Forum on air service is Thursday

Organizers of a public forum on air travel have assembled a panel of aviation experts to discuss higher fares and service cutbacks at Memphis International Airport.

The hourlong forum will include Seth Kaplan, managing partner of Airline Weekly; Chip Barclay, president of the American Association of Airport Executives; and Phillip Braden, manager at Federal Aviation Administration.

Also on the panel are Larry Cox, president and CEO of the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority; John Moore, president and CEO of the Greater Memphis Chamber; and Kevin Kane, president and CEO of the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The airport authority, chamber and CVB are co - sponsors of the forum, which was organized in response to growing public criticism of service cutbacks and high fares by Delta Air Lines, the dominant passenger airline in Memphis.

Chris Peck, editor of The Commercial Appeal, will serve as moderator.

The public can ask questions by writing them on index cards during the event. Questions submitted via Twitter and Facebook will al- so be answered. On Twitter, use #MyMemAirport. On Facebook, post questions at the group My Memphis Airport.

The forum is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in the University Theater of Christian Brothers University.

For those unable to attend, a live stream of the event will be available on the chamber’s website, memphischamber.com.