Big Sky sets a start date

Bruce Loy, Cape Girardeau Regional Airport's manager, expected a status report from Fred deLeeuw, Big Sky Airlines president on Monday night.

Instead, Loy and the city's airport advisory board learned that Big Sky is ready to start service.

"We'd been talking about mid-November for some time, but they actually committed to a November start," Loy said.

Big Sky flies in Montana, Idaho, Illinois, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Wyoming. Its service in Cape Gir­ardeau is part of a contract with Delta Air Lines.

Loy said Big Sky officials will return to the Cape Gir­ardeau Regional Airport in "about three weeks for another site visit. They have to assess what they need to do to the space they'll have available."

He said Big Sky will start with one flight to Cincinnati but, by the end of December, should be providing three round trips to that city.

Big Sky was authorized by the U.S. Department of Transportation for two years of service from Cape Girardeau, starting June 1. But a pilot shortage delayed the flight plans, Loy said.

"They didn't want to cut any corners on their requirements for pilots," Loy said.

The Cape Girardeau airport advisory board meets again at 5 p.m. Sept. 11, Loy said. The meeting is tentatively set at The Drop Zone restaurant at the airport.