Will $1M get airline off ground?

By Brian D. Bridgeford / News Republic

A Green Bay man says he has a business plan to bring passenger air service to the Baraboo-Wisconsin Dells Airport, but the proposal will only take wing if local investors will loan him $1 million.

Airline service to Baraboo is in the cards for the airport's future, say officials and the airport manager, but they're not sure it is something that is going to be done quickly or soon.

Michael Heisman, founder and chief executive officer of the start-up company MetJet, said he wants to see small 30-34 passenger planes flying into the Baraboo-Dells Airport. They would bring additional tourists to the area and take local residents to places like Chicago, Traverse City, Mich. and other cities in surrounding states.

Heisman said he has a degree in transportation from Georgia Southern University and recently complete an executive master's degree in supply chain and transportation from Cranfield University near London. It is a graduate school with a strong emphasis on the airline business and its own 11,000-foot runway.

If MetJet is successful it will be his first business, he said. Presently he is solutions design engineer at Schneider National Carriers, a large trucking firm.

"I've done work with Vangard Airlines, Bax Global (air freight)" he said. "I've been around the airline industry all my whole life."

Heisman said he is promoting his idea in other cities, including Gary, Ind. and Athens, Ga. He said the first year of air service would add 35,000 tourists to the Dells area and mean $10 million to $20 million in additional revenues.

"I have a very big love for the Wisconsin Dells, and I see a lot of opportunity there," Heisman said. "I make it a point to go there every summer."

Bill Murphy, owner of the Baraboo-Dells Flight Center, Inc. said he has spoken to Heisman and found him to be someone who is "really enthusiastic" about his business idea. However, Murphy is not convinced Heisman knows enough about aviation to carry through with his plan.

For example, Heisman is not a pilot, he said.

The runways at Baraboo's airport are long enough to handle small passenger planes of the type Heisman envisions could land and take off here, he said. However, Murphy questions whether the small terminal building could handle the number of passengers MetJet service would entail.

Bringing in passenger service raises issues such as a requirement for weapons screening systems and staff from the federal Transportation Security Administration, Murphy said. Those sorts of additions to local airport operations would be very expensive.

Murphy said he knows local resort owners would like having passenger service available to bring visitors to the Delton/Dells area. However, it might be more likely an established airline will eventually extend service to Baraboo and the Dells.

"Maybe a regional airline would be able to base something up here," he said. "First and foremost, is improving the facility to be able to handle something like that."

An effort to bring commercial passenger air service to Baraboo's airport would require approvals from the state Bureau of Aeronautics and the Federal Aviation Administration, said Keith Gerard of the Bureau of Aeronautics, part of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. The FAA must approve things like security for the passenger terminal and flight operations, while state officials must give their OK to increasing the length of the runways, construction of a new terminal building or other facilities upgrades.

Because things like an environmental assessment might be involved all the necessary approvals could take years,

Heisman said his plan for local airline service will bypass some of the issues that could slow it down.

People who go to the MetJet Web site to buy tickets or talk with customer service on the phone will be in contact with MetJet employees. But, rather than buying his own planes and hiring pilots, he will have a charter firm to provide the planes and their crews.

"Even the major airlines do that," Heisman said. "To actually own and operate the aircraft when you only own one or two is very expensive, you have to have flight training, you have to have flight crews, you have to have maintenance.

"By contracting out the service, it lets us get started with a lot less capital," Heisman said.

Instead of going to the expense of having a large terminal with bomb detection equipment and a security screening crew, Heisman said he would operate under FAA rules that he said allow him to fly from Baraboo's private terminal to the unsecured private aircraft terminal at another airport. Passengers who want to transfer on to another airline to complete their trip would then have to go through the security procedures at that airport.

"If you go to Lansing, we won't be going to the main terminal at Lansing, people will be connecting at a terminal similar to that that's in Baraboo," he said.

Because of concerns about Baraboo's small terminal, Heisman said MetJet will match arrival times for the airliners with a schedule for buses he will operate to Baraboo and the Dells. That way, passengers will simply get off a MetJet flight, pick up their luggage and go to the bus, rather than spending time in the terminal, Heisman said.

Murphy said it is possible Heisman's proposal could work with the existing terminal, if some improvements were made such as having more than one bathroom. However, federal officials are getting tougher on small planes because of risks they could be used as "weapons of mass destruction" by terrorists.

"Things have changed in the security world, I wouldn't be surprised if they started cracking down on those types of operations," he said. "TSA is proposing a kind of regulation to be passed for all aircraft over 12,500 pounds because they see them as a threat."

The type of small passenger planes Heisman is proposing to use weigh about 80,000 pounds and will be affected if TSA imposes tougher security regulations, Murphy said.

Heisman said he is appealing for about 10 local investors willing to loan $100,000 each to his project. He acknowledges his assertion that each investor would get a 50 percent profit or $150,000 back after three to four years of operations might raise concerns about MetJet. He said he has to appeal directly to investors because the normal credit markets are frozen tight.

"We want to make it more attractive so people don't leave their money in the bank," Heisman said. "As far as interest rates, there is a level of risk associated with this.

"Because it's a start up, people would expect a higher return than they would get just leaving their money in the bank."

Heisman said he could have MetJet flights going about six months after investors come forward and the $1 million is in hand.

Under an agreement with the airport's three other municipal owners, the city of Baraboo sets policy for the airport. City Administrator Ed Geick said Heisman has sent information about his proposal to the city and City Council members will be reviewing that material soon.

"(He) sent us a Power Point presentation about this," he said. "We haven't been able to talk to the other owners about it because it's too new, we just got it."

Making improvements such as a longer runway so larger planes can land and upgrading the small terminal building are in the long-term plan for the Baraboo-Wisconsin Dells Airport, Geick said.

Murphy said he will take Heisman seriously if he shows up to present his plan to the Baraboo City Council's Administrative Committee, which is responsible for the airport. While he has many questions, Murphy said he wants to keep an open mind about MetJet.

"Would we love to be able to fly tourists in and out of here, definitely," Murphy said. "We'd love to do that.

"As far as it happening in the near future, I'm skeptical."

On a more positive side, "You never say no to the man with a dream," Murphy said. "If we'd said no to Orville and Wilbur way back when, we wouldn't even have airplanes."

Heisman said Thursday evening he plans to attend a meeting of the Administrative Committee soon, but he cannot attend the next one.

Heisman's proposal can be found online at http://www.metjet.net/, follow the link for "Baraboo Wisconsin Dells solution; and he may be reached by e-mail at mheisman@metjet.net.