There was good news and bad news at the Benedum Airport Authority’s meeting Wednesday afternoon that was held at the Robert C. Byrd National Aerospace Education Center. And it all centered on who was bidding to provide daily flight service from the North Central West Virginia Airport in Bridgeport to several different hubs for connecting flights.

 

The bad news involved who didn’t bid on providing Essential Air Service (EAS) from the NCWV Airport to a heavily trafficked hub. Locals worked diligently to try and land a major network airline, such as American Airlines, to provide daily flight service from Bridgeport to a hub such as Charlotte that has hundreds of connecting flights.

 

The good news is that the airport did receive bids. In fact, the airport received bids from six different airlines looking to provide daily flight service.

 

“There have been times where we’ve scrambled to get just one bid. To get six, I think it’s safe to say, is the most in the airport’s history,” said Authority Counsel Dean Ramsey, who has represented the airport’s legal concerns for decades.

 

Now, of course comes the difficult part. What airline does the Airport Authority – the governing body of the NCWV Airport – choose?

 

For almost an hour, Mikey Mooney with Sixel Consulting, the airport’s consultant, broke down the six airlines that have bid on the service. Mooney went over nearly 30 pages of material in explaining the bids, the pros, the cons and what to be concerned about and what to be happy about.

 

As for the airlines that bid, they include the following with potential hubs in parentheses:

Mooney said the decision won’t be easy. Many of those submitting proposals submitted multiple proposals with different types of aircraft, only one of which (Aerodynamics) offered jet service; as well as some that included teaming with other airports and those with varying costs, airlines that don’t have code sharing with a network airline (only Silver has that and it is with United) and more.

 

“The next stop is to sit down and schedule times where we can meet with these groups. We have to determine if we want to meet with them face to face or by way of a phone conference call,” said Authority President Ron Watson.

 

Currently, the airport has EAS, which is a federal subsidy of more than $2 million to help secure flight service to rural communities such as Bridgeport, through Silver Airways. At more than one meeting, Authority members have voiced their displeasure over Silver’s service. The Silver contract with the NCWV Airport expires on Sept. 30.

 

Mooney said comments are due back to the Department of Transportation, which worked on soliciting the bids and oversees the EAS program, by June 20. That deadline can be extended, but if the airport opts to go away from Silver then the transition from Silver to the new carrier could result in days or even weeks without any service while putting a new carrier in place.

 

“We understand the importance of meeting that deadline and we anticipate being able to accomplish the due diligence required to meet that deadline,” said Rock.

 

With no network carriers such as American, Delta or United proposing to come to Bridgeport for daily service, the minimum revenue guarantee that the NCWV Airport put in its package to draw a network carrier is no longer in play. Authority members were able to get roughly $2 million pledged from entities such as the Harrison and Marion County commissions – the owners of the airport – along with municipalities such as Bridgeport and Clarksburg and other agencies that would have been on top of the EAS funds provided to help a potential airline avert the risk of losing money.

 

“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to accomplish getting a network carrier, but feel good that at least we did get consideration from them. The fact of the matter is that the challenges facing rural aviation are just too big at this time for a network carrier to come here,” said Rock. “We’ve seen growth, but not with our daily carrier (Silver). If we want to have a realistic shot at landing a network carrier in the future we have to grow our daily numbers and that’s what we want to do with whoever we chose this time around.”

 

Mooney explained the importance of educating travelers on using whoever is chosen as opposed to going to airports outside of the area, which is called “leakage.” Nearly 70 percent of the flyers in the area that could be serviced by the NCWV Airport goes to Pittsburgh.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Attorney Dean Ramsey addressing the Benedum Airport Authority, while Sixel Consulting's Mike Mooney - standing - and Airport Director Rick Rock are shown in the middle photo. Bottom photo shows Authority President Ron Watson fielding questions for Mooney at Wednesday's meeting.