Letter to the Editor: Maybe it’s time to work with other communities when considering EAS proposals

With a new Essential Air Service (EAS) airline pending for the Quincy region, it is time for the community to again act on choosing a service provider.

From January 2020, from SkyWest United Express yielding to the return of Cape Air to being replaced by Southern Airways Express, Quincy now is looking for another air carrier as early as possible in 2025.  It’s likely Quincy will have four airlines serving the community in six years. This means not just airline companies but people like pilots and ground support people see their jobs and lives in transition. 

To better understand where we are today and perhaps where we are going, it is good to look at history.  So, I have included a spreadsheet of data taken from the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) websites showing enplanements and federal annual subsidies for EAS commercial airline service for Quincy since 2010.

Quincy Enplanements and Subsidies 2010-23

Now comes new proposals from Contour Airlines, which proposes using 30-passenger jets that can provide either 12 round-trip flights per week to Chicago or Nashville or a combination of flights to both with large federal subsidy increases per year expected. Also, Air Wisconsin may be flying 50-passenger jets as did SkyWest for two years in 2018-19.

I’ve tried to list the pros and cons of each airline, including Southern Airways Express, as well as my fourth possible option.

Option 1: Southern Airways Express

Pros

• You can buy one ticket through Travelocity or other services and connect yourself and your luggage with American, United and Alaska Airlines.
• The nine-passenger aircraft allows an airline to have more flights, with 36 scheduled round trips versus only 12 for 30- or 50-passenger aircraft.
• Airline goes to both Chicago and St. Louis.
• Airline has two more years of a 4-year contract remaining with maximum federal subsidies of $4,292,438 and $4,399,749.

Cons

• Single-engine aircraft.  Note the event in January 2024 on SAE flight leaving Washington-Dulles bound for Lancaster, Pa., failure of engine.  Final FAA report pending.
• Challenging for handicapped people to get on and off aircraft.
• While the airline is allowed 18 round trips to both St. Louis and Chicago for a total of 36, some flights are not good times to and from Chicago.  Example: Arriving from Quincy to Chicago at 8:37 p.m. or leaving Chicago for Quincy at 7:05 a.m. gives little value to people unless you are taking a midnight red eye to South America or only flying to Quincy as the final destination from Chicago in the early morning. You also can catch a 7:30 a.m. departure from Chicago on Amtrak.  Seems the flights only serve the 18 round-trip requirement of getting aircraft and crew to the right place for the next day.
• Can’t connect with Delta on one ticket and checked-through baggage and can’t get one ticket for connection to Southwest in St. Louis, which has more than half the commercial flights going and coming from St. Louis.
• Thirty-six departures per week require a 3-to-4-person TSA crew throughout the week for a significant amount of time and cost to our federal government.
• Other shortcomings discussed by city and covered in local media.

Option 2A: Contour Air 

Pros

• Other shortcomings discussed by city and covered in local media.
• Flying 30-passenger twin-engine jets. The ERJ-135/145 is manufactured in Brazil and is still in current production.
• Ramp entry and exit to aircraft are better for handicapped people.
• SkyWest Airlines now owns 25 percent of Contour to better provide maintenance and crews — in particular, first officers who can fly with 500 hours experience under FAA part 135 for Contour, then move to SkyWest under FAA part 121 which requires 1,500 hours of flight time for 50-passenger aircraft.
• Only 12 round trips per week means less support for TSA personnel would be anticipated and a cost saving of federal funds. 
• Contour Air, in addition to providing service for Kirksville, Mo., also provides service Cape Girardeau, Mo., Paducah, Ky., Marion/Carbondale, Ill., and Owensboro, Ky.

Cons

• Does not provide service to St. Louis, which had 7.3 million enplanements in 2023, but does go to Nashville, which had 11.2 million enplanements that same year.
• Can only buy tickets to connect and transfer luggage with American Airlines.
• Department of Transportation will only allow 12 round trips a week with 30-seat aircraft to and from Quincy.
• Growing pains in Kirksville, Mo., in 2023-24 for Contour due to maintenance and 30-passenger aircraft availability.  The airline started in 2016 and only recently has grown.
• Can expect a federal subsidy of at least $6 million per year. Kirksville, Mo., and Marion, Ill., received about $5.6 million each in April 2023 for 12 round trips per week flying Contour.
• Earlier in 2024, Cape Girardeau (being served by Contour) changed its single destination for Nashville to Chicago due to disappointing enplanement results in 2023 and 2024.

Option 2B: Contour Air

Contour Air, now servicing Kirksville, Mo., also bid for Burlington, Iowa, that is due for bids by Dec. 3, is Quincy. If both Burlington and Quincy approve for Contour, it would set up one airline with twin-engine jet service feeding three essential air service airports within 80 to 90 miles of one another.

Pros 

1. A tri-state flight path could be arranged with following routes: Chicago-Quincy-Nashville, Chicago-Burlington-Nashville, Chicago-Burlington-Kirksville-Nashville, Chicago-Burlington-Quincy-Nashville, Chicago-Kirksville-Nashville, and the reverse of each path.
2. This would allow the three communities to collectively request the Department of Transportation for more than just 12 round-trip flights — possible 18 to allow three round trips on four days and two round trips on the other three days of the week.
3. Serve to reduce federal subsidies. 

