A recommendation was made by Mid-Delta Regional Airport director Sam Washington to submit an application to the U.S. Department of Transportation for enrollment in the alternate Essential Air Service (EAS) program and secure Contour Air as the city’s EAS provider.
Council voted unanimously to accept Washington’s recommendation during Tuesday’s regular meeting after receiving proposals from potential EAS carriers Air Choice One, Boutique Air, Denver Air and Southern Airways during their regular meeting on May 4.
Subsequently, a none EAS proposal from Contour Air under the Alternative EAS program was submitted to the council.
If for some reason the Alternate EAS program application is not approved by the DOT, Washington recommended Southern Airways be selected as the airport’s EAS carrier.
“The primary reason for it is number one, they (Contour Air) fly a 30-seat jet versus an eight seat turbo prop aircraft which would give us more than double the potential output for passengers here in Greenville,” Washington said. “Obviously the jet flies higher and flies faster, so, the trips will actually end up being shorter.”
Washington had an opportunity to speak with Contour Air officials last week and learned that the trip duration for a flight from Greenville to Nashville is roughly half an hour, varying greatly from Boutique Air’s current route duration, which is typically an hour and 25 minutes.
Contour Air’s aircraft are quieter and very comfortable according to Washington, but he said the biggest thing for him is the fact that their service has much greater potential to get the airport’s numbers back up to where this market once was at 10,000 enplanements.
He explained to the council the significance of the 10,000 enplanements threshold to the airport as well as what it means for the airport if it continues to remain below that number.
“The federal government will provide a subsidy to the airport based on passenger enplanement. If you get up to 8,000, you get $150,000 for the year from the federal government. If you reach the 8,000 plateau and stay between that and 10,000, you now qualify for $600,000 in subsidies for the airport,” Washington told the council.
He noted the subsidies would be used for airport improvement projects, upkeep of the runway, lighting systems and updates of that sort.
Exceeding the 10,000 enplanements threshold and maintaining it for two consecutive years, however, is where the “grand prize” lies.
“We can then qualify for a $1 million subsidy for the airport and that is something that would be used to take care of improvement at the airport, maintain the systems at the airport and update equipment at the airport,” Washington said, adding, “Getting that $1 million subsidy would move the airport much closer to self-sufficiency than where it is now.”
Washington emphasized the need for reliable, on-time service in order to get enplanements up and the airport moving forward, faster, noting challenges with the airport’s current EAS provider, Boutique Airlines.
He told the council that he believes 10,000 is a reasonable number to achieve.
“The better the service gets, the more people will start to fly and we’re seeing that all over the country right now – people are ready to go and they are ready to get out,” Washington highlighted.
He reiterated his feeling that Contour Air has the best opportunity to ensure the airport meets its desired threshold in the most expeditious time.
Washington also pointed out Contour Air’s fares are still going to be “very much in line” with Boutique Air’s current fares.
“Their affairs will still be reasonable and they are having great success in Tupelo with getting their numbers up,” Washington said. “Tupelo is now seeing over 30,000 in enplanements a year and that’s up from like 7,000 or 8,000 and they’ve done that in a couple of years.”
He added, “All of the airports I have talked to gave them high marks for on-time performance and increasing their numbers. One airport director said they were the best that he has seen in 25 years of doing EAS.”
Washington acknowledged that time was of the essence as it pertains to the application for enrollment in the alternate EAS program as the current EAS provider’s services will expire on Sept. 30, meaning an EAS provider has to be in place prior to that date.
Councilwoman Tasha Banks inquired as to how long the application process would be.
Washington said that normally it would take roughly 90 days to be completed and is why he took the liberty of preparing a draft of the application to submit to the DOT as soon as the council granted approval.
“We have to do it quickly so if they decide not to accept it, we still have time to pivot back to our EAS provider and get it up and going in time,” he said.
Councilman Al Brock asked a question regarding Contour Air’s routes and number of actual flights being offered.
Washington said Contour would fly whichever route the city chooses and its service would provide 12 flights a week as opposed to 18 under the EAS proposal.
“But even with the reduction in the number of flights, based on the fact that you have a 30-seat aircraft versus an 8-seat aircraft, with Contour, you would have 360 potential seats every week,” he illustrated, as opposed to 144 potential seats per week in 18 flights.
As for the New Orleans route, which is unsubsidized, Washington said Contour Air has agreed to work to make sure the airport retains that route.
“I made it clear to them that we’ve got to keep New Orleans in place and that’s one of the reasons I was thankful that Boutique was even willing to try it because now we have data about that route,” Washington said.
He acknowledged the impact bringing on Boutique Airlines as the airport’s EAS provider has made on the Greenville community and surrounding areas.
“I cannot under emphasize the fact that Boutique saved air travel in Greenville and the Mississippi Delta because when Boutique came on board, we were below a thousand passengers per year and at that point, Greenville was on the verge of being put out of the EAS program,” Washington said. “We have to give credit to Boutique for turning that around, getting the numbers to a respectable amount and keeping Greenville viable in the EAS program because as it stands right now, if we don’t have some type of EAS program, we won’t be able to keep fares where people can afford them in this area.”
He added, “Had it not been for Boutique Air that came in and did it right and got the numbers back up, we probably wouldn’t even be having this conversation right now.”
Simmons recalled that in his very first address as mayor to the city in 2016, one of the highlights was enplanements going from 716 to 4,800 in one year.
He thanked Boutique Airlines and its CEO Shawn Simpson and his team for providing their service throughout the years and partnering with Greenville.
