By MICHAEL WHITELEY-Times Senior Reporter

A few hours after Drake Field officials unveiled a new advertising campaign to curb future losses to the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, they got the latest volley of bad news about Highfill.

Trans World Express, which replaced American Eagle Airlines as Drake Field's busiest carrier when American moved to the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport on Sunday, announced it will follow in mid-January 1999.

TWE Vice President Bill Mishk confirmed the decision in a telephone interview from the airline's St. Louis headquarters Thursday and cited the needs of Northwest Arkansas' three Fortune 500 companies.

Mishk previously had said that unusual terms of the new airport's contract with American Eagle might prove costly to other carriers.

"I think a very large part of our thinking was about the tremendous amount of support by business for the new airfield," Mishk said. "We thought specially of better serving the three largest companies, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., J.B. Hunt Transport Inc. and Tyson Foods Inc."

Other carriers had complained of pressure to move by large companies supporting the new airport.

Northwest Airlink Vice President Philip Reed said last month that the contract with American Eagle was prohibitive to airlines with passenger levels smaller than American Eagle's.

American Eagle logged 42 percent of the passenger boardings at Drake Field in 1997 and TWE logged 23 percent - increasing Drake Field's total passenger losses to 65 percent.

The move also reduced commuter carriers to three at Drake Field and eliminates its St. Louis connection.

Rudy Furr, Drake Field marketing director, displayed a new advertising campaign to members of the Fayetteville Municipal Airport Board Thursday afternoon. He also said some of American Eagle's passengers - possibly more than 20 -Ęcontinued to use Drake Field after the airline's move.

Furr said he planned to encourage TWE to look at the numbers.

"All I'm seeing is an increase in their (TWE's) traffic here," Furr said after the announcement. "I hope that between now and mid-January, they'll take another look."

President Bill Clinton is scheduled to fly on Air Force One into the new airport this afternoon for its official dedication. The airport opened Sunday with 17 daily round trips to Chicago O'Hare International Airport and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on American Eagle.

Financial consultants for the new airport, identified as XNA, have predicted it would take all of Drake Field's passengers by 2000, as well as some passengers now driving to Tulsa, Okla.

But Drake Field officials have insisted their northern neighbor is too remote and too expensive to force a major defection from the 60-year-old Fayetteville Municipal Airport.

Mishk did not elaborate on contract negotiations. But he said TWE, which operates under the umbrella of Trans-States Airlines, had gained the necessary concessions from the Northwest Regional Airport Authority.

Among the controversial items are rent schedules that increase dramatically with projected passenger increases during the second 5 years of the contract.

"I think we reached an agreement that we feel comfortable with and we can live with relative to future growth at XNA," Mishk said.

Like American Eagle, TWE would move overnight and begin all seven of its round-trip flights between XNA and St. Louis the following morning.

Unlike the Fort Worth-based carrier, it would not introduce regional jets such as those American Eagle has installed in its XNA to Chicago schedule.

Mishk said the airline will upgrade all planes on XNA flights to ATR 72 turbo props, which seat 68 passengers. Some flights now use 48-passenger aircraft.

Regional Airport Authority Chairman Stan Green applauded the announcement. Furr said Drake Field will survive and flourish.

"There is another airline ... to absorb the enplanements," Furr said. "There's a demand for air service in Fayetteville, Ark., and it will be filled by someone either existing or unknown at this time."

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