theAviationGeek wrote:

joeblow10 wrote:

BangersAndMash wrote:

So BFF, LBF, DDC and LBL have all filed for an extension to the bidding period.

What is their alternative though? Single engine turboprop service on Southern? It’s a death nell to their airports’ marketing ability. It’s obvious why these communities are holding out until the very end in hopes OO comes through.

They need to start aggressively courting Denver Air Connection. DAC is in the process of adding additional Metroliners to the fleet and could at least offer twin prop service in the interim. Post deregulation, BFF was mostly a 19 seater destination. At times, it was served by Dash 7s, EMB-120s, and B1900s with only 9 seats — but overall, 19 seats was the norm.

They’ve been spoiled with the 50-seat jet and don’t want to lose it, but it is time to realize that it isn’t sustainable and begin courting the next best thing.

Ryan

BFF (and LBF) were really spoiled in 1980-1984 when they had Frontier 737-200's doing the river route.

EAS Updates and Changes...

Salinas, Kansas
***Order sent out for a Proposal

https://www.regulations.gov/document/DO ... 11376-0221

By this Order, the U.S. Department of Transportation (the Department) is requesting proposals
from air carriers interested in providing Essential Air Service (EAS) at Salina, Kansas, for a new
contract term beginning April 1, 2023, with or without subsidy. Air carriers should file
proposals no later than December 20, 2022.

Marion, Illinois-
Proposals have not been sent out yet but a News Report said MWA is open to looking at other carriers if they bid. I have to assume Southern, Boutique, and Cape Air. Be shocked if Contour bids, (is this an AEAS or EAS consideration?), SkyWest, not planning on them submitting a proposal but be shocked if they do!

News Source: https://www.kfvs12.com/2022/11/17/chang ... -illinois/

Quincy, Illinois-

Southern Airways has posted their schedule, starting with 4 flights a day, then moving to 6 Flights a day. 3 each to STL and ORD.

News Source: https://www.wgem.com/2022/11/16/souther ... announced/

Owensboro, Kentucky

This is an interesting one as they have Allegiant and Cape Air. OWB would like to see Jet service replace Cape Air (SkyWest and Contour would be their only hope for that).

News Source: https://www.messenger-inquirer.com/news ... 46f27.html

Alex

atrude777 wrote:

EAS Updates and Changes...

Salinas, Kansas
***Order sent out for a Proposal

https://www.regulations.gov/document/DO ... 11376-0221

By this Order, the U.S. Department of Transportation (the Department) is requesting proposals
from air carriers interested in providing Essential Air Service (EAS) at Salina, Kansas, for a new
contract term beginning April 1, 2023, with or without subsidy. Air carriers should file
proposals no later than December 20, 2022.

Marion, Illinois-
Proposals have not been sent out yet but a News Report said MWA is open to looking at other carriers if they bid. I have to assume Southern, Boutique, and Cape Air. Be shocked if Contour bids, (is this an AEAS or EAS consideration?), SkyWest, not planning on them submitting a proposal but be shocked if they do!

News Source: https://www.kfvs12.com/2022/11/17/chang ... -illinois/

Quincy, Illinois-

Southern Airways has posted their schedule, starting with 4 flights a day, then moving to 6 Flights a day. 3 each to STL and ORD.

News Source: https://www.wgem.com/2022/11/16/souther ... announced/

Owensboro, Kentucky

This is an interesting one as they have Allegiant and Cape Air. OWB would like to see Jet service replace Cape Air (SkyWest and Contour would be their only hope for that).

News Source: https://www.messenger-inquirer.com/news ... 46f27.html

Alex

If SY can bid then I don't know why G4 couldn't bid Owensboro to expand there. I doubt they do and I wouldn't take it over daily to somewhere they currently have, but it would be interesting if they did bid.

DOT has put out a Proposal Request for the 3 Cape Air cities that submitted a Termination Notice.

IRK
MWA
OWB

Source: https://www.regulations.gov/document/DO ... -7855-0186

Alex

Finally giving up on STL ops. Too bad. As a city/airport, I would rather have 9K over any comparable operator out there. Good luck on getting the jets in MWA.
On that note, I'd like to see ORD-MWA-OWB-BNA routing then.

atrude777 wrote:

DOT has put out a Proposal Request for the 3 Cape Air cities that submitted a Termination Notice.

