Contour Airlines makes first flight from Cape Girardeau airport to Nashville

Exactly 34 minutes and 3 seconds after liftoff, the first Contour Airlines flight emanating from Cape Girardeau Regional Airport touched down at Nashville International Airport in Nashville, Tennessee.

The flight, and surrounding festivities, were a joyous occasion for city officials and Contour staff after a monthslong endeavor to secure commercial service in Cape Girardeau. Contour CEO Matt Chaifetz popped a bottle of Champagne on the flight and delivered mimosas to numerous passengers on the mostly full flight.

Prior to takeoff, a brief ceremony was held in the airport lobby. Katrina Amos, airport manager, spoke briefly, thanking City Council members, airport and Contour staff, former carrier SkyWest and Airport Advisory Board members, among others for the transition to a new carrier. Members of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce, city staff, City Council, among others were in attendance.

Chaifetz took the podium shortly after, sharing his delight at service finally starting at Cape Girardeau.

"Today is a proud and exciting day for me and for Contour. (I) kinda feel I'm finally getting to go out with the girl that played kind of hard to get," Chaifetz said, eliciting laughter from those in attendance.

Chaifetz lauded Contour's accomplishments and expansion destinations. Cape Girardeau is among nine communities SkyWest terminated service at that Contour put in a bid to pick up. Of those nine, officials in eight chose to go with Contour, he said.

"The service that you will be getting here in Cape Girardeau is not better or worse. It's just different," Chaifetz said.

Brenda Newbern, director of VisitCape, organized a full tour schedule and lunch in Nashville. Following the arrival in Nashville, first flight passengers went on an informal tour of the Nashville airport conducted by Chris Saunders, manager of airline affairs.

"Who's ready to go honk-tonking?" Saunders said at the beginning of the tour.

The focus was mainly on the growth of the Nashville airport, which is undergoing numerous renovations and expansions with billions of dollars invested. Saunders reported a record-setting year in passengers last year at the airport.

Mayor Stacy Kinder — a trip participant — said she was encouraged by the tour and hearing about the growth of the music-town airport. The loss of SkyWest meant the loss of a connection to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, one of the nation's largest.

Kinder said the strides being made at the Nashville airport will help assuage those concerns.

"That's just going to be a real benefit to people," she said.

After experiencing the "ease of travel" firsthand, Kinder said she believes that will help not only in outbound tourism, but attracting people from Nashville to Cape Girardeau.

Kinder, Newbern, Amos, and others mentioned Cape Girardeau could expand into coordinating travel packages to people coming from Nashville.

New developments at the Nashville airport will soon aid travelers from Cape Girardeau. Currently, Terminals C and D — that primarily serve American Airlines and Southwest Airlines — are separated from Contour's gate in Terminal B, necessitating passengers go back through security.

However, in January, the divider between the terminals will be demolished, Saunders said, removing the need to reenter security.

From the airport, the group was driven to downtown Nashville and treated to a tour of the city that encompassed Nashville's music and architectural history, as well as numerous jokes at the expense of Taylor Swift for her "abandonment" of country music in favor of pop.

After a lunch stop at Ole Red restaurant owned by country music star Blake Shelton, the tour continued to surrounding parks and music row, the area where the majority of Nashville's record labels are housed.

The focus for many officials on the trip was more than mere learning of what Nashville had to offer, but what ideas Cape Girardeau could take back to Southeast Missouri from the Tennessee tourist destination.