Well, I want to say thank you for the visitors that have been showing up and leaving notes and postings to the discussions. Thank you for making my dream of being heard on the Internet a reality! J/K...well, not really but anyhoot. Also, please forgive my week absence. I have been trying to come up with ideas for discussion and I was able to come up with a few but I need to get a few things straightened out before I begin with those topics...just to wet your whistle, here are a few hints: B.U.S., national attention for the RGV (mainly Brownsville though) and lastly, the N.F.L.

I would like to begin this week with a new topic: Welcome to In This Corner! (God...I have been watching way too much of ESPN's Around The Horn, Jim Rome is Burning and Pardon The Interruption.

The Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport recently received some good news from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA will be awarding our local airport $1 Million for infrastructure improvement. According to the Brownsville Herald (6/6/2006 - Online Edition), "With the funds, the airport will rehabilitate the drainage system, extend the life of the runway and build a new apron where airplanes will hook up to. This will allow for increased airplane traffic at the airport."

The Brownsville/SPI International Airport is a wonderful airport (at least, now it is). I was there recently to pick up an Industrial Magazine (if you've never read these, I suggest that you get one. First off, THEY'RE FREE!!! --I'm so happy. Second, they feature articles about industrial business and economic growth in ONLY Cameron County, Matamoros, and Reynosa.) and as I walked around the lobby, I noticed something that I had never seen before. PEOPLE! The airport was actually filled with the hustle and bustle of people doing their business..whether it be the security guards checking someone over for a pencil or someone buying a drink to even a group of tourists that were reading about the airports 75 year history. The last time I used this airport, it was dead...easy as that, it was dead. I walked into a cramped propeller plan that was going to send me out to Houston and bumped around here and there till I got to my destination. But this last time I visited, I really felt like I was somewhere else. Now don't get me wrong, I've been in big airports before and can tell the difference (Cincinnati, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, LAX, Sea-Tac, Washington D.C., etc.) but this is a giant step up from where it was before. In all honesty, I can't wait and see what will happen with this airport once the improvements begin and the runway is expanded to 10,000 feet. Who knows, maybe we can get another airline.

I love my city. (Uh-oh, where is he going with this statement? Must not be good if he starts out with 'I love my city'?) I think that we should all fly out of Brownsville if all possible. I also feel that Continental Airlines doesn't give us a good break in terms of prices when in reality, the prices that they quote on their website is almost $70-100 more expensive than those of competitors. I also love the way that Continental "loves" this community and boasts how Brownsville has a higher passenger rate than any other city in Texas and one of the best percentages in the nation. Fantastic! If we're doing that well, shouldn't we be entitled to a few more perks? Say, something in the line of having flights to destinations other than Houston? Or how about making us a Point of Destination to cities from Mexico? If we're an International Airport, how come we can only go to Houston? Now, according to the official Brownsville/SPI International Airport website (http://iflybrownsville.com/default.asp), you can reserve flights to the following cities: Houston, Atlanta, Toronto, Minneapolis/St.Paul, and Queretaro. Wouldn't it be better for Continental or whoever flies to these destinations to go straight from Brownsville than from going to Houston and stopping for however long the layover is?

Lastly, why is it that the city of Brownsville has been losing more and more opportunities with carriers while the city of McAllen has been growing at an enormous rate? Delta began daily flights to Atlanta (only 2 a day but still) and the non-stop flight to Vegas has also been adding more and more numbers to their airport. Why is it that we can't add another airline if our "numbers are so great"?

Maybe it's just me and I'm looking into it a little too much..who knows...

This is my corner...what's yours?