Air service on hold

EL DORADO — The airline service option for El Dorado is in limbo until the Department of Transportation responds to the city’s appeal for Contour airlines over Southern Airways Express; the former offering larger planes and a more pleasant flight experience, officials said.

“We still have not heard any response,” said Tim Johnson, manager of the South Arkansas Regional Airport. “Meanwhile, we have no commercial air service.”

If the Department of Transportation doesn’t respond to the city’s appeal soon, Southern Airways Express are planned to start operations March 9 at the regional airport, according to the airline’s website.

“I don’t know how that will play out,” Johnson said. “But [Southern Airways] is proceeding like they’re going to prevail.”

Since SeaPort airlines filed for bankruptcy and shut down operations on Sept. 22, 2016, the cities of Harrison, Hot Springs, and El Dorado have stopped flying public planes out of their regional airports, effecting business and travel for each city.

Officials from each city have discussed with representatives from multiple airline services for replacement, including: Boutique Air, Contour Airlines, and Southern Airways Express.

After evaluating each service’s differences, Harrison and El Dorado officials preferred Contour while Hot Springs officials preferred Boutique Air. Each city sent its bid to the U.S. Department of Transportation for consideration, but in early December, the department came back with the decision for all three cities to use Memphis-based Southern Air Express — a service none of the cities preferred.

Hot Springs and Harrison both settled, while El Dorado officials appealed the department’s decision; they are expecting a response in the coming days, said Mike Dumas, president and CEO of the El Dorado Chamber of Commerce.

“The FAA is encouraging communities to build they’re ridership so they don’t need federal assistance,” Dumas said. “I believe Southern Air Express can’t provide the equipment to build that ridership, and the airport commission believes [Contour’s] a more pleasant flight for the public.”

Contour offered twin-engine, pressurized planes with direct access to the Dallas/Fort Worth commercial flight hub. Compared to Southern Air that offered single-engine, unpressurized planes with access to a non-airline terminal; a service that people found inconvenient, Mayor Frank Hash said.

“In particular, we have a lot of corporate travelers who’ve had to make travel plans hours away from here — Folks from El Dorado Chemical, Murphy Oil, Chemtura, Lion Oil — and we need to provide quality services for them here,” Hash said.

Harrison and Hot Springs

According to regional airport managers from each city, the annual government-funded subsidized prices played a large factor in the Department of Transportation’s decision to go with Southern Airways.

“On one hand, you could assume they’d award it to the lowest bidder,” Johnson said.

The subsidized prices each airline service requested for El Dorado are $2.3 million for Southern Air Express, $2.8 million for Boutique Air, and $4.9 million for Contour.

The Essential Air Service is a U.S. government program guaranteed to maintain commercial flying services in small communities like Harrison, Hot Springs, and El Dorado. These communities, which wouldn’t otherwise receive any scheduled air service, are subsidized by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Each airline requested from the cities varying annual subsidized amounts: $2.3-2.4 million, Southern Airways Express; $3-4 million, Boutique Air; $4.7-4.9 million, Contour Airlines.

“We knew it was a long shot with [Contour’s] high subsidy bid,” said Judy McCutcheon, manager of Boone County Regional Airport in Harrison. “Under review it was probably a red flag for Transportation.”

When the department announced Southern Airways as the provider for each city, Harrison city officials immediately agreed to sign a two-year contract with the airline service.

“We couldn’t wait any longer,” McCutcheon said. “I had a lease to them in days. I didn’t want to sit around for something that may never happen.”

Southern Airways Express has been Harrison’s provider since Jan. 31 and no delays or cancellations have been reported.

But a small airport in Johnstown, Penn. recently switched from Silver airlines to Southern Airways Express; and officials announced Feb. 22, that less than half of the scheduled flights for January were completed.

In January, over 200 cancelations occurred due to weather- and pilot-related issues, according to the Johnstown-Cambria County Airport members; But Southern Airways Vice President Mark Cestari assured that the airline has the capacity for a 95 percent completion rate.

Meanwhile, Hot Springs officials are optimistic for Southern Airway’s arrival.

“We believe it will serve a critical need and the sooner we can have the airlines, the better,” said Bill Burroughs, deputy city manager for Hot Springs.

Southern Airways are scheduled to start operations Mar. 13 at the Memorial Field Airport.

El Dorado

Contour Airlines offered a better plane and better service compared to Southern Airlines and city officials said with industry expansion and Festivals & Events’ plans to make the city a tourist destination; the department of transportation should reconsider its offer.

“We believe we can grow our ridership. More riders, lower subsidies,” Johnson said.

The benefits of Contour’s planes are that they have twin engines, air-pressurized and can fly over 10,000 feet. Most inclement weather happens at 10,000 feet and a service that can offer planes less subject to inclement weather have fewer cancellations and delays.

Contour offered El Dorado 12 round-trip flights to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and 10 round-trips to Nashville International Airport per week.

Southern Airways offered 18 round-trips per week to a non-airline terminal at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. Essentially, it’s the same service as SeaPort, Hash said.

“What we had in the past was single-engine, non-pressurized, and no TSA,” he said.

Officials sent the appeal to the Department of Transportation over a month ago, and are anticipating a response any day. But with no response, Southern Air would have the green light to begin its service by mid-March at the South Arkansas Regional Airport, ending a six-month waiting period for the people of El Dorado.

Nathan Owens can be reached by phone or via email: [email protected]. For news updates follow him on Facebook or Twitter: nowensednt.

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