Airport Director: Philly OK Expected Soon
Apr. 29—PLATTSBURGH — Approval of Clinton County's Alternate Essential Air Service proposal to offer round trip flights from Plattsburgh International Airport to Philadelphia through Contour Airlines could arrive within a week.
Airport Director Chris Kreig told legislators during an airport committee meeting Wednesday that he had been informed by a U.S. Department of Transportation representative the application was "working its way through legal" and the transition from SkyWest to Contour Airlines could occur July 1.
He told the Press-Republican he did not anticipate any issues with approval.
SKYWEST DEPARTURE
Clinton County submitted an Alternate Essential Air Service application for a $9.6 million grant to support flights to Philadelphia in March after a request for proposals yielded Hyannis Air Service, doing business as Cape Air, as the sole bidder for the newest round of Essential Air Service funding.
The purpose of the EAS program is to connect smaller airports to larger markets through federal subsidies. Since August 2018, SkyWest has operated as Plattsburgh International's EAS carrier, offering round trip United Express flights to Washington, D.C. on 50-passenger jets.
But in January, citing staffing issues, the airline announced its intention to withdraw from Plattsburgh and multiple other markets within 90 days. The U.S. DOT issued an order prohibiting termination of service until another carrier could start.
Cape Air's proposal offered 21 weekly round trip flights from Plattsburgh to Boston on nine-passenger aircraft, which the county argued was inadequate to accommodate historic levels of traffic.
The county-proposed plan would offer 12 round trip flights each week from Plattsburgh to Philadelphia on 30-passenger jets.
NO GAP EXPECTED
Kreig said a gap in service is not anticipated. Contour has already visited the airport several times and spoken to existing airline staff, he added.
"They're in the process of making the transition now, even kind of getting things set up so when they do get the approval to go, it'll be pretty seamless."
Legislator Patty Waldron (D-Area 6) said it was her understanding that SkyWest/ United Express was still taking reservations beyond Contour's estimated July 1 start date.
Referencing his last conversation with SkyWest, Kreig said the airline plans to reach out to customers about their options once they have a defined date for termination of service "which they really don't right now."
"Every conversation that I've had with DOT is that they (SkyWest) are going to stay here and ensure that there's an orderly transition," he added.
County Administrator Michael Zurlo asked if SkyWest would keep a flight that had a passenger count it was comfortable with.
"I think once they have the ability to exit the market, I think they're going to look to exit the market," Kreig said.
RE-EDUCATE THE PUBLIC
Kreig said a marketing meeting between himself, airline consultant Volaire Aviation and the North Country Chamber of Commerce was set for Friday morning.
Volaire will serve as Contour's marketing arm. Kreig noted marketing monies Contour has as part of its application, as well as funds set aside by the county.
"Once we have everything confirmed for Contour, I'm going to be asking that I use a portion of that to match Contour's contribution so we can ... get a full court press, if you will, on this marketing because it's going to be pretty much a re-education of the public," he said, referencing the switch from Washington, D.C. service through SkyWest to Philadelphia flights through Contour.
"We're going to want to make sure that's all communicated and make sure we retain — the biggest challenge in this whole pandemic has been retaining passenger traffic," Kreig continued.
"We need to do everything we can to retain traffic. It's getting challenging, it was challenging before, it's just getting even more so."
Email Cara Chapman:
Twitter: @PPR_carachapman
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