Southern Airways Presents Its Bid for Air Service to Veteran’s Airport of Southern Illinois
Jan. 27—MARION — Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois officials and stakeholders heard from the second of three airlines to present a bid offering passenger airline service on Friday morning.
Mark Cestari, chief commercial officer for Southern Airways, presented their bid for essential air service.
Southern Airways is offering 28 flights per week to O'Hare Airport in Chicago and to Lambert Airport in St. Louis. That would be one round-trip flight per day to Chicago, and three flights per day to St. Louis.
The flights to Chicago will be on Saab 340 aircraft which seats 30 passengers. It is a cabin class aircraft and will have a flight attendant and restrooms. Flights to St. Louis will be on a smaller Cessna Grand Caravan.
Southern Airways also has a maintenance base in St. Louis that holds five aircraft.
"We are America's most reliable airline," Cestari said.
Their bid lists a completion factor for flights of 98.5%. He said their actual flight completion rate is more like 99.3%.
The airline has an average fare of $66, with prices that vary from super saver fares of $39 to higher prices of $99. Cestari said they do not have a fare over $99.
Southern has interline agreements with American, Alaska, United and Hawaiian airlines. That means customers can book tickets on the Southern website, iflysouthern.com. Because their interline agreements are unilateral, customers also can adjust their flights on the Southern website. They will not need to go to another website.
"You can check bags all the way through and have the ability to adjust tickets," Cestari said.
A pilot shortage has been an issue since 2017. Cestari said Southern has implemented a program to train their own pilots.
They hire pilots with 700 to 800 hours of experience as first mates on two-year contracts. When they get 1,500 hours of experience, they are promoted to captains. They have 50 pilots training in January.
"We are not competing with larger airlines who can pay three times what we're able to pay," Cestari said.
Southern has four divisions.
Southern Airway Experience is a mainland commuter airline.
"We fly in all four times zones from Nantucket to LA," Cestari said.
Mokulele flies in Hawaii. The airline connects smaller airports with the larger ones in Hawaii. Cestari said they are the only flight provider for some of the smaller islands.
Southern Private Jets offers private flights.
Marianas Airlines is the official airlines of the Mariana Islands.
Cestari was asked about a proposed schedule of flights. He explained that they like to work out a schedule after they win a contract. Southern officials will sit down with Doug Kimmel, director of Veteran's Airport, and others to figure out a schedule. Their bid estimates three flights to St. Louis, one in the morning, one mid-day and one later, as well as a flight to Chicago.
He said they could adjust the schedule and have two flights to Chicago some days, with none on other days.
The company offers four community engagement initiatives:
* ExpressPass offers digital gift cards.
* Care Connector partners with local hospitals to bring in medical specialists at a discounted rate. Cestari said this program is geared toward doctors who work short-term.
* Community Connector offers discounted rates to employees of towns or counties where the airport is located.
* Campus Connect is a partnership with colleges and universities to offer discounted flights to students, potential students and alumni.
Cape Air is expected to present its bid next week.
Kimmel said all three bid proposals will be on the airport's website through Feb. 8, with a survey. They have to make a recommendation to U.S. Department of Transportation by Feb. 13. U.S. DOT will take about two months to go over the bids and make a decision.
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