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Hunting for low fares and sensible rules
by
Robert C. Powell III
Virginia Business
February 2005
Get
any group of people together and you can start a lively
discussion by bringing up the subject of air fares.
Everyone, it seems, is searching for a cheaper way to
fly. That includes the directors of some of Virginia’s
airports. As Richmond-based contributing writer Chip
Jones reports in this month’s cover story, the
heads of airports in Richmond, Roanoke, Charlottesville
and Lynchburg are trying to stem the tide of local passengers
going to other airports for cheaper fares. Airport administrators
have no control over the fares that airlines charge
but that hasn’t stopped them from aggressively
recruiting discount carriers such as Southwest, JetBlue
and AirTran.
Meanwhile,
a wannabe discount airline, Independence Air, has encountered
turbulence. Frequent contributor Brett Lieberman of
Annandale reports that many of the economic factors
that hurt traditional airlines have prevented the Dulles-based
airline from meeting expectations.
If there is one that thing businesspeople gripe about
more than air fares, it’s regulatory rules. Some
might argue that, in an effort to keep a few dishonest
executives from cheating, Congress has made life more
difficult for the vast majority of companies who go
by the book. Contributing writer Garry Kranz of Richmond
examines the headaches created by the Sarbanes-Oxley
Act and the additional cost that compliance with the
law has created.
Government, however, can be a boon as well as a bane
for some parts of the economy as two stories in this
issue point out. Federal grants, for example, are a
major source of funding for research at Virginia universities.
In a special report, contributing writer Chris Dovi
of Richmond notes that the economic development benefits
of research have spurred Virginia to set a goal of $1
billion in university research. The other influence
of government is seen in a story by Lieberman about
the continuing growth of Arlington County and the transformation
of its Crystal City area. The federal government is
the largest employer in the area, and many companies
and agencies locate in the county because of its proximity
to Washington.
On the banking front, contributing writer Jack Milligan
of Charlottesville gives us a chance to meet Jeffrey
Lacker, the new president of the Federal Reserve Bank
of Richmond. Lacker’s goals include raising the
level of monetary literacy in the bank’s five-state
district.
New in February’s issue is a quarterly section,
In the Workplace, which examines work force issues.
We hope that this regular feature will help our readers
keep pace with rapidly changing workplace trends. That
is, of course, if they can take the time off from hunting
for low fares to New York and Atlanta.
Robert
C. Powell III
Editor
rpowell@va-business.com
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