IRK
MWA
OWB

Source: https://www.regulations.gov/document/DO ... -7855-0186

Alex

The TECNAM plane CAPE bet their future on has turned into a nightmare for them ... as the Cessna's they hang onto continue to cycle themselves into oblivion

sprxUSA wrote:

Finally giving up on STL ops. Too bad. As a city/airport, I would rather have 9K over any comparable operator out there. Good luck on getting the jets in MWA.
On that note, I'd like to see ORD-MWA-OWB-BNA routing then.

They are rebidding all of them. They only noticed to terminate because expenses went up and the current contracts don’t cover them.

Jshank83 wrote:

sprxUSA wrote:

Finally giving up on STL ops. Too bad. As a city/airport, I would rather have 9K over any comparable operator out there. Good luck on getting the jets in MWA.
On that note, I'd like to see ORD-MWA-OWB-BNA routing then.

They are rebidding all of them. They only noticed to terminate because expenses went up and the current contracts don’t cover them.

It still is reflecting really poorly on them though. Some of these markets were awarded a while ago, but some (eg Burlington) are quite recent. It says they just can't put a budget together frankly. A lot of the communities are not impressed, and rightly so. I don't see Cape holding to a lot of these markets.

BangersAndMash wrote:

Jshank83 wrote:

sprxUSA wrote:

Finally giving up on STL ops. Too bad. As a city/airport, I would rather have 9K over any comparable operator out there. Good luck on getting the jets in MWA.
On that note, I'd like to see ORD-MWA-OWB-BNA routing then.

They are rebidding all of them. They only noticed to terminate because expenses went up and the current contracts don’t cover them.

It still is reflecting really poorly on them though. Some of these markets were awarded a while ago, but some (eg Burlington) are quite recent. It says they just can't put a budget together frankly. A lot of the communities are not impressed, and rightly so. I don't see Cape holding to a lot of these markets.

I don’t think it’s THAT big a deal. I am sure they explained to markets what was going on and it isn’t like the markets have to pay more themselves.

I’d probably be happy to get rebid as it opens options to see if Cape is the best option still or not. I agree they probably won’t keep all of them, but it depends on who else bids. The one thing they have going for them is dual engine. If it’s between them and southern I’m not sure we see cities waive dual engine just to move to someone else. If cape wasn’t such a mess during the SkyWest rebids they would have probably won a decent chunk just based on that.

Jshank83 wrote:

atrude777 wrote:

EAS Updates and Changes...

Salinas, Kansas
***Order sent out for a Proposal

https://www.regulations.gov/document/DO ... 11376-0221

By this Order, the U.S. Department of Transportation (the Department) is requesting proposals
from air carriers interested in providing Essential Air Service (EAS) at Salina, Kansas, for a new
contract term beginning April 1, 2023, with or without subsidy. Air carriers should file
proposals no later than December 20, 2022.

Marion, Illinois-
Proposals have not been sent out yet but a News Report said MWA is open to looking at other carriers if they bid. I have to assume Southern, Boutique, and Cape Air. Be shocked if Contour bids, (is this an AEAS or EAS consideration?), SkyWest, not planning on them submitting a proposal but be shocked if they do!

News Source: https://www.kfvs12.com/2022/11/17/chang ... -illinois/

Quincy, Illinois-

Southern Airways has posted their schedule, starting with 4 flights a day, then moving to 6 Flights a day. 3 each to STL and ORD.

News Source: https://www.wgem.com/2022/11/16/souther ... announced/

Owensboro, Kentucky

This is an interesting one as they have Allegiant and Cape Air. OWB would like to see Jet service replace Cape Air (SkyWest and Contour would be their only hope for that).

News Source: https://www.messenger-inquirer.com/news ... 46f27.html

Alex

If SY can bid then I don't know why G4 couldn't bid Owensboro to expand there. I doubt they do and I wouldn't take it over daily to somewhere they currently have, but it would be interesting if they did bid.

The big difference is that SY offers connections. Strange that they were awarded with less than daily network connectivity though.

Jshank83 wrote:

atrude777 wrote:

EAS Updates and Changes...

Salinas, Kansas
***Order sent out for a Proposal

https://www.regulations.gov/document/DO ... 11376-0221

By this Order, the U.S. Department of Transportation (the Department) is requesting proposals
from air carriers interested in providing Essential Air Service (EAS) at Salina, Kansas, for a new
contract term beginning April 1, 2023, with or without subsidy. Air carriers should file
proposals no later than December 20, 2022.

