DOT denies El Dorado air service selection

EL DORADO — The U.S. Department of Transportation has upheld its selection of Southern Airways Express as the Essential Air Service provider for El Dorado.

In a six-page order issued Wednesday, the USDOT denied an appeal that was filed by the city and supported by Corporate Flight Management, Inc., the parent group of Contour Airlines, one of several airlines, along with Southern, that submitted bids to the USDOT late last year to provide government-subsidized, commercial airline service for El Dorado

On Thursday, community leaders met with Mark Cestari, executive vice-president of business development for Southern, which is based in Memphis.

Mickey Murfee, chairman of the El Dorado Airport Commission, said Southern is expected to begin flying out of South Arkansas Regional Airport at Goodwin Field around the first of May, offering three flights per weekday to DallasFort Worth International Airport.

Mike Dumas, president and chief executive officer of the El Dorado Union County Chamber of Commerce, said Southern will also provide one flight to Dallas-Fort Worth on Saturday and two on Sunday to fulfill the federal contract of 18 non-stop flights per week.

Among the airline proposals that were reviewed by the El Dorado Airport Commission last fall, community leaders overwhelmingly favored Contour Airlines, citing a twin-engine, pressurized aircraft versus the single-engine offered by Southern.

Additionally, Contour, headquartered in Smyrna, Tennessee, would have

provided flights to DFW and Nashville, and trips to Dallas-Fort Worth would have gone to the airport terminal.

Southern flights will stop at the Dallas-Fort Worth fixed based operation, and passengers will be transported to the airport terminal to catch connecting flights.

While reviewing proposals, airport commissioners noted that Southern submitted the lower bid of $2.3 million for the annual subsidy, and Contour’s bid was $4.9 million.

In their petitions to the department of transportation for reconsideration, the city and Contour argued that former El Dorado Essential Air Service provider SeaPort Airlines and Southern, with flights on behalf of SeaPort, regularly flew at an altitude above 8,000 feet between El Dorado and Dallas Love Field.

SeaPort served as the community’s Essential Air Service provider from 2009 until September 2016 when, due to a bankruptcy filing, the Oregon-based airline was ordered to shutter operations.

The lower altitude correlates with pressurization and shorter routes flown by commercial aircraft.

The city and Contour referred to a U.S. law that calls for “Basic Essential Air Service provided by pressurized aircraft when the service is provided by aircraft that regularly fly above 8,000 feet in altitude.”

In a response submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Southern said that it rarely flies above 7,000 feet in the Gulf region due to pockets of military airspace throughout the region.

Southern noted flying 5,000 to 7,000 feet allows aircraft to remain below most military airspace.

Southern expressed its willingness and commitment to instruct its pilots to remain below 8,000 feet between El Dorado and Dallas-Fort Worth, except in cases where safety is an issue.

Additionally, Southern said that while it is approved for single-pilot operations, the airline employs a captain and first officer for all of its Essential Air Service routes.

Susan McDermott, deputy assistant secretary for Aviation and International Affairs for the U.S. Department of Transportation, wrote that the department considered the community’s airline preference, but not to the exclusion of other selection criteria that the department is required to consider.

One factor, McDermott pointed out, is relative subsidy needs, which the U.S. Congress permits the department to consider.

“Contour’s proposal would have cost the federal government approximately twice as much as Southern’s while offering substantially similar service,” McDermott wrote.

“Given the similarities in the EAS proposals, the Department could not ignore the significant disparity in the subsidy simply to give the community its first choice of air carrier,” McDermott wrote.

The U.S. Department of Transportation said it also received a letter from Murphy USA in support of the city’s appeal.

The city of Harrison had also appealed the department’s selection of Southern to provide its Essential Air Service needs.

Harrison had also been served by SeaPort, and like El Dorado, the community expressed to the U.S. Department of Transportation its preference for Contour.

However, Harrison later reversed its position and supported Southern as its commercial air carrier for Boone County Regional Airport.

Southern began flying in Harrison in late January.

“We fully expect El Dorado, Harrison and Southern to work closely together in order to re-establish successful EAS and, thus, maintain continued eligibility in the EAS program,” McDermott wrote.

Community leaders in El Dorado say they will do just that, and they look forward to Southern setting up shop at South Arkansas Regional Airport in May.

Dumas, Murfee and Mayor Frank Hash said the meeting with Cestari was “good and positive,” with Cestari emphasizing that Southern understands that reliability and working with the local community are top priorities.

“”I see a level of willingness to improve air service, all aspects of air service, for us much more than I’ve seen before,” Hash said.

Cestari told community leaders that Southern pilots and airplanes will remain in the city overnight, adding that some pilots will live in El Dorado to better serve the community.

He said Cestari also discussed ideas to interface with the local community to help citizens learn more about Southern and the service the airline will provide here, as well as learn more about the community’s wants, needs and expectations from its Essential Air Service provider.

“He’s a very civic-minded individual. There was some talk about putting kiosks downtown. One disadvantage the airfield (South Arkansas Regional Airport) has being seven miles west of the city is that people don’t have routine contact with the airfield,” Hash said.

Dumas said Cestari has agreed to return to El Dorado in May to speak to the chamber board of directors.

The mayor and Dumas said that while the corporate flying community will remain a focus for Southern, the airline will also place an emphasis on leisure traveler by offering special packages and rates.