A while back I posted about the possibility of Lakeland's Linder Airport becoming a destination for low-cost commercial airlines. As I said then, it might sound far-fetched, but then again, maybe not.

Wednesday's edition of USAToday has a feature story on the growth of mid-size airports located near major cities:

Midsize airports outside major cities, such as New York and Los Angeles, are the fastest-growing in the nation and have seen passenger and flight volumes soar by up to 400% in the past decade, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data shows.

The growth is primarily fueled by two factors: discount airlines flocking to cheaper secondary airports and population growth in regions located about an hour from New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Washington, airport consultant Mike Boyd said.

Here is the key line for the Polk County/Lakeland area:

"Where you've got a population base and ease of access, you're going to get growth," Boyd said. The trend has helped alleviate strain on major metro airports and stimulated suburban development.

One of the info-graphics with the article shows that the busiest round-trip route is Atlanta-Orlando. While Sanford International Airport also serves Orlando, Lakeland is in a good position to cover Orlando and Tampa.

Would Lakeland build-up the infrastructure at Linder to handle commercial airlines?

The drawback might just be all the residential development that has occurred around the airport/Polk Parkway. I'm not sure local residents would like to hear steady jet-service over their neighborhoods.

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I'm in Seoul, South Korea for business, actually presenting at a conference. The 'Where in Polk' category is just a joke :-) More, photos from Seoul over at Flickr.

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When Bob posted his little hint about something going on in the local newspaper market, my thoughts were:

1. The News Chief is shutting down.
2. Somebody was going to buy them.

Truth be told, I figured option #1 was going to happen a long time ago. I thought when Wayne Ezell left and they didn't announce a full-time replacement that the writing was on the wall. I thought that since Wayne had been at the helm so long, they (being Morris) didn't want to shutter the paper while he was there. Better to let him move-on to Jacksonville, then let the paper die a few months later. People could always say, "See....once Wayne left, the paper was never the same."

Truth is the paper has never been much of anything for a while. That leads to option #2

If somebody was going to buy them, at first for me, the two choices were another outside group (as in outside of Florida) or either the Orlando Sentinel or the Tampa Tribune. Buying the News Chief would give them a beachhead into the Polk market. But of course what would they be buying? A dismal circulation and poor facilities? In the long run it would be cheaper to compete them to death, then buy them.

Enter The Ledger. As we now know, the Ledger is the buyer and they've indicated some of their plans. Here are some random thoughts:

- Nelson Kirkland is the man for the job. I've worked with Nelson on projects and chamber dealings (both Lakeland and Winter Haven) for a number of years. He's direct when it comes to business. Some people don't like that, but it's what gets the job done. He's also very connected (and concerned) about this community, something none of the previous two News Chief publishers were.

- Was it a mercy buy? Did they really need to buy them? Terms are not public, but could you spend the same amount of money improving the features/services
and just crush the News Chief? Or was it easier and cheaper just to buy them?

- With the end of the East Polk edition will Lakeland finally get their paper back? By this I mean will the Ledger become a Lakeland-focussed paper and the New Chief the Winter Haven/East Polk paper? Will this mean less Winter Haven news in the Ledger? It will be interesting to see how the content shifts in the coming months.

- The Ledger indicated that they intend to keep the News Chief masthead. Sounds good now, and makes everybody feel good about the purchase. But what about one year from now, will it still make sense for The Ledger to dilute their brand across the county with competition from the Sentinel and Tribune on opposite sides? The Ledger didn't acquire the facilities, just the titles/mastheads and some staff. Shutting down the 'paper' a year from now won't require much effort, compared to selling a building/presses/equipment, etc.

- I know many advertising folks were scared about a Ledger purchase of the News Chief since it would impact print ad rates once competition was gone. The Ledger indicates that the rates will remain the same for now. But, like the point above, let's see what happens one year from now.

- Is there a place for an afternoon paper? Thinking about the logistics....the News Chief will be printed by the Ledger at their main facility in Lakeland. How does this
impact the production of the Ledger. A few options:

1. The News Chief is printed first and thus has an earlier deadline. This would actually be status quo, since PolkOnline is usually updated around 11pm with tomorrow's stories.
2. The News Chief is printed after the Ledger and thus we have a tight delivery schedule.
3. The News Chief goes back to an afternoon paper. Think about that, it might be interesting.

- I can't wait to see better reporting in the paper. That's one thing the Ledger will bring to the News Chief.

- I'll have to ask Barry what the plans for PolkOnline are. I have some ideas, but I gave up working with newspapers last year. Barry lunch sometime soon?

Anyway, the next few months should be interesting.

Disclosures: In the past two years I have done paid consulting work for The Ledger and the Orlando Sentinel. Many years ago with a previous company I also did work for the News Chief. As far as the Tampa Tribune is concerned....I know Billy :-)

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