Flying from Cape

The Cape Girardeau Regional Airport would like to add a fourth daily commuter flight to and from St. Louis to draw more passengers, but the city needs money to make it happen.

The fourth flight depends largely on being able to get a $500,000 federal grant. The funds have been available for 2 1/2 years, but the city is required to kick in about $125,000.

Most of the grant money would be used to subsidize RegionsAir, the commuter airline that serves Cape Girardeau. The airline's existing flights are subsidized. Supporters of the plan to add another flight say they hope that, after a year of additional service, boardings would have risen enough for the airline to continue the extra flights without the additional subsidy.

Only 5 percent of the area's air travelers each year fly out of Cape Girardeau. The biggest incentive for taking the commuter flight is to make connections with American Airlines flights departing from St. Louis. Passengers like the convenience of the safety check and baggage handling in Cape Girardeau. And the cost of a ticket from Cape Girardeau to St. Louis is minimal as long as passengers continue on American flights.

But American Airlines last year drastically changed its schedule and decreased the number of flights leaving from St. Louis. Many direct flights from St. Louis to other destinations were discontinued. In addition, some passengers who use the commuter flights complain about long waits to make connections. And still other passengers say the commuter flights are canceled too often -- because there are too few passengers, some say, while RegionsAir insists the cancellations are for mechanical reasons.

If the number of boardings at the Cape Girardeau airport increases to 10,000, the city could receive $1 million a year in federal money for airport capital improvement projects. There were 6,486 boardings in 2004.

Some city officials and community organizations have suggested using funds from the Transportation Trust Fund, which has been used exclusively for street improvements, to raise the match for the federal grant. But with another vote required this year to extend the TTF sales tax for another five years, adding funding for anything other than street projects could have a negative effect on the outcome of that vote.

Another option that has been suggested is using revenue from the city's fuel tax.

The success of any option relies mostly on the willingness of passengers to use the airport. These passengers are motivated mostly by convenience, cost and good connecting flights. The decline in passenger boardings indicates many would-be passengers don't yet see a benefit in using the commuter airline and would prefer to make the two-hour drive or use shuttle services to get to and from the airport, particularly if they are using airlines other than American once they get to St. Louis.