Deadline extended to bid on providing air service for city
The deadline was extended last week for airlines to bid to provide Essential Airline Service to El Dorado.
Currently, Southern Airways Express is the EAS provider for El Dorado, having been awarded its most recent two-year contract, which is set to expire on May 1, 2021, in 2019.
Previously, SeaPort Airlines provided EAS for El Dorado, as well as Hot Springs and Harrison, Ark.; when the company was ordered to liquidate after a bankruptcy filing in 2016, the United States Department of Transportation awarded the EAS contract to Southern Airways Express, who had held it since then.
The EAS program was established in 1978 as part of the Federal Aviation Act in order to “ensure that smaller communities would retain a link to the National Air Transportation System,” according to USDOT. Airlines are often offered subsidies to provide EAS, since they might otherwise operate at a loss to serve more rural communities.
Southern Airways’ EAS contract requires the airline offer 12 round-trip flights to Dallas, Tex. and six to Memphis, Tenn. each week; they received a federal subsidy of $2.5 million in 2019, and $2.6 million in 2020. According to information provided to the
News-Times by South Arkansas Regional Airport manager Jonathan Estes, residents from Ashley,
Calhoun and Columbia counties, along with Union County, utilize Southern Airways’ EAS flights. Most stayed in Dallas — which was the only flight offered when the survey that provided this data was gathered in 2018 — while about 40% caught a connecting flight.
“The largest boon that EAS provides is an economic benefit for the local communities,” a document Estes wrote about EAS reads. “Having this essential connection to other large cities allows for potential investors to have a cost-effective means to travel to the City of El Dorado and surrounding communities.”
Airport Commissioners reported at a meeting last month that another airline, SkyWest, has expressed interest in EAS provision for El Dorado in the current bid cycle. Estes said then they had discussed offering flights to Colorado or New York; he noted he had advised them to consider a route to Dallas.
The five most common connecting flights those who fly out of El Dorado catch land at Los Angeles, Cali. (LAX); Las Vegas, Nev. (LAS); Denver, Colo. (DEN); New York City, New York (NYC); and Seattle, Wash. (SEA).
Information provided by Estes said there are five main considerations when selecting an EAS provider:The air carrier’s reliability Contractual arrangements the carrier has with other large air carriers Interline agreements, which allow passengers and their baggage to be transported on a connecting flight with one reservation ticket, that the air carrier has with other large carriers Local preference, particularly that of local officials
The carrier’s marketability Southern Airways secured an interline agreement with American Airlines last year, allowing those who fly out of El Dorado to the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to catch an American Airlines flight on the same ticket; or those who fly into DFW on American Airlines to get a flight back to El Dorado on Southern Airways on the same ticket.
In the bid process after SeaPort liquidated, local officials’ preference was overruled by USDOT. Both Hot Springs and El Dorado selected different airlines to provide EAS, but USDOT awarded both contracts to Southern Airways. Southern Airways prevailed in an appeal the city submitted to USDOT.
Last January, the News-Times reported that the number of passengers utilizing EAS from SARA had grown; airline officials credited the increase with steady fares, reliable service and regular flights to Dallas, while Estes noted its aggressive marketing campaigns locally. The company has also been involved in some charitable efforts in the community.
Even as the COVID-19 pandemic has shaken travel and airlines large and small, Southern Airways has at least started to rebound, with 202 enplanements and 230 deplanements in June, up from 133 enplanements and 103 deplanements in May and only 33 enplanements and 39 deplanements in April.
The bid deadline for airlines wishing to provide EAS to El Dorado was originally today at 11:59 p.m.; it has now been pushed back to 11:59 p.m. on Aug. 31.