Traffic stats fluctuate
Airport fairly level, SSA picking up, Hy-Line sees modest drop
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER
Whether by plane, fast ferry or traditional steamship, the reasons for year-to-year fluctuations in travel figures are as varied as the people who visit the island.

Airport Manager Al Peterson said year-to-date operations - landings and departures logged by the airport tower - indicate the figures are close to level through the end of June 2007 compared with numbers through June 2006. According to the airport's Web site, operations for 2004 totaled 76,760, with the number rising by 2.25 percent in 2005 and another 9.8 percent in 2006. The figures for 2007 were not available.

Because the Fourth of July holiday fell on a Wednesday this year, some visitors began coming to the island the weekend before the Fourth. Peterson reported that on Friday, June 29, operations totaled 796 against 774 on the 22nd and 705 on June 15. June 30 operations logged in at 674 compared with 540 on the 23rd and 454 on June 16. Operations figures for the week of July 2 to July 9, 2006 totaled 1,599 and for those dates in 2007 the number was 1,442, although Peterson said there is leeway in the event any flights were unreported.

Overall, the Steamship Authority seems to be on an upswing in its traffic, although not all figures show significant changes, with part of its success reflected in the new fast ferry Iyanough, which in turn has had a somewhat negative effect on Hy-Line statistics.

Philip Scudder, co-owner of the Hy-Line, said he does not have preholiday figures for the weekend leading to the Fourth of July, but reported that the monthly high-speed passenger total for June 2007 fell approximately five percent from June's numbers last year. From January through May 2007, passenger totals between Hyannis and Nantucket fell about 14 percent from the same period in 2006, which Scudder attributed to bad weather and the spring launching of the Iyanough.

"The market share for Nantucket fluctuates from year to year depending on what's going on," said Scudder. "The Steamship Authority is working very hard at marketing and services, so it's competitive."

Scudder, who also believes the airport's new JetBlue service has affected his company, added that business for the Hy-Line's traditional ferry, The Great Point, was off roughly 50 percent in June 2007 compared to June 2006 because it was out-of-service for half the month while new engines, gears and an exhaust system were installed.

"But it's a situation that's good for the traveling public," Scudder said of the competition. "They have options. When everybody works harder it just makes it better for the public. We are watching the numbers very closely. We were very concerned in April when we were down nearly 30 percent, but we didn't panic. We made sure we were doing what we've always done to move the market a little bit and it showed in May. It has been an auspicious start."

SSA General Manager Wayne Lamson said the total number of passengers carried in June on the Nantucket run came to 68,125 - the highest total for a June since 2002 when 73,436 people were transported.

"That was an encouraging sign," said Lamson. "Part of that was attributed to the new fast ferry and to the new (10-ride) coupon book that in the past had an expiration date of two years and now has no expiration date, is transferrable from person to person and can be used for group travel.

"After a gradual decline in the last four or five years in overall ridership we are seeing an upward trend," Lamson continued. "What we're seeing in June and year-to-date is encouraging. After a high in 2001 we saw a decline. I'm not sure why, maybe the general economy. It wasn't just us. The other carriers were down and travel in

general was down." I