May 17—EAU CLAIRE — Three airlines submitted proposals to serve Chippewa Valley Regional Airport after SkyWest Airlines withdraws its commercial flights.
Boutique Air, Southern Airways Express and Sun Country Airlines sent their bids in by last week's deadline to explain how they would serve the Eau Claire airport through the federal Essential Air Service program.
Airport officials, community leaders and the general public have been invited to provide feedback to the U.S. Department of Transportation, which will ultimately make the decision on which company gets the contract for CVRA.
All three hopefuls would provide regular flights between Eau Claire and Minneapolis, but proposals differ on additional destinations, planes they'd use and their anticipated costs for airfare and government subsidies.
Palm Beach, Fla.-based Southern Airways Express, a growing commuter airline that started in 2013, is pitching a schedule with two destinations — Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and Chicago O'Hare International Airport.
The commuter airline has partnership agreements with American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, allowing for easy connections for passengers and their luggage.
Southern Airways Express' proposal contains three options that differ in how many weekly trips it would fly to each of those two airports. The cheapest option calls for 17 weekly round trips to Minneapolis and seven to Chicago. The most expensive option would have 24 weekly trips to Minneapolis and a dozen to Chicago.
For all three options, the average air fare listed in the proposal is a little over $50. However, to keep ticket prices affordable to consumers, air carriers in the EAS program get government subsidies so service to smaller airports isn't done at a loss to the companies. For the options it proposes, Southern Airways Express would seek an annual subsidy of about $3.5 million to $4.6 million, depending on the option chosen. Those subsidies would allow the airline to make a 5% profit, which is the same margin included in proposals from all three of the companies.
Southern Airways is proposing a contract of two to four years.
For its Eau Claire service, the airline would use a turboprop plane that can fit about nine passengers. That's similar to what San Francisco-based Boutique Air is calling to use in its pitch to serve Eau Claire.
The small airline, which was founded in 2007, has agreements with United Airlines and American Airlines for booking flights and connections.
The two-year contract proposed by Boutique Air would have the Minneapolis airport as its only destination, running 24 round trips weekly. It would offer an average fare of $39 per passenger, and request a $4.4 million subsidy.
Minneapolis-based Sun Country Airlines, which was founded in 1982, has the only proposal that would use jet aircraft and have direct service to destinations outside of the Midwest.
A Boeing 737-800 with seating for up to 186 passengers would serve the Eau Claire airport.
Sun Country's proposal for a two-year contract would have year-round service to the Minneapolis airport with two round-trip flights a week — the least frequent of the three airlines vying for a contract. However, it would also include nonstop flights to Fort Myers, Fla., Orlando and Las Vegas during seasons when travel to those destinations are in peak demand.
For the Minneapolis flights, Sun Country has $46 in revenue from each passenger listed in its proposal. For the other destinations, the airline's proposal shows ticket prices ranging from $74 to $105.
It is seeking the largest subsidy of the three proposals with Sun Country asking for $6.46 million from the government to serve Chippewa Valley Regional Airport.
Charity Zich, airport manager, noted another way to compare the three offers is to look at the number of seats each would make available per year.
"Given the wide range in size of aircraft from our current service to what was included in the proposals, I think it's easiest to compare by number of annual seats available," she wrote in an email.
Sun Country's proposal has the highest capacity with 37,200 seats annually, which exceeds the 36,500 seats currently provided by SkyWest Airlines on the 50-seat jets it flies. Southern Airways' proposal allows for 22,140 to 33,192 seats annually, depending on which option is chosen. Boutique Air could fly up to 22,464 people under its plan to serve Eau Claire.
The search for a new airline comes after SkyWest, which has flown for United Airlines from CVRA since spring 2010, announced it will be ending service to the Eau Claire airport and 28 others.
SkyWest Airlines notified the U.S. Department of Transportation in March of its desire to discontinue service at those airports due to a shortage of pilots. The department then sought proposals from other carriers to serve the airports. Initially the deadline was April 11, but then the federal government extended it a month so carriers had until Wednesday to submit proposals. (Two communities losing SkyWest — Joplin, Mo., and Hancock/ Houghton, Mich. — got another extension for proposals, which are now due this week for those airports, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.)
With three carriers interested in serving Eau Claire, the Chippewa Valley Regional Airport Commission will meet at 7:30 a.m. Friday in the airport conference room to discuss those options. That meeting will start with a public comment period where people can give their opinions on the three proposals. Comments also can be submitted online to the commission through the airport's website until 4 p.m. Thursday.
The commission will then issue its recommendation in a letter of support to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
"The U.S. D.O.T. will make the final carrier selection but community support is critical to their decision," stated a fact sheet on the local airport's website.
An email from the office overseeing the EAS program stated that local officials have until June 10 to submit comments on the proposals.
Zich said the federal government hasn't given an estimated time for when the new carrier will be selected for CVRA. The airport will continue to update a frequently asked questions document about the transition on its website, she added.
SkyWest will continue to serve CVRA with regular flights to Chicago until a new airline begins operating at the airport. The airline has two flights daily out of Eau Claire. Previously flying seven days a week, SkyWest changed its schedule in March by ending its Tuesday and Saturday flights.
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