Marion, Illinois-
Proposals have not been sent out yet but a News Report said MWA is open to looking at other carriers if they bid. I have to assume Southern, Boutique, and Cape Air. Be shocked if Contour bids, (is this an AEAS or EAS consideration?), SkyWest, not planning on them submitting a proposal but be shocked if they do!

News Source: https://www.kfvs12.com/2022/11/17/chang ... -illinois/

Quincy, Illinois-

Southern Airways has posted their schedule, starting with 4 flights a day, then moving to 6 Flights a day. 3 each to STL and ORD.

News Source: https://www.wgem.com/2022/11/16/souther ... announced/

Owensboro, Kentucky

This is an interesting one as they have Allegiant and Cape Air. OWB would like to see Jet service replace Cape Air (SkyWest and Contour would be their only hope for that).

News Source: https://www.messenger-inquirer.com/news ... 46f27.html

Alex

If SY can bid then I don't know why G4 couldn't bid Owensboro to expand there. I doubt they do and I wouldn't take it over daily to somewhere they currently have, but it would be interesting if they did bid.

The big difference is that SY offers connections. Strange that they were awarded with less than daily network connectivity though.

Jshank83 wrote:

BangersAndMash wrote:

Jshank83 wrote:

They are rebidding all of them. They only noticed to terminate because expenses went up and the current contracts don’t cover them.

It still is reflecting really poorly on them though. Some of these markets were awarded a while ago, but some (eg Burlington) are quite recent. It says they just can't put a budget together frankly. A lot of the communities are not impressed, and rightly so. I don't see Cape holding to a lot of these markets.

I don’t think it’s THAT big a deal. I am sure they explained to markets what was going on and it isn’t like the markets have to pay more themselves.

I’d probably be happy to get rebid as it opens options to see if Cape is the best option still or not. I agree they probably won’t keep all of them, but it depends on who else bids. The one thing they have going for them is dual engine. If it’s between them and southern I’m not sure we see cities waive dual engine just to move to someone else. If cape wasn’t such a mess during the SkyWest rebids they would have probably won a decent chunk just based on that.

At the end of the day, it's still uncertainty, inconvenience, and cost.

All these proposals need to be assessed and that's a staff cost if nothing else. Then there are also a myriad of issues to consider around each bid and bidder (where they're buying their fuel from, Boutique comes with a rental car service - do you need a replacement for that if you move on, ...). Not insignificant extra work for what are small teams.

Cape Air have already lost Quincy. Burlington could go either way. Cape has a letter of support from AA, but Air Choice One was the previous incumbent and BRL were happy with them. They only moved on because of the lack of interline, which is no longer an issue. Let's see where the other 3 are going.

BangersAndMash wrote:

Jshank83 wrote:

BangersAndMash wrote:

It still is reflecting really poorly on them though. Some of these markets were awarded a while ago, but some (eg Burlington) are quite recent. It says they just can't put a budget together frankly. A lot of the communities are not impressed, and rightly so. I don't see Cape holding to a lot of these markets.

I don’t think it’s THAT big a deal. I am sure they explained to markets what was going on and it isn’t like the markets have to pay more themselves.

I’d probably be happy to get rebid as it opens options to see if Cape is the best option still or not. I agree they probably won’t keep all of them, but it depends on who else bids. The one thing they have going for them is dual engine. If it’s between them and southern I’m not sure we see cities waive dual engine just to move to someone else. If cape wasn’t such a mess during the SkyWest rebids they would have probably won a decent chunk just based on that.

At the end of the day, it's still uncertainty, inconvenience, and cost.

All these proposals need to be assessed and that's a staff cost if nothing else. Then there are also a myriad of issues to consider around each bid and bidder (where they're buying their fuel from, Boutique comes with a rental car service - do you need a replacement for that if you move on, ...). Not insignificant extra work for what are small teams.

Cape Air have already lost Quincy. Burlington could go either way. Cape has a letter of support from AA, but Air Choice One was the previous incumbent and BRL were happy with them. They only moved on because of the lack of interline, which is no longer an issue. Let's see where the other 3 are going.

cape also didn’t re-bid Quincy or Burlington they said they intend to rebid these

FlyingElvii wrote:

Marion and Owensboro both want jet service to ORD. Kinda makes sense for Marion, but O’Hare costs are very high, especially for just one or two flights.

