Letter to the Editor: Quincy officials need to remember it’s called a ‘regional’ airport for a reason

Mark Cestari with Southern Airways Express, right, talks with State Sen. Jim Tracy during Wednesday's welcome reception at Quincy Regional Airport.

Mark Cestari with Southern Airways Express, right, talks with State Sen. Jil Tracy during an event at Quincy Regional Airport in December 2022. | MRN file photo by David Adam

It looks like the city of Quincy is only considering what’s in the city as to selecting its air carrier.

It’s called a “regional” airport for a reason. There are a lot more business and pleasure travelers than just those in town.

I traveled extensively for Siemens, out of Quincy and back every week, for five years. I still travel today but not as much. My consulting engineer bride continues to travel a great deal.

We avoid ORD (Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport) like the plague. We’re not at all interested in a carrier out of Quincy that is not flying to STL (Lambert International Airport in St. Louis) or MDW (Midway International Airport in Chicago).

Cape Air was much better in scheduling to coordinate with other carriers in St. Louis. The “inside-the-security-ring” shuttle bus from Terminal C over to Terminal E was a great link to Southwest flights, which was our preferred airline.

We never flew Southern Air since it didn’t mesh with Southwest schedules, and we didn’t want to lay over longer than it would take to drive to St. Louis and park.

I’ve been a pilot since I was in high school, and I have a small plane in a hangar at Quincy. I love to fly.

If I remember right, having a 50-passenger jet coming in and out of Quincy means the Federal Aviation Administration mandates a full-time manned fire station on site, which is a sizeable expense to the city.

J. David Lomax
Marion County Presiding Commissioner
Palmyra, Missouri

EDITOR’S NOTE: If 50-passenger jets were scheduled daily to take off from and land in Quincy, each flight would have to have emergency personnel (i.e., firefighters) on hand.

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