Aug. 17--Continental Airlines passengers are grumbling about a carrier contracted to fly between Southeast Texas Regional Airport and Houston.
The bulk of those complaints centers around the cancellation of flights and overall service by Colgan Air, which operates four of Continental's five daily roundtrip flights from Beaumont, said Jim Rich, Greater Beaumont Chamber of Commerce president.
Continental has reduced the number of flights on regional jets, packing passengers on turbo-prop planes operated by Colgan Air, he said.
Jefferson County Judge Carl Griffith, Rich and concerned business people will meet with Continental in Houston on Friday to discuss the service and reduction in regional jets, he said.
Continental recently switched from SkyWest Airlines to Colgan Air for the short flights to and from Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
The main airline supplies service on Continental Express regional jets for the first departure and last arrival daily, said Chris Clary, Southeast Texas Regional Airport operations manager.
Colgan Air operates the remaining flights.
Clary said Continental recently scaled back the number of daily flights to five from seven.
Martin DeLeon, a Continental spokesman, said Tuesday that he needed to do more research into the concerns before commenting.
Friday's meeting will provide an opportunity to talk with Continental about a connection to Dallas, Rich said.
The airline turned down an offer in 2004 when a coalition began searching for a direct flight to Dallas.
Instead, Delta Air Lines stepped forward, but the agreement was short-lived.
Delta closed its hub at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in January, switching service to Atlanta.
That attempt failed to draw enough passengers, and Delta left Southeast Texas completely in July.
A group met with American Airlines last week to discuss the possibility of a Dallas connection.
The airline asked for more information supporting the need.
Rich said a survey to measure that need will be taken of the business traveler -- the base traveler for most airlines -- and how much they are willing to spend on flights.
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