I don't see MWA getting Jet service to ORD unless SkyWest bids as UAEX. They still haven't been approved for SkyWest Charters, locally the community wants Chicago due to the strong ties with the Southern Illinois Health Business and of course SIU in Nearby Carbondale.

Contour or DAC would be the next Jet service possibilities, but Contour wouldn't bid Chicago, but would they bid BNA being so close? CLT? PHL? Would MWA even be willing to forego EAS and go the EAS way?

DAC has Chicago service and could offer MWA-ORD with UA Interline Services.

OWB, as Jshanks brought up does have Jet service, on Allegiant. Nothing can stop Allegiant from bidding as a full service like SY, but a point was also made, SY can offer connections. G4 will not.

Jshank83 wrote:

cape also didn’t re-bid Quincy or Burlington they said they intend to rebid these

BangersAndMash wrote:

Cape Air have already lost Quincy. Burlington could go either way. Cape has a letter of support from AA, but Air Choice One was the previous incumbent and BRL were happy with them. They only moved on because of the lack of interline, which is no longer an issue. Let's see where the other 3 are going.

Just a small correction, Cape Air did submit a rebid for Burlington, Iowa

Source: https://www.regulations.gov/document/DO ... -8731-0149

AA's BRL Support: https://www.regulations.gov/document/DO ... -8731-0151

I see BRL staying with Cape Air due to the Multi Engine and continued Codeshare with American Airlines.

Southern Airways did offer a proposal too but on C208, Single Engine, and no Code Share, only Interline.

Burlington rejected Boutique Air during the first round of proposals due to single engine, which stands to reason they will reject Southern and stay with Cape Air.

Rejection of Proposal for BRL: https://www.regulations.gov/document/DO ... -8731-0148

Alex

^ahh I didn’t know the 2nd rebid happened again. I knew the first they didn’t bid.

Fort Dodge-FOD will resume Chicago Flights for the Holidays

Source: https://www.messengernews.net/news/loca ... d-airport/

Fort Dodge Regional Airport will once again have two flights to Chicago on most days, beginning at the end of this month.

United Express is reinstating a second roundtrip to Chicago-O’Hare International Airport on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, Rhonda Chambers, the local airport’s director of aviation, reported Friday.

That increase will be effective Nov. 30, she said.

United Express, operated by Skywest Airlines, had reduced its Fort Dodge to Chicago service on July 1.

The airline had also offered service to Denver, That service is not being restored at this time.

Notes: SkyWest is still sticking with FOD, and is obligated to fullfill their contract. Boutique I believe was only airline to bid, and was declined due to single engine operation.

For now, FOD is hanging out with SkyWest.

************************************************************************************************

Pueblo, Colorado

Southern Airways Express will officially take over from SkyWest, January 15th, 2023

Source: https://www.chieftain.com/story/busines ... 660396007/

A Southern Airways Express LLC proposal to provide essential air service flights between Pueblo Memorial Airport and Denver has been approved, with flights set to take off Jan. 15.

In the meantime, SkyWest Airlines will continue the commuter flights through Jan. 14, so “there will be no interruption of service if everybody sticks to the plan,” said Greg Pedroza, director of aviation at the Pueblo airport.

Alex

Does anybody know what's happening with Lebanon NH?

The current contract is expiring next week and nothing has been filed yet. Should be pretty straightforward too. It's a Cape market and they have the recommendation.

Unless it's been misfiled under the wrong docket but I can't see it.

Skywest, FAA and Hattiesburg still negotiating Air Service...

This is more about the update with SkyWest and the Air Charter Service they are working on.

https://www.wdam.com/2022/11/24/holiday ... -with-faa/

Heanue says if everything is worked out, passengers will be flying on planes with fewer seats and no stopovers.

“They’re working on a Part 135, which is a scheduled charter service, which means our jet will not have 50 seats, it will have 30,” Heanue said. “But, when they get that, then hopefully, we’ll be back to dedicated airplanes leaving PIB going direct to Houston and back and we won’t have a Meridian share.”

Heanue said that new agreement could be finalized with the next three months.

**********************************************************************************************************************
DOT has released an RFP for Pierre and Watertown, South Dakota.

Source: https://www.regulations.gov/document/DO ... 10644-0208

Many will recall the fiasco where there was a battle between SkyWest and DAC-Denver Air Connection for the EAS Proposals and Bids. Currently, DAC finally won out and is serving the market right now.

