"West Virginia airport authority favors new EAS carrier"

Saturday, July 2, 2005

Airport authority favors new carrier
By EVAN BEVINS
The Parkersburg (WV) News and Sentinel 


WILLIAMSTOWN - If everything falls into place, the Mid-Ohio Valley Airport
Authority would like to see a new carrier serving the airport later this
year.

Tennessee-based RegionsAir and incumbent carrier Mesa Air Group of Phoenix
are two of the three bidders to provide federally subsidized Essential Air
Service to the airport.

"I think RegionsAir could be the future," airport authority member Tom
Corder said Friday. "I think Mesa is the past."

Mesa's notice of Intent to Terminate Service at the Mid-Ohio Valley,
Morgantown Municipal and Clarksburg/Harrison-Marion Regional airports led
the federal government to put services at all three facilities up for bid.

Company officials who visited the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport in May
said Mesa is losing about $500,000 a year combined on its operations at the
three airports. Soaring fuel costs, rising maintenance expenses and lower
fares have combined to offset recent increases in passenger numbers at the
Mid-Ohio Valley Airport over the last year, they said.

Frustrated by Mesa's continued use of 19-seat aircraft and a perceived
reluctance to discuss flying somewhere besides Pittsburgh International
Airport, authority members said the proposal from RegionsAir has potential.

"There is risk with Regions, but they offer a stable airline with some
opportunities for change," airport Manager Carolyn Strock said.

In its bid, RegionsAir proposed three flights a day between Parkersburg and
the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport on 30-seat planes.
With an average of 15 passengers per flight and a ticket price of $85, the
company said it would need compensation of as much as $464,617.

Another option would be five flights a day with 12 passengers and the same
ticket price. However, the airport would have to put up additional money, in
the form of its $500,000 Small Community Air Service Development grant,
which officials had hoped to use to lure a second carrier. According to the
bid, required compensation for that plan would be more than $1.2 million,
more than EAS likely is willing to give.

To continue its current level of five flights a day on 19-seat aircraft,
Mesa is seeking compensation of $598,696. For four flights a day, the
requested subsidy is $498,636. Both options figure an average of about 11
passengers per flight, at $65.25 a ticket.

"I don't think we'd have much of an opportunity to grow out of a subsidized
situation" if the 19-seat planes continue to be used, Strock said.

Minnesota-based Mesaba Aviation Inc., a Northwest Airlines commuter carrier,
likely took itself out of consideration by offering two flights a day on
34-seat aircraft, while requesting almost $1.3 million in compensation,
Strock said.

The bids can be negotiated, with the U.S. Department of Transportation
making the final decision.

The main drawback with RegionsAir is its status as an unaffiliated carrier.
Whereas larger airlines' connections to their feeder companies' flights are
linked, matching up flights between unaffiliated carriers and other airlines
can be a challenge, especially for travelers trying to book flights by
computer.

The authority and Strock are hopeful a federal pilot program passed by
Congress but never put into action can help with this problem by requiring
major carriers to code-share with EAS airports. This would allow RegionsAir
to put the code of Delta Airlines, the primary carrier at Cincinnati, on its
flights, making it easier for travelers or planners to link them.

"In order to compare apples to apples, we have to have a firm feeling that
RegionsAir will be flying under a Delta banner," authority President Blair
Couch said.

RegionsAir President Doug Caldwell said code-sharing would help, but he
believes the airline could be successful in the Mid-Ohio Valley without it,
possibly enough to eventually get the airport out of EAS.

"The three communities, and Parkersburg in particular, have significantly
more enplanements than many of the Essential Air Service airports across the
country," Caldwell said. "If you just took the history, the traffic has been
there."

RegionsAir has interlining agreements with Delta and other carriers,
allowing them to sell tickets together, exchange baggage and file joint
fares, Caldwell said.

Strock said a lack of code-sharing could be too high a hurdle for the
airport.

Mesa's offer might be more appealing if there was a deal where customers
could receive discounts on fares when connecting to a flight with a carrier
other than US Airways, because that airline's connections from Pittsburgh
have decreased, authority members said.

Couch and Strock are scheduled to meet with Caldwell and representatives
from the Morgantown and Clarksburg airports Thursday at Stonewall Jackson
State Park in Lewis County. The full airport authority will meet with Mesa
representatives July 14 in a noon public luncheon meeting at the airport's
restaurant.

Strock encourages public input on the process, noting that once the
Department of Transportation releases its summaries of the bids, the airport
will have two weeks to provide feedback.


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