No answer in sight as airport officials wait for Department of Transportation to award new EAS contract

QUINCY — The City of Quincy continues to wait for an answer from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to confirm that Contour Airlines of Smyrna, Tenn., will be the essential air service (EAS) provider for Quincy Regional Airport for the next four years.

The Quincy City Council voted on Jan. 21 to have Mayor Mike Troup send official notification of the city’s recommendation of Contour to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Contour’s proposal called for providing 12 round-trip flights from Quincy to Chicago each week.

Troup told members of the city’s Aeronautics Committee on Wednesday night, however, that he’s waiting on appointments to the Federal Aviation Administration and the EAS program before an announcement can be made for Quincy’s EAS provider.

“The Department of Transportation is still waiting for (President Trump) to place someone in charge … of that department, so they have frozen the existing (EAS) contracts,” Troup said.

“Nobody has a real good, clear direction with the changes to the federal government,” said Bill Lantz, director of Quincy Regional Airport. “We know beyond a doubt we’re third in line for a contract with the Department of Transportation behind Burlington and another airport.”

Sean Duffy, 53, a former reality TV star and former Wisconsin congressman, was confirmed Jan. 28 as transportation secretary.

Troup said the contract that Southeast Iowa-Burlington Regional Airport in Burlington, Iowa, has with Southern Airways Express is scheduled to expire this month. However, the Department of Transportation has extended that contract for 90 days.

The Burlington airport elected in January to also select Contour as its EAS provider once the Southern Airways contract expires.

Troup also informed the Aeronautics Committee that the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), International wrote a Feb. 20 letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation in support of the pilots of Air Wisconsin Airlines LLC in Air Wisconsin’s bid to provide EAS service to Quincy and Burlington. Robert Binns, president and CEO of Air Wisconsin, also wrote a Feb. 19 letter asking the DOT to reject Quincy’s request for Contour to provide EAS service and give the contract to Air Wisconsin.

Both letters noted that Air Wisconsin provides better safety and more experienced pilots as a carrier with Part 121 certification, while Contour operates under Part 135 certification “at a lesser standard of safety … by using a safety-rule loophole that allows public charter flights to operate essentially scheduled service,” wrote Capt. Jason Ambrosi, president of the Air Line Pilots Association.

“As a primary reason for not selecting Air Wisconsin, Quincy observed that it would incur the cost of providing fire protection onsite for each takeoff and landing,” Binns wrote. “A community’s parochial desire to trim costs cannot override the (DOT’s) mandate to maintain aviation safety as its highest priority.”

Matthew Chaifetz, chief executive officer at Contour, wrote in a March 4 letter to the DOT that the letters supporting Air Wisconsin’s bid were “inaccurate and derogatory.”

Troup told the Aeronautics Committee he also submitted a letter earlier this week to the DOT. That letter is not yet available on the DOT website.

“I tried to point out a couple of inaccuracies in the Air Wisconsin complaint of facts,” he said. “Even if EAS were to choose their type of contract, they are higher price-wise than Sky West (one of six airlines that submitted bids for EAS service to Quincy), which has a similar contract. So no matter how you look at it, Air Wisconsin’s out. That’s the bottom line.”

Troup also said Air Wisconsin recently gave a notice of termination to “virtually all of their employees” to comply with the federal law.

“Since they’ve lost all their contracts with American (Airlines), they’re struggling for some business to operate,” he said. “Why would we pick an airline that doesn’t have a ticket agency, that hasn’t operated as an independent airline, versus any of the other choices that do have all those systems in place and some proven reliability?”

Don Carpenter, who served on a subcommittee that reviewed the six EAS proposals, asked Troup about Air Wisconsin’s pledge in its letter to pay the city for the additional fire protection for their aircraft (which is not necessary for airlines with Part 135 certification).

“That’s the least of our concerns,” Troup replied.

Carpenter also asked Troup about an amendment to the resolution the City Council approved on Jan. 21 that dictated Contour would start with 12 Quincy-to-Chicago flights but would eventually add Quincy-to-Nashville flights by the end of the first year of the contract.

“To me, it depends how well we’re doing Quincy-to-Chicago,” Troup replied. “Once we get Contour working out of Quincy to Chicago, we’ll come back and talk about if we want to go to Nashville. That decision won’t be made for at least six months after we get Contour here.”

Lantz believes the Quincy airport will have a better direction on what the DOT decision will be by the end of the month.

“As fast as the President is moving with everything he’s doing, I don’t know when he’s going to have to take a rest and maybe get some sleep,” Troup said. “In the meantime, he’s rolling ahead. For a specific prediction time-wise, your guess is going to be better than mine.”