Cape airport board recommends Massachusetts carrier

Cape Air, the Hyannis, Mass., carrier that built its business ferrying passengers to off-shore islands with small, reliable airplanes will likely get a chance to see if it can rebuild air service in Cape Girardeau.

The Airport Advisory Board voted 8-0 Wednesday evening to recommend Cape Air to the Cape Girardeau City Council to replace Great Lakes Airlines as the Essential Air Service program airline. The decision must be confirmed by the council, which will meet next week on the issue, and accepted by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The recommendation is the second Cape Air picked up from among the six cities, including Cape Girardeau, grouped together for the purpose of seeking bids. Marion, Ill., is also asking the Department of Transportation to approve Cape Air as its choice. The other locations grouped with Cape Girardeau are Decatur, Ill., Quincy, Ill., Burlington, Iowa, and Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.

Cape Air was competing against four other carriers for Cape Girardeau's business. As board members discussed their selection, they focused on price, reliability and reputation as key factors for the next airline to serve Cape Girardeau. Cape Air is flying to St. Louis; two other carriers, Air Choice One of Farmington, Mo., Gulfstream International Airlines of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., also proposed St. Louis as the destination. Air Choice One also offered a Memphis alternative, as did SeaPort Airlines of Portland, Ore. Locair, also of Fort Lauderdale, sought to use Kansas City as its primary destination to start service but also offered other destinations.

"The thing we have to be cognizant of is we are on our second strike of our third out," advisory board chairman Robbie Rollins said. "It is not time to hit a single. It is time to hit a home run."

Great Lakes Airlines has been flying two flights a day on a 19-seat airplane from Cape Girardeau to St. Louis since May 2008. Chosen during an emergency bidding process to replace Big Sky Airlines, Great Lakes was under Essential Air Service contract to make three flights daily.

Great Lakes has been unable to obtain what is known as a code-share agreement, which combines its flight bookings with that of a major carrier on a single ticket. The result has been high prices -- a walk-up, round-trip ticket to St. Louis is priced at $199 on its website.

Through July, Great Lakes was averaging two passengers daily. In 2006, the last full year when substantial numbers of people flew from Cape Girardeau, RegionsAir flew about 22 people daily.

Cape Air is promising to bring a strong marketing arm, bookings visible and available through major online and travel agent systems and seamless movement of baggage to major carriers. It plans to charge about $48 each way on a round-trip flight to St. Louis, with four flights each day on a nine-seat, twin-engine airplane.

Dan Wolf, founder of the employee-owned airline, was in the region making a last-minute push to land Cape Girardeau and the other cities it is seeking to serve. He said Cape Air would begin its operation quickly under the contract, if it is chosen, perhaps as early as Nov. 1, the day the contract takes effect.

"We view this as an opportunity to come in and build belief in our company," Wolf said.

The smaller airplane will make operating the route from Cape Girardeau to St. Louis inexpensive and reliable, Wolf said. His company owns 57 Cessna 402s, the airplane designated for Cape Girardeau, and regularly flies demanding passengers from Boston to Nantucket Island and Martha's Vineyard.

"My experience is that frequency trumps aircraft size," Wolf said.

During the discussion of airline choices, board members kept returning to the track record, business model and commitment to passenger service displayed by each airline. And they kept saying they liked what they heard from Cape Air as superior to the other proposals. Other airlines promised to find aircraft and pilots needed, while Cape Air said it would be ready when the contract began.

"Quite frankly, we have been down this road before and we can't roll the dice," board member Rick Hetzel said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, Cape Girardeau, MO