Ticket prices at Des Moines International Airport are among the highest in the region, but officials are pinning their hopes on what industry experts call the “Southwest effect.”

Airport officials are excited about new developments that could signal the addition of Southwest Airlines Co. to Des Moines, a move that would provide a low-cost carrier and force other airlines to be more competitive in their pricing, Aviation Director Don Smithey said.

“I think that would be the factor that drives it, right there,” Smithey said of Southwest coming to Des Moines. “That would force other carriers to be competitive. It would probably moderate other fares here for the major carriers in Des Moines.”

Smithey and others have been in talks with officials from Southwest, and Southwest officials have visited Des Moines to analyze the market three times within the last year. Earlier this month, AirTran Airways, which was acquired by Southwest in May, started running two daily round-trip flights between Des Moines and Milwaukee, which Smithey sees as a sign Southwest could add service to Des Moines.

The key to bringing down air travel prices in Des Moines is to increase competition. Nothing would do that like adding Southwest service, Smithey said, to the point where there aren’t many other alternatives.

Simply put, there’s no option if Southwest turns down Des Moines service, other than “we keep trying,” Smithey said.

Southwest Effect

Smithey has seen this before. As the former executive director of Omaha’s Eppley Airfield, Smithey helped attract Southwest to that market in 1995.

What happened next is known as the “Southwest effect.” Because of the carrier’s prices that are typically low , Southwest not only provides a lower-cost traveling option but also forces other carriers to lower their prices to compete.

When Southwest went to Omaha in 1995, the average ticket price for the airport dropped from $328.97 to $250.86, and then down to $222.68 the following year, according to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Prices have been lower than the national average every year but one since; prices in Des Moines have been higher than the national average every year during the same time frame, sometimes by as much as $70.

Smithey hopes for a similar situation in Des Moines.

“(Southwest has) had that effect everywhere they’ve gone,” he said.

Not only did prices go down, but traffic has doubled in Omaha since Southwest entered the market. Smithey declined to predict that traffic in Des Moines would double, but does think lower prices could draw people from areas Des Moines doesn’t usually get, who may be on the fence about driving to Omaha, Kansas City, Minneapolis or Chicago, but could instead choose Des Moines.

“It would increase dramatically,” he said. “I think I can say that safely.”

Why now?

“We’ve been trying to get Southwest for a long, long time,” said Polk County Supervisor Angela Connolly. “We’re a lot closer than we’ve ever been, but it’s still going to take some time, I think.”

This time could be different, she said, because there seems to be a concentrated community effort.

“I think we’re trying to do everything we can to try to keep our head above water,” Connolly said.

Des Moines has a lot to offer Southwest, she said, including a strong business community and a hub for state politics.

The key, Smithey said, will be if Southwest thinks the market can support the airline, and if Southwest can make the destination work within its model.

Des Moines leaders can only influence the process by trying to convince Southwest that the market will pay off, a position that Smithey and other area leaders have taken in meetings with the airline. Smithey points out that Des Moines has potential to pull enough travelers from all over the state, and especially Central Iowa, if airfares are comparable to those in surrounding areas.

“Everybody is very supportive in the business community. You can’t do more than that,” Smithey said. “Frankly, it’s in Southwest’s court pretty much. All the things that can be done from any individuals or groups have been done.”

He hopes the inclusion of AirTran service is a good sign, especially if people in Des Moines use the service sufficiently. He cautions, though, that bringing Southwest to Des Moines isn’t close to being a done deal.

If Southwest doesn’t decide right now to come to Des Moines, officials will continue to pursue the airline, Smithey said, because they have to.

“It took me about seven years to get them into Omaha,” he said. “Hopefully it doesn’t take that long here. But nevertheless, if they don’t do it this year, you keep trying. All of a sudden, without even thinking about it, they called me and said, ‘We’re coming into Omaha.’”