Southern Airways, American partner
Connecting through Dallas is now a more seamless experience for Hot Springs Memorial Field passengers, Southern Airways announced Wednesday.
The federally subsidized carrier contracted to provide 18 weekly round-trip flights to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport entered into an agreement with American Airlines that allows passengers
to fly to and from Hot Springs through Dallas paying one fare.
The single transaction can be booked through a travel website or Southern Air’s website. Entering Hot Springs into the destination field of the former previously returned no flights for passengers departing from airports other than DFW. Now those flying from as far afield as the West Coast can book a ticket to the local airport, said Keith Sisson, Southern Airways’ chief marketing officer.
“More people will have access to Hot Springs airport,” he said. “It used to be that somebody in Seattle couldn’t get to Hot Springs unless they knew about Southern Airways and to fly out of Dallas. Now they can type Hot Springs into the search and it will populate a ticket for them.”
The agreement makes both airlines responsible for the other’s passengers, Sisson said, providing an accommodation for those who miss their connecting flight. Carriers who aren’t bound by interline agreements are likely to charge a change fee when one of them makes a passenger late for the other’s connecting flight, he said.
“It would be just like you being late to the airport, as if you drove your own car there,” he said. “With the interline agreement, you’re now completely protected all the way through the process, no matter if American makes you late or we make you late, you’re getting on the next available flight.”
Luggage will automatically transfer from American to Southern on flights to Hot Springs, allowing passengers to avoid the baggage claim area at DFW. Sisson said federal law requires passengers departing from Hot Springs to have their bags screened by the Transportation Security Administration at DFW, as TSA doesn’t staff the local airport.
“According to law, the bag owner must check it with TSA,” he said. “On inbound flights our people will retrieve the bag and take it plane side when you land at DFW. It doesn’t work that way on outbound flights, because the bag has to go through TSA screening.”
Sisson said the 8,397 Southern passengers who departed from and arrived in Hot Springs last year set a record for commercial air service at the airport, topping the previous high in 2006.
“And we’re on pace for another record-setting year,” he said. “There’s only been two months in the current calendar year where we didn’t beat last year’s total.”
The federal government pays Southern $2.67 million a year to service the Hot Springs-Dallas route under the terms of the Essential Air Service contract that took effect March 1. The cost will increase to $2.73 million next year.
Hot Springs is an EAS city benefitting from federally subsidized flights connecting small airfields to large or medium-hub airports. EAS was created to incentivize airlines to service small airports after deregulation allowed them to choose the airports and routes they want to serve.