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The federal DOT has officially approved SkyWest as Plattsburgh International Airport’s Essential Air Service provider. SkyWest will provide 12 nonstop trips to Washington-Dulles airport every week, starting in July, at an average fare of $105.
PLATTSBURGH | The federal Department of Transportation (DOT) on Tuesday officially approved SkyWest to serve Plattsburgh International Airport (PBG) under the Essential Air Service (EAS) program.
SkyWest, a subsidiary of United Airlines, will provide PBG with 12 nonstop trips per week to Washington-Dulles International Airport at an average fare of $105 per person.
In return, the airline will receive an annual subsidy from the DOT of $3,371,895 for the next two years.
That two-year term begins on July 1.
Legislator Robert Hall (Area 10), chairman of the county PBG committee, was ecstatic upon hearing of the DOT’s approval.
“It’s great news. We are really excited about it,” Hall told The Sun.
“Soon you’re going to be able to go to Washington. You’ll be able to book a flight from Plattsburgh and go anywhere you want to go. Anywhere in the United States, and in Europe. It’s going to happen.”
The decision has not been without controversy.
After the legislature formally backed SkyWest in January, a number of residents and the airport’s former provider, PenAir, spearheaded a letter-writing campaign to implore the DOT to award the EAS contract to PenAir.
PenAir was not immediately available for comment on Tuesday afternoon.
But a PenAir spokesman told The Sun in January that if SkyWest received the EAS subsidies, they planned to pull out of the airport entirely.
PenAir’s contract ends in late June, according to Airport Manager Christopher Kreig, and officials have been assured that there will be a smooth transition.
“We’ve been told that PenAir will remain in the market for a smooth transition,” he told The Sun.
“We appreciate the service that PenAir has provided over the last six years and we wish them the best.”
During the last two months, residents have raised concerns over losing the connection to Boston Logan International Airport, the possibility of job losses locally and the potential for the airport’s on-campus hangar to lie vacant, effectively losing revenue for the county.
At the time, Hall conceded that the latter is a possibility, but it was too soon to tell what the effects of PenAir’s departure would be.
Throughout the three-month waiting period between when the Clinton County Legislature formally backed SkyWest and the DOT’s decision on March 20, the legislature has remained confident that SkyWest’s service will better not only the county, but bolster economic development in the region.
Town of Plattsburgh Supervisor Michael Cashman echoed his support for SkyWest.
“I’m really excited about this development,” he told The Sun. “Locally, Plattsburgh International Airport is recognized as a premier airport in the North Country. Pairing with SkyWest, a premier service, that profile will only grow.”
A study of the four million-person population within a 90-minute radius of PBG, found Washington, D.C. to have the biggest market in the area, Kreig said.
SkyWest’s current term will run through 2020.