Option 3A: Air Wisconsin

Pros

• Connects with both American and United thru American Eagle operation.
• Uses the same aircraft that a large fleet of 50-passenger aircraft in U.S flying non-EAS cities between American Eagle and SkyWest United.
• On Aug. 22, 2022, Air Wisconsin announced a five-year contract to operate up to 60 CRJ200s for American Eagle, starting in March 2023. 
• Good ramp access to and from aircraft for handicapped people.
• Airline has been in business sense 1965.
• Air Wisconsin may also bid on Burlington, Iowa, due Dec. 3. Burlington’s two-year contract with Southern Airways Express ends in 2025, making a Quincy-Burlington-Chicago schedule connection possible.

Cons

• Can’t get connecting flights with Delta on one ticket with transfer of luggage
• Does not fly to St. Louis or other cities south of Quincy.
• The 50-passenger Bombardier CRJ200 manufactured in Canada ended production in 2006.
• Department of Transportation will only allow 12 round trips per week with 50-seat aircraft.
• Quincy’s best history with 50-seat aircraft was in 2018 with more than 11,000 enplanements, which averages only about 17 seats occupied in aircraft per flight. Expect many open seats per flight unless Quincy adds Burlington, Iowa, to picture. 

Option 3B: Air Wisconsin

Team with Burlington Iowa community for Quincy-Burlington-Chicago Flights.

Pros 

• Basically same as 3A but with reduced federal subsidies. 

Cons

• Basically same as 3A but with no second major hub connection.

Option 4: Something I have proposed to consider

I would like for Quincy to consider dual propeller engine 18-to-19-passenger aircraft utilized at least for all the flights to and from Chicago. The American-built Textron Cessna SkyCourier aircraft is in production and available. This aircraft would be cost-effective, and the DOT should allow the number of round-trip flights with this aircraft to be somewhere between the 12-round trips and 36-round trips of the nine-passenger aircraft focusing on practical arrival and departure times to and from Chicago and possibly St. Louis.

I again ask the DOT and the elected and appointed officials in the community of Quincy to engage in meaningful discussions with the communities of Burlington and Kirksville to take up what I once proposed in September 2022 for a “Tri-State Passenger Proposal” as a cost-effective solution in lowering federal subsidies and allowing even more daily round-trip flights for these communities. It could be a solution in two years if one or more EAS airlines start using this aircraft. While propeller aircraft like the SkyCourier are not as fast as jet aircraft cruising, they require less fuel during takeoff and landings.

While I don’t see this happening for 2025, it should be something the community thinks about. While the EAS service has been around for more than 40 years, it is quite an expense from our federal government for all the empty seats now flown today for more than 100 EAS communities.  While 85 percent of these communities are in red zones versus 15 percent in blue zones, and the House overwhelmingly extended EAS service in 2023, Republican representatives in Joplin, Mo., and Paducah did not vote for extending it. 

James Comer of Kentucky sees Paducah, with 14,000 enplanements per year, having Contour Air fly to Charlotte, N.C. This looks more like “Alternative Air Service” versus “Essential Air Service” to me — and maybe to him. It’s the same for Macon, Ga., which flies EAS service to Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., and not Atlanta. 

An important issue for Quincy to consider in operating under FAA part 135, with aircraft up to 30 seats, versus part 121 is what many of us remember from the Nov. 1996 airport accident 28 years ago. The outcome may have been different if a fire truck with two firemen were present under part 121 requirements. 

The 50-seat aircraft operates under FAA part 121, which requires fire protection on all takeoffs and landings. FAA part 135 does not provide for fire protection for passenger aircraft up to 30 seats.  While this cost the city, as it did in 2018 and 2019 to have fire truck and personnel at airport with SkyWest United 50-passenger service, the city also qualified for 10,000 enplanements, earning $1 million for reaching that level of passenger traffic.  Discounting the COVID year compensations, this is something the city has seldom achieved in the recent past.   

I was told during the August Aeronautics Committee meeting at Quincy Regional Airport that getting the communities of Burlington and Kirksville to work with the Quincy community would be unlikely. The “Them vs. Us” thinking that some region folks have for the folks in Chicago must also extend to communities right here near River City.  

All three communities had less than 5,000 enplanements in 2023 and look to have the same figure in 2024.  I’m not a member of any political or ideological polarity in this country, so I ask the elected and appointed officials representing me to take what I present here for consideration.

Based on what I have observed during the last six years concerning commercial air travel, it may also be time to see the community airport consider going under the control of a regional transportation authority that would include at least Adams County and Hannibal.   While you won’t get any interest from Hannibal people for driving 25-30 miles to Quincy to fly to St. Louis, you will find interest in flying to Chicago and maybe Nashville.  Burlington now operates under such a regional authority.   Maybe a regional commercial transportation authority could also better focus on commercial charter bus service.

I hope some citizens interested in commercial air travel for Quincy find this information informative and helpful.  

Don Carpenter
Quincy, Illinois