**************************************************************************************************************************

DOT has released an RFP for Vernal, and Moab, Utah

Source: https://www.regulations.gov/document/DO ... -2706-0336

Currently SkyWest is serving the two cities with United Service to DEN.

Note: These cities were NOT part of the 29 EAS Reduction announced by SkyWest in the Spring. Expect SkyWest to rebid for these two cities.

******************************************************************************************************************************
DOT has released an RFP for both Alliance and Chadron, Nebraska.

Source: https://www.regulations.gov/document/DO ... -8322-0162

Thanks,

Alex

atrude777 wrote:

DOT has released an RFP for both Alliance and Chadron, Nebraska. Currently DAC-Denver Air Connection serves the two Markets.

Minor correction: DAC serves AIA while Southern serves CDR.

Ryan

BangersAndMash wrote:

Does anybody know what's happening with Lebanon NH?

The current contract is expiring next week and nothing has been filed yet. Should be pretty straightforward too. It's a Cape market and they have the recommendation.

Unless it's been misfiled under the wrong docket but I can't see it.

An article posted in September says the decision by DOT would not be any later then November 30th, so we may see something next week if not today.

Source: https://www.vnews.com/Lebanon-City-Coun ... t-48116686

Note: Should the DOT take the city’s recommendation, the contract with Cape Air would run for another four years starting Dec. 1. The DOT takes into consideration the city’s recommendation as part of five criteria for the contract, which include reliability, service with larger carriers, interline agreements for transport, customer preference and a marketing plan.

The final decision will be made by the DOT prior to Nov. 30.

Alex

theAviationGeek wrote:

atrude777 wrote:

DOT has released an RFP for both Alliance and Chadron, Nebraska. Currently DAC-Denver Air Connection serves the two Markets.

Minor correction: DAC serves AIA while Southern serves CDR.

Ryan

Thanks Ryan!

I took out the sentence as it was not correct.

Appreciate it!

Alex

atrude777 wrote:

BangersAndMash wrote:

Does anybody know what's happening with Lebanon NH?

The current contract is expiring next week and nothing has been filed yet. Should be pretty straightforward too. It's a Cape market and they have the recommendation.

Unless it's been misfiled under the wrong docket but I can't see it.

An article posted in September says the decision by DOT would not be any later then November 30th, so we may see something next week if not today.

Source: https://www.vnews.com/Lebanon-City-Coun ... t-48116686

Note: Should the DOT take the city’s recommendation, the contract with Cape Air would run for another four years starting Dec. 1. The DOT takes into consideration the city’s recommendation as part of five criteria for the contract, which include reliability, service with larger carriers, interline agreements for transport, customer preference and a marketing plan.

The final decision will be made by the DOT prior to Nov. 30.

Alex

Thanks Alex!

They sure are leaving it very late.

I hope DAC retains and gets the AIA and CDR airports, respectively. I'm assuming they will bid for CDR.

Hope Pueblo likes the caravan. Sounds like the same story Southern sold to Chadron, yet I've only seen the Kingair run a handful of times on that route ever.

AndoAv8R wrote:

Hope Pueblo likes the caravan. Sounds like the same story Southern sold to Chadron, yet I've only seen the Kingair run a handful of times on that route ever.

I dont understand how 9X gets away with running a Caravan at CDR, I thought a city had to waive the multi-engine rule. Wonder if CDR did that after the fact or did they just get the Caravan shoved down their throat for nearly the entire two year term.

atrude777 wrote:

“They’re working on a Part 135, which is a scheduled charter service, which means our jet will not have 50 seats, it will have 30,” Heanue said. “But, when they get that, then hopefully, we’ll be back to dedicated airplanes leaving PIB going direct to Houston and back and we won’t have a Meridian share.”

Since I'm pretty sure OO no longer has any Brasilias, I assume this means the service would be operated with CR2s that have 20 seats blocked out?

Chuska wrote:

AndoAv8R wrote:

Hope Pueblo likes the caravan. Sounds like the same story Southern sold to Chadron, yet I've only seen the Kingair run a handful of times on that route ever.

I dont understand how 9X gets away with running a Caravan at CDR, I thought a city had to waive the multi-engine rule. Wonder if CDR did that after the fact or did they just get the Caravan shoved down their throat for nearly the entire two year term.

The current contract at CDR mentions only King Air, not King Air OR Caravan. That being said, the market was served by Boutique with PC12s previously so it's fair to assume the twin engine requirement was waived in the past. They probably don't have much ground for complaining.

