Vintage Props Jumping Gun?: Airline Plans Marathon Flights but No Deal Yet
By Ryan Mccarthy, Florida Keys Keynoter, Marathon
Oct. 17–Monroe County Airports Director Peter Horton says a graphic on the home page of Vintage Props & Jets’ Web site depicting Marathon as one of its stopping points is a bit premature.
Horton said a number of important questions have not been answered regarding the possible service and that a deal with the New Smyrna-based carrier “is not set by any stretch of the imagination.”
He said decisions over the airline’s desire for a financial guarantee and whether it plans to fly sterile or non-sterile, among others, have yet to be made.
Flying non-sterile is when a passenger doesn’t go through security leaving one destination where the Transportation Security Administration doesn’t have screeners, meaning that passenger would have to go through the entire security process after reaching his or destination.
Sterile means once in the system at the initial takeoff site, you don’t need to go through security again.
Horton said to fly sterile, Vintage would have to employ the services of the TSA. Problems with the TSA delayed the beginning of Delta’s service to Marathon last year.
“The TSA has said if we start up again they need 120 days notice, and I doubt they will come to Marathon for a nine-passenger operation,” Horton said. “We’d be happy to have them, but the details have not been worked out.”
Vintage flies nine-passenger Beech King Air 100 turbo-prop planes.
An attempt to book a flight from Naples to Marathon leads to a page stating initial service is scheduled to begin Dec. 14. It lists outbound flight times of 12:15 p.m., 4:50 p.m. and 7:55 p.m., with return times of 6:20 a.m., 8:15 a.m. and 12:45 p.m.
Vintage spokesman Ren Crete said the company made its intentions known to the Global Distribution System because of the length of time it takes to set up flights.
“What it does is it makes the various search engines aware of what we’re doing. We went ahead and published, however, we have blocked the ability to sell pending the decision of the Boyd Group,” Crete said.
The Dec. 14 flights to Marathon are listed as sold out, which Crete says is the only way to “block them out.”
The Boyd Group is a Colorado-based aviation consulting firm that’s been working with the county to choose an airline. Crete said Vintage submitted a proposal for Marathon roughly six weeks ago.
“They’ve been procrastinating in responding to us,” he said. “We’re eagerly awaiting their decision. We’d be ready to start on the 14th, but we’re not going to do it until we have a contract [for] Marathon.”
Michael Mooney, a senior vice president with Boyd, held a recent meeting with members of the Florida Keys Airport Task Force to discuss the possibility of Vintage serving Marathon. He said at the meeting it could be a risk dealing with an “unbranded” carrier, though the airline has proven dependable in existing markets.
Crete said the contract would likely be for six months to a year, with three flights daily and five on weekends. He said the airline would request “simply a guarantee we’ll make ends meet on the flights.”
Other than Marathon, Vintage plans stops in Tampa, Tallahassee, Daytona Beach, Melbourne and even Key West from Naples. The company until recently flew mainly to Marsh Harbour and Treasure Cay in the Bahamas.
At the County Commission meeting today at the Harvey Government Center in Key West, the board is scheduled to discuss an item terminating the revenue guarantee agreement between the county and Delta Airlines.
Through a Small Community Air Service Development grant of $750,000 and local funds totaling some $300,000, the county attempted to establish regularly scheduled commercial airline service to Marathon. Delta was entitled to a minimum payment of $500,000, but terminated service to Florida Keys Marathon Airport Sept. 3 after only six months of service.
—–
To see more of the Keynoter, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.keynoter.com.
Copyright (c) 2007, Florida Keys Keynoter, Marathon
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Toronto:BYD.UN,