Airlines make last pitches

Air carriers hoping to provide service out of the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport made their final pitches Thursday night to the airport advisory board.

At 8:30 p.m. after three hours of open session, the board went into closed session to select a carrier. The recommendation of the board will be presented to and voted on by Cape Girardeau City Council on Monday.

Two of the contenders are Great Lakes, which submitted the lowest bid for service between Cape Girardeau and St. Louis, and Big Sky, which proposed the option of flying to Cincinnati. Current provider RegionsAir was not interviewed Thursday. Mesa Airlines was interviewed as a "courtesy," board members said, because its high bid makes selection by the Department of Transportation unlikely.

Big Sky president Fred deLeeuw came to the meeting and stressed the importance of bringing Cape Girardeau onboard, calling it "a big deal." He sought to allay fears of expensive flights out of Cincinnati by assuring board members Delta fares out of Cincinnati will be priced the same as fares out of St. Louis. The Cincinnati airport was ranked by the Department of Transportation in 2005 as the most expensive U.S. airport to fly from.

"If you would have asked me one or two months ago I'd have said, 'I don't want to go to Cincinnati.' Now it's a real possibility," said board member J. Fred Waltz.

Cincinnati offers 380 daily flights compared to 175 in St. Louis, so passengers would also have more connecting options. For its part, Procter & Gamble submitted in an e-mail to airport manager Bruce Loy that its representatives take 2,000 round trips to Cincinnati annually.

Two regular travelers attended the meeting and voiced opposition to the Cincinnati option.

"I'm going to fly 90 minutes eastbound and sit around for an hour and a half to catch my connecting flight going westbound," said Rick Miller, who is vice president for Noranda Aluminum and flew 165,000 miles last year on business.

Both Miller and another regular business passenger, Jason Edwards, said fares and convenience mean they'll push for continued service to St. Louis.

"If my flight gets canceled tomorrow in St. Louis, I walk over to Hertz and I rent a car and drive home. I can't do that if I get stuck in Cincinnati," Edwards said.

Chuck Howell of Great Lakes Airlines tried to assure board members that his carrier can quickly make a "code share" deal with American Airlines to use its name and reservation system.

American "would like to keep you in the family, so you will see that happen," Howell said.

The board will rank bids from first to fourth when it submits its letter to the Cape Girardeau City Council. That letter will go on to the U.S. Department of Transportation, which will make the ultimate decision on the carrier this month.

tgreaney@semissourian.com

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