Not so at Pueblo. That contract also only mentions King Air, but they've never been served by anything else than twin engine aircraft to my knowledge. 9X flying a Caravan there could land them into trouble if it's (semi-)permanent.

JBo wrote:

atrude777 wrote:

“They’re working on a Part 135, which is a scheduled charter service, which means our jet will not have 50 seats, it will have 30,” Heanue said. “But, when they get that, then hopefully, we’ll be back to dedicated airplanes leaving PIB going direct to Houston and back and we won’t have a Meridian share.”

Since I'm pretty sure OO no longer has any Brasilias, I assume this means the service would be operated with CR2s that have 20 seats blocked out?

Yes that is correct. The seats would actually be physically removed.

drdisque wrote:

JBo wrote:

atrude777 wrote:

“They’re working on a Part 135, which is a scheduled charter service, which means our jet will not have 50 seats, it will have 30,” Heanue said. “But, when they get that, then hopefully, we’ll be back to dedicated airplanes leaving PIB going direct to Houston and back and we won’t have a Meridian share.”

Since I'm pretty sure OO no longer has any Brasilias, I assume this means the service would be operated with CR2s that have 20 seats blocked out?

Yes that is correct. The seats would actually be physically removed.

Which begs the question: would there just be five empty rows up front, or would they space the seats out for leg room? I know the CR2 tends to be nose-heavy, so taking out the front rows would make sense from a W/B perspective.

drdisque wrote:

JBo wrote:

atrude777 wrote:

“They’re working on a Part 135, which is a scheduled charter service, which means our jet will not have 50 seats, it will have 30,” Heanue said. “But, when they get that, then hopefully, we’ll be back to dedicated airplanes leaving PIB going direct to Houston and back and we won’t have a Meridian share.”

Since I'm pretty sure OO no longer has any Brasilias, I assume this means the service would be operated with CR2s that have 20 seats blocked out?

Yes that is correct. The seats would actually be physically removed.

Remember, this is a "totally different airline" with its own fleet.

IATA code: CW
ICAO code: SCW "Charter West"

The Lebanon contract is finally out. Not a day too soon! The old contract is expiring today. No change to carrier (Cape Air), destinations (BOS+HPN), or service pattern (28x weekly to BOS, 14x weekly to HPN). The only difference is that Cessnas have been dropped. It's just Tecnams on the contract now.

https://www.regulations.gov/document/DOT-OST-2003-14822-0090

I would assume amount has gone up as well....

sprxUSA wrote:

I would assume amount has gone up as well....

It's nearly doubled.

But they got burned with 4-year contracts like Quincy/Burlington/Kirksville/Marion where the inflation situation clearly caught them off guard, so I guess budgeting more conservatively is probably wise.

JLN-ORD is apparently becoming JLN-DEC-ORD for this month

portcolumbus wrote:

JLN-ORD is apparently becoming JLN-DEC-ORD for this month

Indeed. There was an update about this very thing (JLN-DEC-ORD).

Source: https://www.joplinglobe.com/news/joplin ... 0c23e.html

“The Chicago flight will include a stop-over at Decatur, Illinois,” Starkey wrote in the email response. “It’s my understanding that Joplin passengers will not deplane, they will just board Decatur passengers to Chicago. Same with the return flight. Beyond December we have no official word” that an extension of the service will happen.

***********************************************************************************************************
Notes of EAS Changes for November and December...
Lewisburg-LWB Skywest has changed over to Contour Airlines
Shenandoah Valley-SHD SkyWest has changed over to Contour Airlines
Quincy-UIN Cape Air has changed over to Southern Airways Express
Eau Claire-EAU SkyWest has changed over to Sun Country Airlines
Clarksburg-CKB SkyWest has changed over to Contour Airlines

Upcoming Changes in December-
Paducah-PAH Contour takes over December 6th

Cape Air Updates
Upcoming Proposals-December 13th
Marion-MWA, Kirksville-IRK, and OWB-Owensburg, are expected to have proposals submitted by December 13th.
Background: Cape Air has filed to terminate with intention to rebid at higher proposals.

Burlington-BRL Cape Air has submitted a rebid, along with Southern Airways Express.

Cape Air was blaming Pilot Shortages earlier, as well as the cost of inflation. UIN was blamed on Pilot shortage as well as BRL. MWA/IRK/OWB are based on Inflation. Raising the proposals to a higher cost is not going to answer the Pilot Shortage situation.

