PeoplExpress, headed by CEO Mike Morrisi, has just announced the purchase of Boise, ID based Xtra Airlines.  Xtra’s “Air Operators Certificate” (AOC) will let PeoplExpress to get in the air sooner than would happen if it sought its own certification.

The issue of PeoplExpress was raised here in March and once again in April that  Buffalo and Niagara Falls  interests should aggressively pursue its service.  Then, hopefully sooner rather than later,  one of the two local airports might be added to its first five city route system of Newport News, VA – Pittsburgh, PA – Providence, RI – Newark, NJ –  West Palm Beach, FL.   Routesonline announced the new carrier could be in the air by late summer.

Routesonline post stated that XTRA’s AOC gives PeoplExpress authority to operate in the United States, Caribbean, Canada, Mexico, Central and South America and that the XTRA brand would continue to be used for charter operations .  For those who once flew to Florida from NFIA you might recognize the name XTRA Airlines.  It was one of the carriers used by the now defunct DirectAir on its Myrtle Beach, SC – Florida routes.

At this time my betting is that should PeoplExpress come to the area it would service Buffalo-Niagara International Airlines as Niagara International seems to be destined to stay little more than a low-cost outbound traffic only airport used by Canadians to fly to Florida.

Buffalo, NY’s cost of living is not what you are telling everyone. I continue to be amazed at some of the things that get said and written by people that are so far from the truth but are accepted as fact by far too many people. People complain about the cost of living here, the cost of taxes, the cost of health care, etc. They move elsewhere and tell everyone how can you live there is it so expensive. You pay too much for everything.

I’m finally decided to put together something I’ve always know to be true and based on statistics, not wishful and many times mean spirited, chip on the shoulder attitudes.

Below you will find a chart containing the Top 51 largest metro areas in the United States. I’ve made it 51 because our friends in Rochester, 65 miles down the road, are ranked #51. I used figures produced by Sperling’s Best Places. For those who don’t know Sperling’s is mentioned on Wikipedia and says this: Sperling’s BestPlaces is a website created and maintained by author and researcher Bert Sperling. It offers information about cities and zip codes in the United States including climate, economy, population, demographics, education, cost of living, and employment.

To the left of every city is it’s population rank with the largest, New York City, being #1. To the right of the city is its Overall rank. The smaller the number the least expensive it is to live in that city. The United States is shown as #100. That is the national average. You are able to find out where each of the cities stand in the national average.

For the people of the area, you will have to decide if what you are telling everyone is reality. You will also have to decide if what you are telling everyone is hurting or helping this area’s economic recovery.

Chart Note:

Pop. Rank is the population ranking of the 51 cities.
C.O.L. Rank is Sperling’s Cost of living ranking. The lower the number the least expensive the city.
U.S.A. 100 – the the benchmark average national ranking.