City of Quincy considering new EAS options before Nov. 15 deadline

QUINCY — Quincy Mayor Mike Troup told the city’s Aeronautics Committee Wednesday that “multiple” with airlines interested in taking over the Essential Air Service contract have reached out.

In August, Troup wrote to the U.S. Department of Transportation and said Southern Airways Express, which has provided essential air service at the Quincy airport since Dec. 1, 2022, has consistently been unreliable. DOT honored the request and has another week to accept proposals.

Southern took over Quincy’s EAS after Cape Air ended the contract because of pilot shortages and failure to fulfill the flight requirements. The four-year contract with Southern called for 18 round trips per week to Chicago O’Hare International Airport and 18 round trips per week to St. Louis-Lambert International Airport, using Cessna 208 aircraft capable of carrying eight or nine passengers.

Troup said one airline has proposed 12 weekly flights to Chicago on a 50-passenger jet and asked for an extension of the deadline to make a formal pitch. Troup told the committee he had conferred with local travel agents and he didn’t believe demand was there for that large of a plane. The committee agreed with Troup not to extend the Nov. 15 deadline.

Troup said flights to Chicago were desirable for the city’s business travelers, but flights to St. Louis were also appealing because of the ability for leisure travelers to connect with lower-fare airlines, such as Southwest.

Interim Airport Director Bill Lantz said the airport had 408 enplanements in October and has been consistently around that mark for the last few months. He added that while Southern has been meeting more than 96 percent of its flights lately, the passenger numbers are still not where they need to be. Quincy must get 10,000 passengers in order to qualify for larger federal subsidies.

The committee agreed to have the city’s legal staff send a letter to Don Kirlin to have two fighter jets removed from the airport or turn them over to the city. Kirlin had purchased the MIG fighter jets, but they have sat at the decade untouched for about 15 years.

Lantz said he has had offers from people who would remove the planes at no cost to the city. Troup said if the planes stayed there, Kirlin needed to start paying rent, which he has not been doing, and suggested a $1,000 a month payment.

The letter will inform Kirlin he has 30 days to make arrangements to have them removed or being paying the city to keep them.