At MWA, Cape Air cancelled 3 flights the other day, on Cape Air's last day at UIN, Cape Air cancelled.

This will be very hard to argue for Cape Air with the constant cancellations. I would be asking Cape Air, how is giving you more money with this proposal going to eliminate the constant cancellations?

I compared Cape Air's Proposal for BRL in 2021, and now in 2022.

Cape Air BRL 2021-Proposed a cost of $2,719,970 for 2 Year or $2,821.528 for 4 Year
Cape Air 2022-Proposed a cost of $4,882,820 for 2 Year or $5,466,180 for a 4 Year

Food for Thoughts!

Alex

Today is Contour's first day of service in Paducah. The weather didn't exactly roll out the red carpet...

Low IFR
Conditions at: KPAH (PADUCAH , KY, US) observed 1411 UTC 06 December 2022
Temperature: 8.9°C (48°F)
Dewpoint: 8.3°C (47°F) [RH = 96%]
Pressure (altimeter): 29.96 inches Hg (1014.6 mb)
Winds: calm
Visibility: 0.25 miles (0.40 km)
Ceiling: indefinite ceiling with vertical visibility of 200 feet AGL
Clouds: obscured sky
Weather: FG (fog)

I don't think Alex posted this even though he and I talked about it separately.

Harrison/Boone County picked to stay with Southern. We couldn't figured out if they are doing DFW/STL or DFW/MEM by the letter submitted. But they picked the 4 flight a week option to STL/MEM to pair with the rest to DFW

Jshank83 wrote:

I don't think Alex posted this even though he and I talked about it separately.

Harrison/Boone County picked to stay with Southern. We couldn't figure out if they are doing DFW/STL or DFW/MEM by the letter submitted. But they picked the 4 flight a week option to STL/MEM to pair with the rest to DFW

I had not posted it thanks for bringing it up! Anyone else local or elsewhere able to clarify if this is for STL or MEM?

Source: https://www.regulations.gov/document/DO ... -2935-0441

FlyingElvii wrote:

btfarrwm wrote:

Today is Contour's first day of service in Paducah. The weather didn't exactly roll out the red carpet...

Low IFR
Conditions at: KPAH (PADUCAH , KY, US) observed 1411 UTC 06 December 2022
Temperature: 8.9°C (48°F)
Dewpoint: 8.3°C (47°F) [RH = 96%]
Pressure (altimeter): 29.96 inches Hg (1014.6 mb)
Winds: calm
Visibility: 0.25 miles (0.40 km)
Ceiling: indefinite ceiling with vertical visibility of 200 feet AGL
Clouds: obscured sky
Weather: FG (fog)

Flight finally off at 8:08, 53 minutes behind.

Welcome to Paducah, Contour Airlines!

News Article: https://www.kfvs12.com/2022/12/06/inaug ... otte-tues/

WEST PADUCAH, Mo. (KFVS) - Barkley Regional Airport celebrated Contour Airlines’ inaugural flight Tuesday morning, December 6.

The first flight is scheduled to land at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina.

(Gotta love the typo of having Paducah in MO (Missouri)

If you guys open the article, you'll see a photo of the plane, on the nose it says, "Pride of Paducah". Appears Contour dedicated a plane to PAH too!

Plane was sold out this morning, as well as the return.

Alex

atrude777 wrote:

Welcome to Paducah, Contour Airlines!

News Article: https://www.kfvs12.com/2022/12/06/inaug ... otte-tues/

WEST PADUCAH, Mo. (KFVS) - Barkley Regional Airport celebrated Contour Airlines’ inaugural flight Tuesday morning, December 6.

The first flight is scheduled to land at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina.

(Gotta love the typo of having Paducah in MO (Missouri)

If you guys open the article, you'll see a photo of the plane, on the nose it says, "Pride of Paducah". Appears Contour dedicated a plane to PAH too!

Plane was sold out this morning, as well as the return.

Alex

That's hilarious. I find it funnier because I Googled KFVS to see if it was an airport, but alas it's the CBS affiliate in Cape Girardeau.

Hope the sold-out return flight can land here at KPAH. According to the TAF the weather is marginal VFR now but supposed to be low IFR with 400' (or lower) ceilings again this afternoon.

So Massena wants to stay with Boutique because they offer a rental car service and buy their fuel locally ... and apparently, the local folks don't like Philly.

