Air Wisconsin deal still on radar at Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport
(Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)
WILLIAMSTOWN — Officials with the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport are meeting with representatives of Air Wisconsin Airlines as the groundwork is being laid for how commercial service will be provided at the airport. Airport Manager Ben Auville said officials with Air Wisconsin visited the airport last week and have been addressing some of the concerns raised since the airline was announced on Aug. 1 as taking over the Essential Air Service contract for the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport. The airline brought in an airplane and came with various personnel, including management, information technology, fuel program people and others. “They looked at what we had here,” Auville said. “There was a lot of stuff here that impressed them.” Representatives from the Chamber of Commerce of the Mid-Ohio Valley and members of the airport authority were present to ask questions about a number of the concerns that have been brought up recently about the airline’s ability to do what was in their bid. In an order dated Aug., 1, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded Air Wisconsin the bid to provide flights using 50-seat CRJ-200LR aircraft, from Oct. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2027. The flight schedule would be similar to what the airport has been receiving from Contour Airlines with Air Wisconsin saying they would be able to continue flights to the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, N.C., with 12 flights a week. The flights would be done under a code share agreement with American Airlines. Wood County Airport Authority President Bill Richardson Jr. submitted a formal letter of protest to the Department of Transportation on Aug. 12 where he said the selection of Air Wisconsin was “unacceptable to the Wood County Airport Authority and the communities we service.” Richardson said Tuesday his concerns still remained. In his letter, Richardson said the airport authority reached out to the airport in Waterloo, Iowa. “Air Wisconsin failed to successfully meet the obligations of the EAS contract being managed by American Airlines that connected the Waterloo, IA to Chicago, IL,” he wrote. Richardson said there was no issue with American Airlines. The problem was with Air Wisconsin’s inability to generate flights with there being only a 30% completion rate, he added. He also brought up the airline’s lack of experience doing business in this region of the country, having no presence at the Charlotte-Douglas Airport and questions about the company’s financial solvency. “It appears that the company has laid off all of its flight crew employees, and has not flown since April 2025,” Richardson wrote. “There appear to be unresolved labor agreement issues involving financial obligations. “There is no apparent income being generated that we can see.” Officials have asked the USDOT to consider naming another airline for the EAS contract for the Mid-Ohio Valley Airport. “Service is our main concern,” Richardson said Tuesday. “The airport authority wants reliable and safe service.” The company officials did address a number of questions local officials had, Auville said. “They have their side as well,” he said. “We wanted to be sure we brought up these things we were seeing.” Auville said there is a completely new management team with the company and new people in key positions. “They told us about some of their strategies, why they are coming here and their broader plans,” he said In a letter dated Aug. 13, Air Wisconsin President and CEO Rob Binns responded to the issues raised in Richardson’s letter. “While we understand Air Wisconsin is not the Authority’s first choice, the considerations enumerated by Mr. Richardson represents a misunderstanding of the commercial regional airline industry at best and are factually inaccurate at worst,” Binns wrote, adding they have participated in a call with airport officials prior to addressing their concerns. “Although we provided fulsome answers in many respects, we understand the Authority conducted its own diligence following that call. “Unfortunately, it appears the industry contacts who provided information to the Authority are either ill-informed or intentionally providing misinformation.” As far as Waterloo, Iowa, Binns wrote Air Wisconsin operated pursuant to a Capacity Purchase Agreement (“CPA”) with American Airlines Inc. until its termination in April 2025. Air Wisconsin operated 576 departures from Waterloo. Only 14 of those departures were canceled, 13 of which were due to weather events or air traffic control at Chicago O’Hare – leading to a 99.9% controllable completion factor, he added. Air Wisconsin maintains an effective codeshare agreement with American Airlines, Binns wrote. “…the current term of our Codeshare Agreement extends beyond the full term of the (Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport) EAS award,” he wrote. Binns said Air Wisconsin Airlines operated “east coast routes almost exclusively” with flights with US Airways and American to Norfolk, Va., Washington Reagan, and New York LaGuardia. More recently, under the agreement with United Airlines, Air Wisconsin flew from Washington Dulles and maintained a base in Columbia, S.C. “For the past several decades, Air Wisconsin has successfully operated in the eastern United States,” he wrote. “We are working closely with American Airlines on Charlotte-Douglas Airport operations to prepare for the commencement of the Parkersburg, WV/Marietta, OH operations.” Air Wisconsin is a financially sound company that owns its fleet of aircraft outright, Binns wrote, adding that although they had to reduce their workforce in some areas, they retained enough staff to operate business as an airline as they continued to operate charter flights. He wrote that the USDOT order found Air Wisconsin “fit to conduct these EAS operations.” “We are eager to build our partnership with the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport, the Wood County Airport Authority, and the people of Parkersburg, WV and the surrounding communities,” Binns wrote. Auville said the people from Air Wisconsin who visited the airport were “new talent” and “competitive individuals” and knew what they were doing. “It appears they have fixed the management problem that would have led to some of the issues we saw,” Auville said. “Now it all comes down to if they can perform.” The airline is planning to start service on Oct. 1 and will be reaching out to the community. The Chamber of Commerce of the Mid-Ohio Valley is planning an After Hours event at the airport on Sept. 11 to allow the community to come out and ask questions and more. The airline is planning to be there and have an airplane for people to see. An event has been in the works for over a year so the airport could introduce the carrier to the community. Once any objections are reviewed, a final decision is made and the final contract awarded whether that is Air Wisconsin or possibly another company. Auville will do whatever he can to make sure the company picked has what it needs to be successful at the Mid-Ohio Valley Airport and will continue to work with them to make that happen. “The job we have is to work with them to make sure that nothing we are doing is holding them back and to make sure they have the best opportunity to be successful,” he said. “If it is Air Wisconsin, then we are going to work with them. If it is someone else, we are going to work with them.” Auville said the contract will be for two years and a lot of things will evolve over that time and it will be rebid again. For this round they got five companies bidding on the contract. “We want to make sure that we are a good airport to work with,” he said. “We don’t want to be obstructive to someone’s success or have other companies not want to bid. “Whoever gets the bids here, we want to make sure they are successful. If we can help them be successful, it should keep the bid market competitive. We want people to be in our market.” Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com.