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WILLIAMSTOWN — Officials with the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport reported meeting with officials from the airline awarded their Essential Air Service (EAS) contract and are talking to them and working through the issues for the company to be able to provide service out of the local airport.

Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport Manager Ben Auville said they had a Teams meeting online with executives from Air Wisconsin Airlines on Wednesday.

“We went over preliminary stuff and asked questions,” he said. “Some of the things they didn’t have answers for, but still we talked to some of their people for the first time.”

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently awarded the Essential Air Service contract for the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport to Air Wisconsin Airlines. In an order dated Aug., 1, the USDOT awarded Air Wisconsin the bid to provide flights using 50-seat CRJ-200LR aircraft, for the two-year term from Oct. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2027.

Airport officials voiced concerns at a meeting with the Wood County Commission earlier this week about whether Air Wisconsin Airlines could deliver what it promised in its bid.

Under its proposal, Air Wisconsin said they would be able to continue flights to the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, N.C., with 12 flights a week which is close to what the airport is operating currently with Contour with the exception there is currently a stop in Beckley which would not be included under the new proposal. The flights would be done under a codeshare agreement with American Airlines.

Auville said there were a lot of “frank questions,” some of which were not immediately answered. He added that he has offered to provide needed information from the airport to help the company be able to make preparations to be able to operate here.

“I have questions and concerns about their ability to do it, but I am not going to stop them from performing those if they can do it,” he said. “If they can do it, great.”

Concerns include where will the crews for these flights be based, how fuel will be purchased at the airport and more, Auville said, adding he asked other questions about how their operations were going to work locally which he said he did not get satisfactory answers to at that moment.

“It went back to the initial concern of ‘Can you really do this?’ and if you can, great,” Auville said. “If they can’t, are we locked into something that isn’t going to be successful?”

West Virginia’s senators and representatives are aware of the situation and are monitoring it through their contacts at the USDOT, he said.

Airport Authority President Bill Richardson Jr. said he, other members of the authority and some airport staff members were involved in the Teams meeting this week. They met with several of the principals with Air Wisconsin to make introductions and address concerns.

“They answered our questions, but they gave us some information that we may need to verify,” Richardson said. “In fairness to everyone, I do think we have concerns.

“The main thing we are concerned about is having safe and reliable service.”

Richardson said the airline has very few Essential Air Service contracts in place, if any, which officials pointed out and there is uncertainty if the airline would be able to fulfill the contract as presented for the local airport.

“We expressed our concerns to the Air Wisconsin personnel and they addressed them,” he said. “We will probably do some followup.

“It is fair to say that we are not 100% satisfied that they are able to meet the terms of their bid.”

Richardson said they are still working through the process, asking questions and verifying answers they have been given by the company as well as making other inquiries with people who have done business with them.

In May, the Airport Authority discussed pitches made by Air Wisconsin Airlines, Breeze Airways, Contour Airlines, Denver Air Connection and Sky West to provide air service to the airport and allowed the public to comment on it.

According to documents from the USDOT regarding their decision, Richardson is quoted as saying Sky West’s “record of providing highly reliable service” with airport officials believing that “Sky West’s American Airlines code share bid is the best option for our community.”

In its decision, USDOT officials said the Air Wisconsin’s proposal aligns best overall with what the airport is looking to do.

“While the community did not express support for Air Wisconsin, the Department finds its proposal to be the most cost-effective and operationally sound option consistent with the objectives of the EAS program,” the USDOT decision said. “The Department has received no complaints regarding Air Wisconsin’s operational reliability or on-time performance in similar markets and reasonably expects the air carrier will provide consistent and dependable EAS at Parkersburg.”

Both Auville and Richardson said they had concerns regarding Air Wisconsin’s performance at an airport in Waterloo, Iowa, where Air Wisconsin had a federal EAS contract and local officials are saying the airline’s contract there failed and the company was not able to deliver what they promised. Also, airport officials were concerned about a separation announced earlier this year between Air Wisconsin Airlines and American Airlines which would happen after they would be under a contract with the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport which brought into question if flights would be available during the term of the contract.

Richardson said they have a contact with American Airlines they will be contacting to see what is happening as well as Air Wisconsin’s performance at Waterloo, Iowa.

“We are still seeking information on their performance,” he said. “Again, our main concern at the airport is safe, reliable service.

“We want people to know that if they book a flight, the plane will be there.”

Jim Ashley of Williamstown, who describes himself as “a member of the traveling public,” said he travels out of the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport regularly and has been gathering information from officials at the airport or his own research feels that Air Wisconsin will be a “drop off” from what the airport has had with Contour.

He feels Contour served the airport well, but has reached the limit of what they can do here which is why the airport recommended Sky West’s bid which has flights to Chicago O’Hare Airport and/or Charlotte Douglas International Airport onboard CRJ200/700/900 aircraft with 50 to 76 seats with its American Airlines Codeshare Agreement.

Ashley said public meetings he attended showed people were interested in going to other places, besides just Charlotte.

Also, he had concerns about Air Wisconsin’s viability, based on comments from airport officials as well as his own research, and was afraid they would “come up tragically short” in being able to provide service locally.

“A lot of people want to fly with this airport,” Ashley said. “It just seems like there are a lot of reservations.”

People can make the drive to Charleston, Pittsburgh or Columbus where they can choose from a number of airlines, he said.

“All of those can be considered ‘long drives,'” he said. “If you get back from a long vacation, I would rather be at my home in Williamstown in 10-15 minutes…than having to drive from Charleston or Columbus.

“When you are done flying, you can be exhausted anyway. Driving an hour or two after that does not help.”

Ashley said he has traveled for both domestic and international trips which started at the local airport.

“I want to keep it that way and I am sure many people do too,” he said. “The Mid-Ohio Valley Airport deserves to grow and it deserves better than what the DOT wants to give.”

Messages left for officials at Air Wisconsin Airlines corporate headquarters in Appleton, Wis., were not immediately returned. Phone and email messages left for the media contacts for the U.S. Department of Transportation were also not immediately returned. Requests for comment were sent out to the offices of U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., U,S. Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., and U.S. Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., and no comments were received back by Friday at presstime.

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com.