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If Skybus Airlines expands in the Piedmont Triad, an industry expert thinks the discount airline would make a smooth landing.

History proves it, he said.

Skybus is considering Greensboro as its next "focus city" outside its home base in Columbus, Ohio. It would make multiple direct flights from Piedmont Triad International Airport at deep discounts.

The region's travelers have always flocked to a bargain, said Anthony Tangorra, chief executive officer of Latitude Transport Advisory in New York.

In the mid-1990s, Continental Airlines opened major operations at PTI.

By 1994, it flew more than 83 trips a day from the airport and had more than 600 workers here.

Passenger numbers soared to record highs.

"The Greensboro people stepped up when Continental Lite offered low-fare service," Tangorra said.

That kind of history is powerful proof of a market's strength, and Skybus has been looking carefully at those numbers.

Tangorra knows because he was pitching a startup airline two years ago to the same investors who ultimately backed Skybus. And Skybus used the Greensboro numbers for proof that its flights to this city would be profitable.

In the end, Continental pulled back because of its own financial problems, not because of problems with the Greensboro market, Tangorra said.

Since then, PTI hasn't had a full-service discount airline, and passengers have developed the habit of going to Charlotte Douglas International Airport, where US Airways offers many flights and destinations, or Raleigh-Durham International Airport, which offers lower fares.

Passenger numbers have fallen dramatically.

"You can easily retrain those passengers to fly from their own airport," Tangorra said. Skybus, he said, can tell customers, "You can drive a lot less, and we'll fly you direct and give you a low fare, and it's the airport in your own backyard."

Airport officials are working to close the deal to attract Skybus, which is considering Greensboro along with another location, reported to be Richmond. Va., where the airline currently flies.

The Piedmont Triad Airport Authority meets this afternoon to consider an incentives policy for "passenger development incentives for nonstop service to airports that are not being served from this airport."

Guilford County commissioners gave the airport authority $300,000 for this purpose in September.

Skybus is expected to announce its decision by the end of October.

Henry Isaacson, chairman of the airport authority, stressed Tuesday that no decision has been made.

"Were they to come here, at this point we are not certain of the destinations or the number of flights or the frequency," he said. "Of course, my hope is they will select us and we will know the answers to all those questions."

Isaacson would not discuss the competition.

Pat Danahy, president and chief executive officer of the Greensboro Partnership, said the airline's expansion would be a boon to the community.

"It would provide a significant number of new jobs," he said. "Number two, if Skybus is half as successful as (discount airline) Ryan Air in Europe … it will mean a significant increase in traffic through PTI.

"It will mean downward pressure on the airfares of the legacy carriers, and it will mean direct flight access to cities in the U.S. that does not exist today. … (And) it will attract a lot of publicity."

Contact Richard M. Barron at 373-7371 or dbarron@news-record.com

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or donpatterson@news-record.com