Johnstown airport leaders Wednesday recommended that 50-passenger twin-jet aircraft replace the eight-passenger single-engine planes currently operating local commuter air service.

After some intense discussion, the Johnstown-Cambria County Airport board voted 5-3 to recommend SkyWest Airlines be awarded the federal Essential Air Service program subsidy to serve Johnstown daily with round trips to Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Dulles International Airport in suburban Washington.

Authority Chairman James Loncella said the final decision will be made by the federal Department of Transportation.

“Obviously, our recommendation does carry a lot of weight,” Loncella said.

SkyWest is among four airlines vying for the multimillion-dollar federal contract to serve Johnstown.

The current airline, Boutique Air of San Francisco, is bidding to continue its service and its predecessor in Johnstown, Southern Air Express of Pompano Beach, Florida, has submitted a proposal. The fourth airline is Cape Air of Hyannis, Massachusetts.

Wednesday’s decision jeopardizes the continued operation of Boutique’s new maintenance facility on the Johnstown airfield, which would eliminate about a dozen existing jobs and potentially more future jobs.

Board member Rick McQuaide made the motion to recommend SkyWest, saying the enplanement committee considered every aspect of the four proposals at several meetings before recommending SkyWest at Wednesday’s meeting.

SkyWest is asking for a subsidy of $3,484,020 a year and expects to carry just more than 26,000 passengers at an average fare of $89, the proposal shows.

The Essential Air Service program helps small communities maintain air connections with major airports. Actual subsidy payments are based on flights completed, but if the per-passenger cost tops $200, communities can be removed from the EAS program.

That was a major consideration during the committee’s discussions, McQuaide said, pointing out Boutique has never dropped below the $200 threshold.

Johnstown has granted several waivers to remain in the program while working to build ridership, McQuaide noted, but he warned the service could be lost if the threshold is not met.

Airports in Franklin, Venango County, and in Jamestown, New York, have lost commercial air service after being dropped from the EAS program in recent years.

“We have to pick the best candidate possible to retain our EAS status,” McQuaide said. “This decision was very thoroughly thought through. It’s the only decision, in my opinion.”

Enplanement committee members McQuaide, David Kalina and committee chairman Michael Parrish, along with community volunteer Larry Hoover, visited other EAS airports to see how the candidates performed, reviewed documents, sought additional information and met several times to discuss the proposals, McQuaide said.

Loncella also attended the meetings. He commended the committee members for their diligence. He stressed the value of the process.

“Initially, the committee was split,” he said. “People’s minds were changed.”

Board member Jack Babich spoke in support of Boutique Air’s proposal, noting that bringing jets to the Johnstown airfield will require additional field maintenance at the airport’s expense.

He also pointed out that SkyWest would be the third airline in five years to have the EAS contract in Johnstown.

“We’ve been jumping around for the last three contracts. I don’t think we should be doing that at this time,” Babich said.

Board members voting to recommend SkyWest were McQuaide, Parrish, Kalina, Jonathan Gleason and Timothy McIlwain. Voting “nay” were Babich, Melissa Komar and George Arcurio.

Following the vote, Babich said he will support the selected airline.

“It’s important that we collectively support each other as an authority and support the airport,” he said.

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