New air carrier seeks code sharing arrangement with American Airlines

There won't be a big marketing campaign right away to introduce Cape Girardeau's new passenger airline to the community, but a major push to attract more passengers isn't far off.

On Monday evening, the Cape Girardeau City Council approved acceptance of a $126,000 state grant to advertise passenger service at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. That money must be matched by $14,000 in city funds and is in addition to funds left over from last year's promotional budget, airport manager Bruce Loy said.

The approval came close on the heels of an announcement by Cape Air, the carrier that will begin service Monday with four round-trip flights every weekday from Cape Girardeau to St. Louis, that it has arranged a code share agreement with American Airlines.

Cape Air will also fly twice daily on weekends. The company has promised to aggressively market the service, which Loy intends to supplement with the state grant funding.

But just getting flights out Monday would be a strong start, Loy said. The last two airlines to receive the Cape Girardeau contract -- Big Sky Airlines and Great Lakes Airlines -- each took several months beyond the scheduled start of their contract to begin flying from Cape Girardeau.

"They are doing everything they can to start in a quality manner rather than put on a dog-and-pony show," Loy said of the launch of Cape Air service.

In a news release issued last week, Cape Air CEO Dan Wolf said his company has arranged code sharing with American Airlines but that the agreement won't be in place in time for the inaugural flights.

"Final details of Cape Air's agreement with American Airlines are still being finalized, but we expect Cape Air will begin operating with the AA code by early spring," he said.

Code-sharing can have advantages for customers, including a single ticket for an entire trip, frequent flier benefits and easier baggage handling.

"Certainly it is good for the airport," Loy said. "It will help promote more flights with people coded through from Cape Girardeau to their final destination as an American Airlines passenger."

rkeller@semissourian.com

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Pertinent addresses:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, MO

Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, Cape Girardeau, MO