Cape Air officially welcomed to Cape Girardeau

In 19 months at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, Great Lakes Airlines flew 833 passengers to St. Louis. In 72 days as the new commercial passenger carrier, Cape Air has flown 633 passengers.

Those figures stand alone to show that the Hyannis, Mass.-based airline is a good fit for the city, airport manager Bruce Loy said during an open house and ribbon cutting that drew about 60 people, including Cape Air's corporate leadership and local employees.

"It is wonderful to be back to a normal operation," Loy said.

The passenger numbers mean Cape Air, which operates four flights daily, will likely be looking to add flights or a second destination to the operation in coming months, said airline CEO Dan Wolf.

"But the first step is getting established and doing this right," Wolf said.

Cape Air is the fourth airline in four years to serve Cape Girardeau under the Essential Air Service program supporting commercial air service to smaller cities. Cape Air, which charges a $49 one-way fare to St. Louis, will receive up to $1.47 million per year in federal subsidies over the life of the two-year contract.

Of the previous carriers -- RegionsAir, Big Sky Airlines and Great Lakes -- Regions was grounded, Big Sky went out of business and Great Lakes wasn't able to generate customers due to infrequent flights and high fares.

Speaking before the ribbon-cutting, both Loy and Mayor Jay Knudtson alluded to the difficulties of making passenger service work in Cape Girardeau.

"We have really been through a tough road over the last several years," Loy said.

Knudtson said he's happy it appears the commercial passenger service will be in good shape before he leaves office. "Being mayor for eight years, there hasn't been a lot of rainbows over this airport," he said.

Since Cape Air arrived, Knudtson said, he hasn't heard any negative comments about the service.

Cape Air began as a commuter airline serving Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, islands off Cape Cod, Mass. It expanded into tourist markets and in recent years moved into flying from cities in the Essential Air Service program. Using nine-seat Cessna 402 aircraft, the company has four round-trip flights each weekday and four each weekend.

Jennifer Huffman, station manager for Cape Air who also worked for Big Sky and Great Lakes, said the 6 a.m. flight is the most popular and has at times been fully booked.

"They are a very positive company," she said. "They are starting to make this a huge success."

The company goes to great lengths to promote its corporate motto for customer service -- MOCHA HAGoTDI, which stands for Make Our Customers Happy and Have A Good Time Doing It. That means holding a flight a few minutes when passengers are late making connections, keeping extra aircraft available to avoid canceling flights and trying to make sure travelers get home if a flight is canceled, Wolf said.

While issues are unavoidable, the company wants people to feel well-served, said Andrew Bonney, vice president of planning. "We are not kidding about the service commitment."

During a short presentation as part of the ribbon-cutting, Wolf announced that a code-share agreement with American Airlines, the dominant carrier at Lambert Airport in St. Louis, would be implemented in early April. A code-share agreement means customers can earn frequent flier miles for the Cape Girardeau leg of their trips, book flights more easily and other perks for fliers, Wolf said.

There are several business advantages to having cheap, reliable service, said John Mehner, president and CEO of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce. Companies that fly corporate jets want an airport big enough to handle their airplanes, he said, and companies that use commercial flights want connections to well-served larger airports.

"They have done a great job of providing what they said they would provide and a good experience," Mehner said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, Cape Girardeau, MO