Regardless of the federal government shutdown, communities across the nation are within the midst of Important Air Service (EAS) proposals, alternatives, and suggestions, with a handful of communities nonetheless ready for the DOT to formally choose their provider for the subsequent two-to-four years.
Two such communities within the course of presently are Saranac Lake, New York, and Escanaba, Michigan, and each are nearing the identical level of the method with vastly completely different outcomes not just for the airport and its service, however their respective communities. Nonetheless, each contain the identical provider: Delta-branded SkyWest service.
One Potential Loss
Escanaba, Michigan, situated within the state’s Higher Peninsula alongside the northern shores of Lake Michigan, has handed its group remark time interval and is simply ready on a range from the DOT. However with the federal government shut down, who is aware of how lengthy this might take, and their present contract with SkyWest underneath the Delta model is expiring on Dec. 31.
For the time being, the airport has seen just about the identical service for a very long time with Delta Connection, beforehand Northwest Airlink, serving Escanaba from each Minneapolis/St. Paul and Detroit since 2008. First with the 34-seat Saab 340s till 2012 when the airline retired the sort from the fleet, after which the 50-seat CRJ-200 from 2012 till lately when Delta retired that kind from its fleet, with the plane serving Escanaba now being the 50-seat CRJ-550, nonetheless with one each day flight to Minneapolis and Detroit.
Although the destinations will remain largely the same, the Escanaba Airport board in Delta County, Michigan has recommended that they change air carriers this time around.
The community has recommended Colorado-based Denver Air Connection, or DAC for short, to serve the community with its 50-seat Embraer E145 jets. The reason for the new selection is the “vastly superior connectivity it offers through interline agreements and the option to serve an additional major hub.” Denver Air Connection has interline partnerships with not only Delta, but also American and United, giving the community a wide variety of service opportunities, especially being located nearly equidistant between Minneapolis, Chicago, and Detroit.
The number of yearly seats available would be identical, as both would offer 12 weekly flights to their respective destinations, and both would be on 50-seat jets, SkyWest/Delta on the CRJ-550 and DAC on the Embraer E145.
Although the community board in Escanaba, Michigan, did recommend DAC be chosen for service to the community back in the middle of August, the DOT has yet to make an official selection for the next carrier, and at this point, they are in the waiting game. Until the DOT officially selects or rejects DAC, the current carrier, SkyWest under the Delta brand, will continue to serve the community of Escanaba.
One Possible Gain
Saranac Lake, New York, is in a very different situation as far as the future of its air service than Escanaba; located in northern New York State in the middle of the Adirondack Park and appropriately named “Adirondack Regional Airport” back in 1989, the community is currently in the midst of its comment period, with it ending early next week.
Like a lot of the smaller Essential Air Service airports around the country, Saranac Lake has only ever seen service with propeller aircraft and has never seen scheduled jet service with larger regional jets. Just like Escanaba, the airline serving Saranac Lake, Cape Air, has also been there since 2008 and is deeply rooted in the community.
But unlike Escanaba, where they have had aircraft types change throughout the years, Cape Air has been flying the 8/9 seat Cessna 402s to Saranac Lake since they started 17 years ago, so the passenger numbers have stayed largely consistent over time.
Cape Air currently flies from Saranac Lake to Boston twice a day and New York-JFK once a day. The JFK service was new with the most recent EAS contract two years ago; before that, the carrier offered three daily flights to just Boston.
Saranac Lake, for the most part, has only ever received one or two applicants for EAS air service: Cape Air and Boutique Air. But this time is different: not only did they get the two applicants they always have, but they got five different airline proposals, which is unheard of for a community of this size, and gave the airport board and community members a decision they have never had to make before.
Applicants included current carrier in Saranac Lake, Cape Air, along with Boutique Air, and Saranac’s first-ever proposals that offer jets from Contour and SkyWest with a United or Delta option.
Although the community comment period is still open until early next week, in a vote from the Harrietstown Town Council, where the Saranac Lake/Adirondack Regional Airport is located, the majority, 3-2, voted to change their service to SkyWest service from Detroit under the Delta Connection brand.
AirlineGeeks did have a chance to chat with the airport manager in Saranac Lake, Corey Hurwitch, and he wanted to make an important point with this recommendation: “I really do value their [Cape Air] years of service right here, I nonetheless respect them and respect what they’ve offered for us, and it’ll be a bittersweet change. Cape Air has been a trusted companion and has really supported our group for almost 20 years. On the identical time, I’m excited concerning the new potentialities and the possibility to welcome Skywest’s Delta jet service to SLK.”
If the DOT selects SkyWest’s Delta-branded service for Saranac Lake, service would begin with the brand new contract time period on March 1, 2026, and will probably be the primary time that Saranac won’t solely see scheduled jet service, however it can even be the primary time they are going to obtain service from an plane that provides a first-class part.
The service can be 12-weekly flights onboard the airline’s 50-seat CRJ-550. Though the airline would supply fewer flights per week than Cape Air, the quantity of accessible seats will dramatically enhance from round 8.7K seats a 12 months with Cape to simply over 31K seats with SkyWest service to Detroit.
So, whereas one group could be dropping the SkyWest and Delta title, there’s a likelihood that the Delta model might be coming into its eleventh metropolis in New York State.
It is very important be aware that these are solely suggestions at this level. The DOT will in the end make the ultimate choice.