Never mind they'll never get to 10K enplanements and are kissing goodbye to $1M a year worth of Fed money as a result. And saying no to jet service, because those PC12s are so cozy. Oh, and who in their right mind wants to get connected to one of the largest hubs in the country. Crazy, right!?

The way the thinking goes in some of these small airports will never seize to amaze me.

Jshank83 wrote:

I don't think Alex posted this even though he and I talked about it separately.

Harrison/Boone County picked to stay with Southern. We couldn't figured out if they are doing DFW/STL or DFW/MEM by the letter submitted. But they picked the 4 flight a week option to STL/MEM to pair with the rest to DFW

The other 2 Arkansas markets being rebid at the same time have recommended as well. All are for staying with Southern:
- ELD: 14x weekly to DFW + 4x weekly to MEM
- HOT: 16x weekly to DFW + 2x weekly to MEM

BangersAndMash wrote:

So Massena wants to stay with Boutique because they offer a rental car service and buy their fuel locally ... and apparently, the local folks don't like Philly.

Never mind they'll never get to 10K enplanements and are kissing goodbye to $1M a year worth of Fed money as a result. And saying no to jet service, because those PC12s are so cozy. Oh, and who in their right mind wants to get connected to one of the largest hubs in the country. Crazy, right!?

The way the thinking goes in some of these small airports will never seize to amaze me.

Carlsbad is just as bad, pardon the pun. They could have had DAC jets on their last bid but they stuck with Boutique, and for four years! Sounds like MSS and CNM will be keeping 4B alive. Not sure where PDT stands.

Chuska wrote:

BangersAndMash wrote:

So Massena wants to stay with Boutique because they offer a rental car service and buy their fuel locally ... and apparently, the local folks don't like Philly.

Never mind they'll never get to 10K enplanements and are kissing goodbye to $1M a year worth of Fed money as a result. And saying no to jet service, because those PC12s are so cozy. Oh, and who in their right mind wants to get connected to one of the largest hubs in the country. Crazy, right!?

The way the thinking goes in some of these small airports will never seize to amaze me.

Carlsbad is just as bad, pardon the pun. They could have had DAC jets on their last bid but they stuck with Boutique, and for four years! Sounds like MSS and CNM will be keeping 4B alive. Not sure where PDT stands.

Another possibility for CNM would be Advanced Air, from ABQ.

BangersAndMash wrote:

So Massena wants to stay with Boutique because they offer a rental car service and buy their fuel locally ... and apparently, the local folks don't like Philly.

Never mind they'll never get to 10K enplanements and are kissing goodbye to $1M a year worth of Fed money as a result. And saying no to jet service, because those PC12s are so cozy. Oh, and who in their right mind wants to get connected to one of the largest hubs in the country. Crazy, right!?

The way the thinking goes in some of these small airports will never seize to amaze me.

Hahaha oh lord, the 'Boutique Car' service that offers about two old second-hand cars. Just take the extra cash and get someone to set up a Thrifty franchise?

Maybe some people do like little turboprops with doors that fall off mid-flight.

TexasAirCorp wrote:

BangersAndMash wrote:

So Massena wants to stay with Boutique because they offer a rental car service and buy their fuel locally ... and apparently, the local folks don't like Philly.

Never mind they'll never get to 10K enplanements and are kissing goodbye to $1M a year worth of Fed money as a result. And saying no to jet service, because those PC12s are so cozy. Oh, and who in their right mind wants to get connected to one of the largest hubs in the country. Crazy, right!?

The way the thinking goes in some of these small airports will never seize to amaze me.

Hahaha oh lord, the 'Boutique Car' service that offers about two old second-hand cars. Just take the extra cash and get someone to set up a Thrifty franchise?

Maybe some people do like little turboprops with doors that fall off mid-flight.

Or maybe they like to watch luggage learn to fly.

Re: car rentals, you grow the emplanements and rental car companies will come all by themselves. You don't even have to lift a finger! Altoona was in that exact same situation. Contour hadn't completed a month of service, they got Avis and Budget.

The fuel thing, I get. It can be a big source of revenue for a small airport. But you gotta see the bigger picture.

I knew Cape was having issues but geez....

"The 24 flights already completed by Southern since Dec. 1 is the same as all of the flights we had for the whole month of Nov.," he said.

https://www.whig.com/news/community/sou ... 7860e.html