Change in the Air…? 5 companies bidding for subsidized service at Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport
An aerial flies over the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport during the Kids STEM Day event in June. Five companies have bid to provide federally subsidized Alternate Essential Air Service to the airport. (File Photo)
WILLIAMSTOWN — Bids to provide federally subsidized commercial air service at the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport pitch planes with 30, 50 or 137 seats flying to and from Charlotte, Raleigh, Atlanta, Chicago and Washington, D.C. The bids under the Alternate Essential Air Service program have been posted online on the federal Regulations.gov website, where people can submit comments. Airport Manager Ben Auville encouraged residents and prospective passengers to weigh in there or by contacting the airport at 304-464-5113 or emailing benjamin.auville@flymov.com. “If someone has a strong opinion, good or bad, or just (says), ‘I want to go here’ … here’s your opportunity,” he said. The Wood County Airport Authority has until May 27 to make a recommendation on which bid to choose, although the final decision will be made by the U.S. Department of Transportation. People can offer opinions at the board’s next regular meeting, set for 8 a.m. Tuesday, May 13, at the airport. Auville said the bids will be discussed by authority members in a closed, executive session prior to that date. Tennessee-based Contour Airlines has been providing flights to Charlotte-Douglas International Airport aboard 30-seat planes since December 2018. Their contract for 12 flights a week is up Sept. 30, the end of the federal fiscal year. Contour’s routes include stops at Raleigh County Memorial Airport in Beckley, but officials there are seeking separate service. The subsidy for the combined service this year is $4.9 million, with $2.1 million covering the Parkersburg portion. Contour is bidding for the service again, and the airport was contacted by Breeze Airways and SkyWest Airlines before bidding opened. When he received the bids this week, Auville found two other companies – Air Wisconsin and Denver Air Connection – had also bid on the service. “We did receive greater interest than expected,” he said, adding a representative of one of the other two companies reached out earlier this week. Auville said he would like to get Air Wisconsin and Denver Air in touch with the board to offer presentations similar to what the other bidders provided earlier this year. Here’s a look at each company’s proposal, according to the bid documents publicly available at Regulations.gov: Air Wisconsin The Wisconsin-based company proposes 12 round-trip flights a week aboard 50-seat Bombardier CRJ-200 regional jets to Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. The company has a codeshare partnership with American Airlines, meaning they fly under American’s banner and passengers can book flights to and from the local airport and connections via the American website or through major online travel sites under one ticket. Air Wisconsin requested a two-year contract with an initial subsidy of $5,200,752 the first year, with a 7% increase the second year. Breeze Airways Utah-based Breeze would offer seven round-trip flights a week aboard a 137-seat Airbus A220 to Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The bid documents do not reference a codeshare or interline agreement, but note that Breeze provides service to 27 cities from Raleigh and all those flights could connect with flights from Wood County. Breeze is seeking a three-year contract with an initial subsidy of $6,289,489 and a 4% increase each subsequent year. The letter also asks the DOT and airport to waive the right to hold the company beyond the date of the contract, saying their intent would be to remain in the market but they must be able “to adapt to changing circumstances.” Contour Airlines The incumbent carrier proposes continuing service to Charlotte on 30-seat, twin-engine regional jets, with the option of allocating up to five of the 12 weekly round-trip flights to Washington Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., or Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Contour has interline agreements with American, Alaska and United Airlines, under which passengers can book flights to and from the local airport and connections with them on a single ticket, without having to go through security again or recheck bags. Contour requests a four-year contract with a starting subsidy of $6,161,370, increasing 5% each year to $7,132,556 in the final year. Denver Air Connection The Colorado-based carrier offers 12 round-trip flights a week aboard 50-seat Embraer 145s to Charlotte, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport or a combination of the two. Denver Air has interline agreements with American, United and Delta Airlines. Denver Air seeks a four-year contract with an initial subsidy of $6,936,280, increasing to $8,029,612 in the final year. SkyWest Headquartered in Utah, SkyWest proposes two different options for 12 weekly round-trip flights. The first would be to Dulles and/or O’Hare aboard 50-seat CRJ200 aircraft under a United Airlines codeshare agreement. The second is to O’Hare and/or Charlotte aboard CRJ200, 700 or 900 aircraft with 50 to 76 seats under an American Airlines codeshare. In both cases, SkyWest requests a four-year contract. The D.C./Chicago option has an initial subsidy of $5,960,499, rising to $6,513,198 in the final year. The Chicago/Charlotte option subsidies would go from $6,914,774 to $7,555,960. Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.