking you should be as fast as a Ferrari.

To those who are firmly planted on the "pro-low cost" side, I feel the need to hit you with an ice cold bucket of reality:

1) Low Cost airlines operate ONLY where there is a chance at profitability. That's what keeps their costs low. That means that only 1 island would be serviced(São Miguel) and, even then, it would only be serviced on a seasonal basis. During the Summertime, everyone wants to go over here. However, anyone with even minimal intelligence would prefer the sunny beaches of Cuba, Canary Islands, even Cape Verde, than the high winds, low temperatures and generally awful weather the Azores offers in the winter.

2) The Regional Government(and for a rare instance I AGREE with them) established a rule for any airline that wants to fly here. See, for many years, the Lisbon/Azores route was established by a yearly "selection process" which usually ended up being TAP. Now, they replaced it with a rule. Any airline that wants to fly to the Azores MUST cover 5 airports: Ponta Delgada, Terceira, Horta, Pico and Santa Maria.

For those who don't live here(and a few that live in São Miguel) they don't quite understand why the Regional Government is so rigid with this. Those who live in the 8 other islands, however, know all too well.

See, as I said earlier, the Regional Government, through the Regional Transportation Fund, heavily subsidizes these flights because it's not just viewed as "just another route", but rather as a public service deemed all too necessary for the Azores as a whole. It's not just to carry tourists. It's to help with transporting patients, to shipping goods and services, to helping send students to and from the mainland, etc...

Also, the 5 airport rule helps in another aspect as well. Because that route is subsidized as well as the inter-island routes, by having direct flights from the 5 island mentioned, their fiscal burden gets reduced to only 8% of the population that resides in the 4 islands that don't have direct flights(São Jorge, Graciosa, Flores and Corvo) rather than the 45.5% of the population that lives outside São Miguel, or even the 22% that was originally covered before Pico and Santa Maria were included. This greatly eases things from the regional economical standpoint. The service is provided and costs are reduced. Reduced costs means more ease in providing the services at a lower cost as well as a lower fiscal burden on every Azorean.

This helps me add a footnote: The Regional Government is NOT trying to "make a quick buck". They lose alot of money by providing these services, especially at the cost they are providing them at. This is, given the layout of these islands, a VERY necessary evil for the region.

By allowing a low cost to fly in São Miguel, ESPECIALLY during peak season, that will cause more of the TAP/SATA flight to fly with more empty seats. This essentially means that, since THOSE flights are considered a public service and MUST fly at all times, that the Regional Government would have to subsidize even MORE money, which would be a greater drain on the regional finances, which, in turn, would be a greater drain on the National finances as well. More subsidies would have to be pumped in, which means more tax money being used, which means a possible hike in taxes.

If anything, low cost flights will actually cost MORE to the region than the current setup that exists.

So, in lieu of that. The Regional government is standing firm with the 5 airports. You either play by these rules or you don't play at all. It's very simple.

3) Those who defend low cost are trying, desperately, to compare us with another Portuguese archipelago, Madeira. Ok, this is just wrong on so many levels.

Madeira is, essentially, 2 island, and not only does a little over 98% of its population live on just one island, but a huge part of that live in just one city, Funchal. This makes things incredibly easier from a managerial standpoint because then you CAN have any type of flight you want. All the Madeira Regional government has to worry about is the littler under 5,000 people living in Porto Santo.

Madeira also enjoys relatively moderate weather all year round. It's much easier to, not only fly from one island to the other, but take a boat as well.

The Azores are NINE ISLANDS, and almost half of its population is dispersed in 8 of them. The weather here is good for about 6 months. From a government standpoint, this is nothing short of trying to balance a tray of glasses atop a high wire. You not only need to provide basic services to all 9 islands, but that of which is considered necessary for development of the archipelago, needs to be as general as possible.

Plus, to add salt to this already festering wound, half of the year, this has to be done with limited resources in terms of transportation.

4) This is the point that simply makes my blood boil: Alot of those that defend low cost airlines say that "This will allow more tourists to come over.". I hate to sound as frank as this but: TO HELL WITH THE TOURISTS! They don't live here, WE DO!

Look, Tourism is a part of our economy, but it is not THE part. I do not, nor will I ever support an idea to be completely subservient to those who are simply visiting these islands. Any rule, measure or proposal should, first and foremost, serve the needs and interests of the Azoreans, ALL Azoreans. Tourism should be a SECONDARY effect of any of those measures. If things are good for those who live here, then, by that aspect, it WILL be good for those who visit.

There are many issues that need to be addressed before tourism can be considered: schools need improvement, villages that still need their electrical grids, phone lines and cable improved, certain roads that need to be renovated and made safer(as was viewed by the tragic events in Agualva a short time back), there needs to be a greater emphasis on local commerce and promoting products made here in the Azores. And, we still have a few lingering issues like not having the same 4 public access channels that exist in the Mainland.

All of those things mean MUCH more to me than whether or not a half dozen mainlanders or other Europeans think it's too expensive to spend a weekend here. Quite frankly, I don't give a crap about their travel plans.

If you travel to the US, or France, or the UK, do you honestly think that they cater first to the visitors and then those who live there? Of course not. So why should we think any differently?

Look, I don't oppose more competition. In fact, I welcome the idea. More competition does indeed go a long way to provide cheaper rates. However, this can't be done in such a crass and irresponsible manner. We need to accept who we are and that we have geographical and climatic obstacles that will never disappear. If another airline wants to fly here, they need to serve all Azoreans, not just a handful.