WILLIAMSTOWN — Contour Airlines is expected to start service from the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport to Charlotte Douglas International Airport aboard 30-seat jets the first week in December.

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently notified local airport Manager Glen Kelly it had approved the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport Authority’s recommendation that Tennessee-based Contour provide flights under federally subsidized Essential Air Service. Airport officials are optimistic that Contour’s impressive resume and roomier planes will turn around low enplanement numbers under current carrier Via Air.

“The completion rate that they’ve (Contour) demonstrated and continued to demonstrate in their markets is over 98 percent,” Kelly said.

“We think we have a great product to offer,” Contour CEO Matt Chaifetz said. “We’ve developed a reputation for rehabilitating communities that have suffered from poor service and reliability.”

Via posted a 100 percent completion rate in August, preceded by 98 percent in July, but those numbers have been the exception moreso than the norm.

After an initial surge to more than 500 enplanements in two of their first three months at the local airport, Via dropped below 200 in the first two months of 2017 with maintenance issues being a prime concern. Enplanement numbers lagged behind the same period under previous carrier Silver Airways for all but one month in 2017 and peaked for 2018 at 361 in June.

Airport officials have attributed the issues with Via’s service to expanding quickly to multiple airports after impressing with only one canceled flight during their first 18 months serving Raleigh County Memorial Airport in Beckley. A change in scheduling resulting in a seven-hour layover on a once-popular Sunday flight to Orlando and recent price increases haven’t helped matters, Kelly has said.

The Mid-Ohio Valley airport is working with Raleigh on the Contour service, with 12 flights a week planned from Parkersburg to Beckley then on to Charlotte. A contract still must be finalized, but Kelly said the federal subsidy won’t exceed $2,134,573 per year.

“We’re really excited,” Chaifetz said. “We’ve been patiently waiting, and we’re grateful that the DOT saw the merit of the application.”

Unlike Via, Contour does not have an interline agreement with a major carrier, meaning at least initially, passengers will have to book their flight to Charlotte separate from any connections and recheck their bags. Chaifetz said there is nothing definitive on that front yet, but said he believes timely service is the most important factor.

Chaifetz said Contour does not charge for bags, snacks and drinks.

“Our jets actually have first-class leg room at every seat,” he said.

Wood County Commissioner Bob Tebay, a member of the Wood County Airport Authority, which oversees airport operations, said he’s optimistic about the new service.

“Contour Airlines has a good record in flying, which is important,” he said. “With the oil and gas industry and Hino in this area, it’s important to have an airline with good service into the area.”

Via will continue providing service through the end of November. A message left with the company late Monday afternoon was not immediately returned.

(Staff writer Jeff Baughan contributed to this story.)