Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport Manager Ben Auville discusses the status of commercial service at the airport after Air Wisconsin withdrew following its selection by the U.S. Department of Transportation to fly to and from Charlotte-Douglas International Airport during Tuesday’s Wood County Airport Authority meeting. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

WILLIAMSTOWN – Air Wisconsin withdrew as the incoming provider of Essential Air Service at the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport, leaving Contour Airlines in place for now and a new carrier likely coming at a later date.

A withdrawal notice was filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation on Monday, less than a month before the Wisconsin-based company was set to take over federally subsidized service at the local airport.

Under the bid approved in August by the DOT, there would have been 12 round-trip flights a week to Charlotte-Douglas International Airport aboard 50-seat regional jets.

Tennessee-based Contour has been flying between the Mid-Ohio Valley and Charlotte, with stops in Beckley, aboard 30-seat planes since December 2018. No successor has been named, but the next lowest bidder was Utah-based SkyWest Airlines, airport Manager Ben Auville said Tuesday morning during a Wood County Airport Authority meeting.

“We are expecting SkyWest to come in,” he said.

Wood County Airport Authority member Terry Moore, right, speaks as fellow members Tim Flinn, left, and Andy Daniel listen during Tuesday’s authority meeting. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

A message seeking comment from SkyWest was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Auville said he does not expect the service to be rebid, which would delay the change by several more months.

SkyWest made two bids for providing service at the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport. One was for 12 weekly round-trip flights to Washington Dulles International Airport in the nation’s capital and/or Chicago O’Hare International Airport, under a codeshare agreement with United Airlines. The other — and the top option recommended by the authority to the DOT in May — was for 12 round-trip flights to O’Hare and/or Charlotte aboard 50- to 76-seat aircraft under an American Airlines codeshare.

Auville noted the D.C./Chicago option had an initial annual subsidy of $5,960,499, nearly $1 million less than the version that included Charlotte. Based on recent DOT decisions, including the selection of Air Wisconsin, to which the authority filed a formal objection, he said he anticipates the lower-cost option being selected.

“They’ve been going with the cheapest that they think is feasible,” Auville said.

Although the authority had concerns about Air Wisconsin’s selection, local officials had met with company representatives and were anticipating the airline having a plane and presence at Thursday’s Business After Hours event with the Chamber of Commerce of the Mid-Ohio Valley and Marietta chamber.

But that changed last week as reports surfaced that Harbor Diversified Inc., Air Wisconsin’s indirect parent company, had reached a deal to sell the airline. A layoff notice was filed Friday with Wisconsin’s Department of Workforce Development for more than 240 workers at three Air Wisconsin locations.

“It’s a money thing, and it’s outside the guys we talked to,” Auville told authority members Tuesday. “They were trying and were acting in good faith.”

But the parent company decided the airline is “worth more in pieces than in EAS,” he said.

The withdrawal letter says the company “has worked diligently to commence service to Parkersburg. However, during that intervening time, our airline has decided to change its strategic direction.”

In an August letter to the DOT, airport authority President Bill Richardson raised concerns over Air Wisconsin’s failure to meet its EAS contract obligations at an airport in Iowa, the company’s lack of a presence at the Charlotte airport and its financial solvency.

In the withdrawal letter, Air Wisconsin said that while it “disagreed with the comments of the Wood County Airport Authority, Air Wisconsin’s withdrawal from the Parkersburg EAS selection process achieves the result sought by the authority.”

Auville said Tuesday afternoon that the DOT asked him to submit a letter requesting that Contour about remaining in place until the new airline can take over. That might not be until late January, he said, as the company could be reluctant to alter its computer systems during the busy holiday travel season.

Because Contour is providing service under the Alternate Essential Air Service program, the DOT cannot simply order the company to continue providing service, Auville said. However, he said there are economic incentives for them to stay.

“Contour is prepared to assist the community by continuing to serve Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport until the Department of Transportation can select another carrier,” Contour CEO Matt Chaifetz said via email Tuesday.

Messages left with the DOT and Air Wisconsin were not returned Tuesday.

Authority members said during the meeting in that they understand potential passengers want to know how they can book flights after Sept. 30 and they plan to provide that information as soon as it’s available.

“At the end of the day, it’s still a blessing that this happened now, instead of three months from now,” after the new service began, authority member Andy Daniel said.