Mar. 11—OGDENSBURG — SkyWest Airlines is now offering only one flight per day at Ogdensburg International Airport. Meanwhile, the Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority is in negotiations with a new airline as it moves toward finding an Alternate Essential Air Service carrier.

SkyWest, the airport's Essential Air Service provider, announced in January that it will cease EAS service this spring. The U.S. Department of Transportation is requiring the company to stay until a new carrier is found. The DOT ultimately decides who will be the AEAS carrier, but will take local input into consideration.

OBPA officials during their Thursday night board meeting announced that the single daily flights started on March 1.

"We're certainly not pleased with that news. We feel we've done everything to fulfill our part of the (Essential Air Service) contract," said OBPA Board Chair Vernon D. "Sam" Burns. "We have a contract with SkyWest that provides within a certain level of service. Obviously they're not holding up their end. It's not something we're pleased with. It's very little we can do at this point."

"April's one flight a day will be even worse. It's an evening flight," Airport Manager Stephanie L. Saracco said. "The best we can do is get our new airline in as quickly as possible."

OBPA officials in February decided to pursue a carrier through the Alternate EAS program after two offers from standard EAS carriers didn't meet the level of service they want.

Ms. Saracco said they're not yet ready to name the airline they're in discussions with.

"We're in negotiations with a particular airline. As quickly as we can work out any details ... we'll present to the USDOT," she said.

Mr. Burns said OBPA officials have familiarized themselves with the details of the AEAS program since last month.

"We've researched the little quirks in the program, since it's something we've not dealt with before. I'm comfortable with what the requirements are. I think we're all willing to move forward and work with an airline and get a proposal from them that we can present to the USDOT," he said. "As soon as we obtain the services of another airline, the better it will be for the traveling public and the OBPA."

The regular EAS program pays a stipend to airlines to connect small rural airports like Ogdensburg with larger hubs.

For the Alternate EAS program, the money would go from the DOT directly to the OBPA, which in turn would spend funds on air services that best suit its needs.

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