Cape Air flies four passengers on first day of service between Cape Girardeau, St. Louis

Paul Phan, a Las Vegas resident coming to Cape Girardeau to begin work, expected to be greeted by his friends and future co-workers when his Cape Air flight arrived Sunday at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

But what Phan didn't expect was to find himself the center of attention of local media, represented by a television crew and a reporter and photographer from the newspaper.

Phan had the distinction of being the first arriving passenger for Cape Air, which began its service between Cape Girardeau and St. Louis on Sunday with two departing flights and two arrivals. Phan was the only passenger on Flight 1129 and one of only four during Cape Air's first day of operation.

Phan admitted to being "a little bit nervous," because it was his first time on a small airplane. He will be living in Cape Girardeau and working at the King Nail Salon on North Kingshighway.

The first incoming flight arrived at 3:37 p.m., 21 minutes late because of baggage handling problems from Phan's Delta Air Lines flight from Las Vegas.

A Cape Air flight prepares to depart Sunday from Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. The airline's first flight out of Cape Girardeau carried one passenger. (LAURA SIMON)

Cape Air director of communications Michelle Haynes said the company isn't alarmed at the low number of passengers for the first day of service.

"Usually the first couple of days are quite slow," said Haynes, who said the Hyannis, Mass.-based company has opened about a dozen new markets in recent months.

Cape Air was awarded the two-year contract to serve Cape Girardeau on Oct. 22 by the U.S. Department of Transportation, giving the company only 16 days before the beginning of operations.

One passenger was on board the inaugural outgoing flight at 10:45 a.m. Sunday, and two were on the second flight to St. Louis at 5:01 p.m.

Tim Stinnett of Sikeston, Mo., was flying to St. Louis to make connections for a business trip to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Stinnett flies almost weekly for his job in the software business.

He said he flew on previous operator Great Lakes Airlines only a couple of times but stopped because "the schedules didn't work out." He said that if Cape Air maintains its published schedule of eight flights daily during the week and four more on the weekends, he will likely be a regular customer.

Jerry Feng flies between Cape Girardeau and New York City a few times a year. He flew Cape Air on Sunday to connect to a flight to Augusta, Ga. for pleasure.

Feng said he usually drives to St. Louis when flies out of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.

"But time was important to me this time," said Feng, who was surprised by the $49 one-way fare and said he will probably use Cape Air the next time he flies out of St. Louis.

"You'll see a big marketing push," Haynes said, predicting it would take "a few weeks to get up to speed," as far as passengers are concerned.

"We'll be pushing the connectivity," Haynes said, "and of course the $49 fares. We'll know we've succeeded when the passenger says 'why drive?'"

Cape Air schedule

The schedule for flights from Cape Girardeau to St. Louis via Cape Air, the new airline serving Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. as posted at the Cape Air website. There will be four roundtrip flights daily and two on each weekend day.

Weekdays

Departures Arrivals

Depart: 6 a.m. Depart STL: 9:31 a.m.

Arrive STL: 6:49 a.m. Arrive: 10:22 a.m.

Depart: 10:45 a.m. Depart STL: 12:40 p.m.

Arrive STL: 11:34 a.m. Arrive: 1:31 p.m.

Depart: 2 p.m. Depart STL: 3:47 p.m.

Arrive STL: 2:49 p.m. Arrive: 4:38 p.m.

Depart: 5:01 p.m. Depart: 8:10 p.m.

Arrive STL: 5:50 p.m. Arrive STL: 9:01 p.m.

Saturday

Departures Arrivals

Depart: 7:05 a.m. Depart STL: 11 a.m.

Arrive STL: 7:54 a.m. Arrive CG: 11:51 a.m.

Depart: 2 p.m. Depart STL: 5:20 p.m.

Arrive STL: 2:49 p.m. Arrive: 6:11 p.m.

Sunday

Departures Arrivals

Depart: 10:45 a.m. Depart STL: 2:25 p.m.

Arrive STL: 11:34 a.m. Arrive CG: 3:16 p.m.

Depart: 5:01 p.m. Depart STL: 8:10 p.m.

Arrive STL: 5:50 p.m. Arrive: 9:01 p.m.