Air aviation news- Bids will be sought for commercial airline service at the Joplin Regional Airport, although the airport manager says a representative of the existing airline has indicated it is interested in continuing service.
Bart Starkey, manager of the Joplin Regional Airport, said the U.S. Department of Transportation will issue a call for bids for the airline service by the end of this year.
Starkey told the City Council at a Nov. 20 informal meeting that the city should actively seek out interest by other airline carriers, but with SkyWest recently expressing interest, it is an opportune time to put out a request for the EAS bids.
A three-year contract under the federal transportation subsidy, the Essential Air Service program, has been in place for airline service in Joplin for more than a decade. SkyWest, under the United Airlines brand, won a bid to provide service to the airport in June 2021 after American Airlines pulled out because of problems resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, including declining passenger counts.
SkyWest has provided multiple flights a week to hubs in Chicago and Denver since then. But the airline notified the federal transportation agency in early 2022 that it wanted to pull out of 16 of 29 small cities it served under EAS because of a pilot shortage. It later then said it wanted to cancel service in all of its 29 cities, including Joplin.
Joplin officials, however, sought to negotiate and won continued service for 12 round-trip flights a week under a federal transportation order that has kept the airline here since then without a contract.
Starkey said this month that the DOT issues a notice requesting proposals for the next EAS contract. He said that typically the existing carrier rebids and other carriers can be recruited to make proposals.
DOT receives all proposals and sends them to the local community where the airline operates for review. Representatives of the community, in this case the airport manager and the City Council, are asked to provide the DOT with comments and a preference on the bidders.
Community preference is one of the criteria DOT considers in awarding the new EAS contract, Starkey told the council.
Commercial air service “is extremely important for the Joplin economy,” Starkey said. He said it is essential for future business growth and that the local economy receives the benefits of millions of dollars in federal grants made to the airport, much spent on paying contractors for maintenance or construction projects at the airport.
This year, grants totaling more than $9.4 million have been awarded for airport projects that have included replacing a failing airport lighting system, building a garage to house the airport’s firetruck and equipment for emergencies and snow plowing equipment, and updating air traffic equipment in the airport tower.
“Quality air travel and connectivity are paramount to business retention and growth in the Joplin area,” said Travis Stephens, president and CEO of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce.”
He said commute times of an hour or more to other regional airports “is not only just an inconvenience for the employees but leads to higher costs for the business due to gas, mileage reimbursements and extended parking fees, as well as substantial loss in productivity due to the extended commute times for the employees.
He also said that the availability of airline service can factor into a company’s decision on where to maintain it’s operations going forward if the place where they are located does not have adequate air travel access.
“In scenarios where new prospect businesses are considering a location in the Joplin area, two frequently asked questions are ‘how close are you to an airport?’ and what cities can a passenger have direct flights to from the community’s nearest airport?
“Businesses want their people to be able to travel efficiently and cost effectively when going from place to place,” Stephens said. “Commute times and layovers add up in the negative column of the balance sheet when companies are comparing potential communities side by side. Not having convenient and quality air travel would be extremely detrimental for our existing businesses as well as our potential for attracting future businesses.”
Maintaining access to a brand name airline with direct flights to major hub airports was so important to members of the chamber and the business community that they contributed a third of a $600,000 guarantee to subsidize American Airlines costs to establish service to the Chicago airport in 2020. Of that, $400,000 was paid by the city and $200,000 came from businesses and chamber members.
Passenger counts at the Joplin airport are in a rebound after the COVID-19 pandemic flight reductions.
American Airlines’ passenger count in 2020 was 82,023. The count dropped in 2021 to 47,039. About 6,000 of those were passengers after SkyWest took over Joplin’s service. Last year, the count climbed by about 5,000 to 52,129.
