Air service to St. Louis no longer makes sense

On Sept. 16 the U.S. Department of Transportation is closing the public docket that will determine your community's air service for the next two years under the Essential Air Service program.

This program came to life at the end of the Civil Aeronautics Board, which determined which airlines flew what routes, what fares they charged and what types of planes they flew. That year, 1978, also ended air service for many small communities, and from that came the EAS program. The program ensures that smaller airports maintain their links to the national air system.

Until 2007, Cape Girardeau was attached to St. Louis using a regional airline that was tied into a major airline using a code-share agreement. The flights were ticketed, sold and marketed as a "baby" to the major airline, providing a seamless transaction. This type of operation worked well for Cape Girardeau until the demise of RegionsAir in 2007, and signs improved when Big Sky offered flights to Cincinnati.

All of the carriers bidding this time have code shares with American, and it's likely American won't extend it to anyone, as American has not given a domestic code share since it acquired TWA. The outlook for St. Louis remaining a hub is questionable. Southwest Airlines now operates more large-jet flights than American, and Southwest does not interline. So passengers would have to go to bag claim, get their bags and take a shuttle to the East Terminal. If this is indeed the process, the convenience factor would be stripped for the local air service.

This bidding process is going to require the community to weigh all options heavily. St. Louis' traffic is ever decreasing. Depending on St. Louis for future air service would result in the same, if not fewer, passengers using your local airport. Supporting a sole bid to St. Louis would only result in status quo. People would still keep driving the 90 to 110 minutes to St. Louis or Memphis because the convenience factor would be eliminated for flying to St. Louis compared to driving.

While my bid proposes a variety of destinations that would allow us to test which markets work, it is important to realize that once you are awarded an airline, you have to work with it to make the service work, as you have that airline for the next two years.

The idea of flying to St. Louis doesn't make sense anymore for Cape Girardeau. It is too close, and the hub has so few flights to make it work, even with the American code. St. Louis used to have more than 600 flights a day, and now American and American Eagle are down to 83 flights a day. Unfortunately St. Louis has seen better days and may never see them again.

Nathan Vallier is general manager of Locair Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., one of the bidders for commuter air service to and from the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.