Colgan Air’s Bid for Service at Raleigh Airport Accepted

By Fred Pace, The Register-Herald, Beckley, W.Va.

Jun. 17–Colgan Air’s bid for service at the Raleigh County Memorial Airport has been accepted by the U.S. Department of Transportation, according to Airport Manager Tom Cochran.

“The Department of Transportation could only consider bids containing subsidy requests that met the Essential Air Service program’s guidelines,” Cochran explained. “Colgan Air has received a new two-year contract for the period beginning Aug. 1, 2008, to Sept. 1, 2010.”

Colgan offers flights from Beckley to Washington’s Dulles International Airport with a 34-seat Saab 340, a two-engine turboprop aircraft at an Essential Air Service subsidy of just over $2.9 million, Cochran said.

“This larger aircraft that offers a smoother ride, restroom facilities and an airline hostess was a factor in our recommendations to the federal DOT,” Cochran said.

A bid offering flights from Beckley to Cleveland was not accepted, Cochran added.

“The Washington, D.C., market is the best we have ever had here,” Cochran said. “It was by far the best choice for supporting our community. The flights connect to an international airport with connections all over the world.”

Cochran said when the U.S. DOT reviews the subsidy calculations, the projected passenger revenues are not simply based on the average local fares passengers would actually pay. “They are based on the carriers’ expected revenue per passenger,” Cochran said.

For example, the review reflects the prorated shares of ticket prices that the carrier expects to receive for providing the local segments of through trips — such as the Beckley to Dulles segment of a Beckley to Dulles to New York trip.

Cochran said Beckley officials reviewed the bids and submitted comments to the U.S. DOT before the final decision was made.

“We had overwhelming support from the community, including Beckley’s mayor and the local chamber of commerce, for the Colgan Air bid,” Cochran said.

Cochran said the one-way US Airways Express flights to Dulles in Washington have increased enplanements from 16 percent to 20 percent over the past year.

“We plan to continue to aggressively market this great bargain and the great air service offered at this airport,” he said.

Cochran says there are still concerns for the future.

“We are very pleased to be able to continue offering this service to the community with all the concerns facing the airline industry today,” Cochran said. “We are hoping that we don’t lose our Essential Air Service subsidy in the future, but there are no guarantees when it comes to federal subsidy money. That’s why it’s vital for us to continue to grow our commercial air service.”

Essential Air Service is a program that came online when private airlines were deregulated decades ago and pulled out of many airports since the passenger manifests hardly justified flights into rural pockets.

Fortunately for the Beckley airport, Cochran noted, it is located more than 200 miles from a hub airport — a critical qualifier when EAS money is sought.

Additionally, Beckley’s airport has witnessed a host of major improvements in recent years, making it more attractive not only to individual users but to businesses at the two industrial parks in its neighborhood.

“Our thinking is this all plays with what we’ve been trying to do to promote economic development at the airport,” Cochran said.

“The more of that kind of business and that development is certainly what promotes better air service because of the traffic, because the market is there that would attract airlines to want to fly to a community where there is a ridership available,” he said.

— E-mail: fpace@register-herald.com

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