Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties

Airport board chooses jet service

By TOM LAVENTURE

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Ironwood - The Gogebic-Iron County Airport Board will recommend a jet service carrier to become the next Essential Air Service (EAS) provider, following meetings with three applicant airlines on Thursday.

The decision to choose Denver Air Connection over the two other applicants that provide propeller airplane service was partly to increase boardings and grow regional air service in the long term, according to member comments. The other was the belief that providing jet service would attract more potential flyers to and from the area and restore confidence in the local EAS service following service issues and flight incidents with Boutique Air Inc., the current EAS provider.

Boutique Air will be in service until the new EAS application and airport agreement is approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Denver Air could start a month after approval with a goal of early October, according to the board.

Dan Siirila, board member, said that all three airlines gave a good presentation, but that Denver Air best addressed his central concern of restoring community confidence in the EAS service. There can be no room for chance with restoring credibility, he said.

"We can't afford to make another mistake like we did two years ago," Siirila said. "We gotta be on our 'A game' and we got to hit a home run on this one."

The airport is eligible for EAS as a rural or small-community airport. A contract with a commercial airline is paid in part through a combination of DOT and county funding to subsidize passenger air service.

If approved by the DOT, Denver Air would need a minimum of 30 days to start up operations, said Jon Coleman, director of business development for the Englewood, Colorado-based airline. He was present with Amanda Hall, director of in-flight service, and Marc Hesting, director of finance.

"Well, I mean, to be safe, I would say a minimum of 30 days," Coleman said. "That's probably pretty aggressive, but I think it's doable."

Denver Air would fly primarily the 50-seat Embraer ERJ-145 out of Ironwood along with the 30-seat Fairchild-Dornier 328 jet, Hesting said. The two-year projections are to reach 18,000 passengers, which is realistic when compared to the 20,000 to 25,000 pre-pandemic boardings at airports with jet service at Iron Mountain, along with Rhinelander and Mosinee in Wisconsin. 

"So we really believe if you have a comparable service, good service and especially going into Chicago, that would differentiate your airport from some of the others," Hesting said.

"We can really drive some of that traffic here." a resident agreed.

"I have family members in Texas and Florida who will not fly in here because they don't like that little plane and I'm sure if they were bigger planes, they would fly here," said Catherine Parisian, an Ironwood resident who attended the meeting. "They go to Minneapolis and rent a car and drive up, or they come into Rhinelander and we go down and pick them up. I am pretty sure that if there was a larger airplane they would fly in here and spread the word."

Brandon Snyder, board member, said that disregarding poor online reviews of Boutique Air service in the previous EAS decision led him to do extensive research of all three EAS applications for this round. He said Denver Air's efficiency and maintenance statistics are accurate and even more impressive given the winter weather airports they service.

The potential to grow passenger numbers with jet service is the best next step, he said. It allows the airport itself to increase ridership and restore passenger confidence.

"So, I am in favor of Denver Air, because I think we need to make a big change," Snyder said. 

Another selling point for Denver Air was that its jets regularly fly skiers and snowboarders to Colorado. They have no issue with fitting recreational gear in the cargo compartment. 

Patrick Hanson, board chair, said that a common complaint of current EAS service is that passengers are told they may check skis and snowboard gear when purchasing tickets, but are told they may not when at the airport. Passengers also want to earn flight points on EAS flights. Hanson supported the Denver Air proposal in part for addressing both of these issues.

"Having bigger planes will mean we have the ability to bring larger items on board," Hanson said. "That in turn will bring more people to the area." 

Southern Airways had a three option proposal using King Air 360 and Cessna 208 planes. The high bid two-year contract totaled $9,454,709 for Chicago only using a larger plane, or optional $8,059,167 and $7,826,989 for two-plane options to Minneapolis and Chicago.

Stan Little, chairman and CEO of Southern Airways, was present in person with Bruce Jacobs, chief integration officer. The Palm Beach, Florida airline has interline agreements with American, Alaska and United Airlines and seven regional routes from New England to Hawaii.

It was the distance of the nearest operation to Ironwood that concerned the board. They feared a lag time with transporting mechanics, pilots or backup planes in the event of a cancellation.

Michael Harma, airport manager, said the Southern Airways proposal was impressive, with a good sized fleet of planes and employees. But without established routes in the Midwest there is the potential for problems bringing in pilots, mechanics and parts in a timely manner, he said.

Jet service will require more infrastructure in terms of employee hours, overnight parking and a larger passenger holding area, he said. It is possible but it will cost money, he said.

"I think we'll get some people in that plane, but we have to be willing to support the program," Harma said. "It's going to be much different than we ran in the past when the jets start coming in here."

Snyder added that the increased ridership will lead to increased revenue from the government. That, in turn, will support efforts to improve needed airport infrastructure.

Shane Storz, CEO of Air Choice One, came up from the St. Louis-based airline to present a two-option proposal with five weekly Minneapolis flights and 13 Chicago flights. The contract options ranged from $7,699,597 to $8,355,350.

James Byrns, Gogebic County Commissioner, said people enjoyed service with Air Choice One, but the lack of an interline agreement was troublesome. He said Southern Airways was impressive but supported Denver Air for its potential to grow passenger numbers and improve the airport service.

Denver Air has an interline agreement with United to seamlessly move checked luggage from Ironwood through connecting flights. Passengers will need to re-check baggage with other airlines.

James Lorenson, board member, said Air Choice One had community support including two individuals at the meeting, and multiple years of experience with the Ironwood route. However, he said the company is still struggling with providing a major airline interline agreement.

Denver Air appears to have the greatest potential among the applicants, he said. The board needs to ensure that Denver Air's proposed mid-morning flights out and mid-afternoon return flights do not inconvenience passengers with additional overnight stays to make connections, he said.

The next step is for the board to submit its recommendation letter for Denver Air to the U.S. Department of Transportation, where once it is officially received there will be a 30-day public comment period. The DOT could approve it as soon as a month or up to 90 days.

The best case scenario for the new service to start will be Oct. 1, Lorenson said. 

 
 
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