NOREEN: Regional economy? A new Frontier

A glint of light flashed through the gray economic clouds last week and it looked like the fuselage of a Frontier Airlines jet.

El Paso County residents were understandably excited when they heard the news that Frontier would begin cheap nonstop service to Seattle, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Portland in May. The other significance of Frontier’s news was a bit muted — people in all those big markets can fly to Colorado Springs cheaply, and just in time for tourist season.

“I think it’s perfect timing,” said Michele Starling, executive director of Pikes Peak Country Attractions. “Anything positive is going to help. We’re all nervously expecting the price of gas going up to $4.50 a gallon.”

The conventional wisdom says there will be a big spike in gasoline prices this summer. Starling said that has worried the local tourism industry, which is highly dependent upon visitors who get here by car.

After all, Starling noted, “This organization was formed during the Arab oil embargo” in the 1970s.

“We always go into summer with a realistic idea of what we’ll have to do,” Starling said.

As of Thursday that reality changed, and the folks at Colorado Springs Airport deserve a lot of credit for the low-key, patient work that got Frontier in the door.

“We’ve been working with them for a number of years,” said Aviation Director Mark Earle. “It really opened up a couple of months ago. It had plateaued for a while because of the economy.”

Earle said there is a near-constant dialogue with airlines.

“We constantly monitor their business model. We constantly feed them information about our market,” he said.

In the course of such conversations, Earle said there’s been a subtle, encouraging change in the tone of the airlines.

“Over the last six to eight months, we’ve been hearing about airlines figuring out how to grow,” he said

Obviously, adding four new nonstop flight destinations is a major building block for economic development. A newly refurbished hotel is about to open downtown, as well.

But the economy also depends on much smaller pieces, such as a deal converting the Ivywild School property into a restaurant-brewery, or the finalization of an agreement to make the Manitou Incline a fully legal community amenity that can be promoted.

As tough as the job market remains for many workers, the unemployment rate has ticked downward. Believe it or not, El Paso County experienced job growth for the first half of 2011 and there’s reason to think that statistics for the second half of the year will be positive when they come out.

Here’s hoping the Frontier Airlines news represents a break in our economic weather. Can’t wait for the first plane to land.

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Listen to Barry Noreen on KRDO NewRadio 105.5 FM and 1240 AM at 6:35 a.m. on Fridays and read his blog updates at gazette.com/blogs/barrysblog