Marathon Panel Hopes Residents Embrace Proposed Delta Flights

Members of the Florida Keys Marathon Airport Task Force on Tuesday got to see more details from a proposed contract with Delta to have daily nonstop flights to Atlanta.

Although the contract, guaranteeing service for at least one year, would be a major step to bringing the airport back as a viable hub for commercial flights, task force members seemed more concerned with what they thought could be wavering public support for the ongoing venture.

Monroe County Commissioner David Rice, the task force organizer, noted the decreased number of present group members, which are hospitality, tourism and municipal officials.

"We have a second draft of a contract with Delta, and we feel very confident we will end up with the service just as we hoped," Rice said to the audience of about seven or eight.

"We've got a lot of things to get done between now and next fall" when service is scheduled to begin, Rice continued.

Key West International Airport Manager Peter Horton said Delta is ready to provide one 40-passenger regional jet a day for nonstop flights to and from Atlanta with an extra flight on the weekends.

This would complement service by Gulfstream, which has already agreed in contract to provide two daily flights both to Fort Lauderdale and Tampa.

Gulfstream would operate 19-seat turbo-prop planes for Continental, United and Southwest airlines.

Horton said he and consultant The Boyd Group are also trying to attract US Airways, which could provide nonstop jet service to Charlotte, N.C.

However, group members thought some damage control may be necessary for some Marathon residents who live close to the runway.

"What I'm talking about is a positive spin for John Q. Public," said June Helbling, a vice president of Marine Bank and on the boards of various community groups.

"So we don't have noise complaints, and we don't have all that uproar the Keys are famous for," she continued.

The concerns were echoed by other members, who cited the recent crash of a small Cessna airplane into a residential canal near the airport and a news article stating possible complaints from residents.

Rice offered the use of county Public Information Officer Jonathan Weinshank to create articles and newsletters for circulation among various civic groups and chambers of commerce.

It will reportedly cost $800,000 to guarantee Gulfstream and Delta service for one year, beginning in fall of 2007, and will be paid for by a federal aviation grant and community donations.

No major commercial carriers have flown out of Marathon since 2000, when American Eagle pulled out.

Copyright (c) 2006, Florida Keys Keynoter, Marathon, Fla.

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