![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Denver-Air-Connection.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nAt least one promising replacement airline \u2014 Key Lime Air,\ndoing business as Denver Air Connection \u2014 indicates that they plan to submit a\nproposal to the U.S. Department of Transportation on or before the Monday\ndeadline to provide subsidized air service for Salina and North Central Kansas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SkyWest Airlines filed a 90-day notice of intent to\nterminate its Essential Air Service contract at Salina on March 10. The major\nreason for the shutdown is a nationwide shortage of pilots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. Department of Transportation responded with a hold-in\norder, requiring SkyWest to continue operations until a replacement air carrier\n\u201cbegins full Essential Air Service.\u201d A reasonable expectation, according to the\nUSDOT, would be to start full service by at least Dec. 31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll air carriers are facing pilot retention and recruitment\nchallenges. A replacement air carrier will need community support for finding\npilot shortage solutions.,\u201d said Tim Rogers, executive director of the Salina\nAirport Authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe professional pilot training program at K-State Salina\nwill play a role in meeting airline industry need for pilots,” Rogers\nsaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Exacerbating the problem is the number of affected\ncommunities, with only six or seven carriers available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve never had a situation where 29 cities have been\ndumped on the market,\u201d Foss said. What\u2019s worse is there are \u201cvery few options,\u201d\nhe said, to fill those air service voids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have a market here that\u2019s unique, and we need to find\nthe right match out of this field of contenders,\u201d Foss said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Salina sits in a good spot, however, having ranked 10th last\nDecember in traffic production, among 56 markets where SkyWest is the sole\noperator, according to information from the Transportation Security\nAdministration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been working to stand out in the crowd,\u201d Foss said.\n\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of cities vying for very few operators.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like United Express that is currently serving Salina, Denver\nAir Connection sports 50-seat jets, he said, and is expected to propose\nsubsidized nonstop flights out of Salina to both Denver and Chicago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Key Lime\/Denver Air Connection also interlines with United\nflights at both hubs, Rogers said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe want to maintain an affiliation with United Airlines so\nthe next carrier can make connections with United in Denver and Chicago,\u201d he\nsaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As one of the two available airlines operating jets, Foss\ndeemed Denver Air Connection, \u201ca suitable replacement\u201d to SkyWest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Salina City Manager Mike Schrage, who was listening by\nphone, agreed that sticking with the Monday deadline proposals, and public\ncomment by April 22, was the right move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Airport authority board member Stephanie Carlin spoke in\nfavor of the possibility of Denver Air Connection serving Salina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis sounds like a very good, mutually beneficial\nrelationship, especially when you consider the airport authority\u2019s plan for\ngrowth is highly contingent upon scheduled air service,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Salina City Commissioner Mike Hoppock thanked the group for\nsharing information. \u201cIt seems like we have pretty much one shot to keep air\nservice,\u201d he said by phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Airport Board Chairman Kent Buer thanked Foss, Rogers and\nthe airport authority staff. \u201cYour time and effort given to the community is\nsecond to none,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Salina Regional Airport leaders and advisers are hard at work securing a future for scheduled air service in north-central Kansas. Aware of vital steps necessary in coming days and weeks, Salina Airport Authority board members gathered in a special meeting Thursday morning, mulling over relatively few options in the wake of actions last month that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[141,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eas","category-kansas"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21608"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21610,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21608\/revisions\/21610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}