Fort Leonard Wood's Installation Transportation Officer, just as the joint-city Airport Committee, has recommended to the U.S. Department of Transportation that Cape Air be the next Essential Air Service provider at Forney Field.
Darlene F. Battle, the installation's Transportation Officer, in a letter dated last week, has recommended that Cape Air's bid be accepted.
“Although there was comparable information for the companies that submitted proposals, based on our review of the proposals and hearing proposals submitted by Seaport Airlines, Air Choice One and Cape Air, Fort Leonard Wood recommends the proposal submitted by Cape Air,” Battle writes in her letter of recommendation dated Aug. 24, the same day the recommendation needed to be forwarded.
The FLW recommendation made it a clean-sweep for Cape Air.
Battle then was specific in her recommendation.
“(The) Cape Air proposal offered a code share with American Airlines and interline e-ticketing and baggage agreements with all airlines flying out of St. Louis, comparable rates for airline service between St. Louis Lambert Airfield and Fort Leonard Wood, as well as their additional abilities to send more aircraft, if needed for passengers and/or baggage,” Battle writes in her letter of recommendation.
Asked to comment about her recommendation, Battle at first was reluctant. When told her letter was a matter of record, and that it was posted online, she was more at ease.
“Yes, we have recommended that Cape Air be the next provider,” Battle confirmed late last week. “No, it doesn't mean they're a sure thing. (The DOT) has gone against a recommendation before. However, it's my guess that Cape Air will be the chosen,” she said.
Battle's recommendation coincides with the decision of the joint Waynesville and St. Robert Airport Committee. Members of both city councils, Waynesville City Administrator Bruce Harrill and St. Robert City Attorney Kevin Hillman also sit on that committee.
Chris Schrantz, the Fixed Base Operations Manager at Forney Field, previously said the decision now could come at any time. Schrantz also said it may come after the Labor Day holiday. “We just don't know,” Schrantz said.
Whatever the timeline, Schrantz said the current service provider — Great Lakes — has a contract through Sept. 5, which could be extended.
Schrantz said the contract could be extended until Cape Air or the next provider can take over.
The intent of that extension will be to make sure there is no lapse in service, Schrantz said, indicating the new provider could take over by mid-month.
While Cape Air does business out of Cape Girardeau, it is a subsidiary of Hyannis Air Service, Inc., an airline headquartered at Barnstable Municipal Airport in Barnstable, Mass.
It operates scheduled passenger services in the Northeast, Florida, the Caribbean, Mid-Atlantic States, Midwest, and Micronesia.
Flights in Micronesia are operated as Continental Connection flights through a code share partnership with Continental Airlines. Flights between Hyannis and Nantucket, Mass., are operated under the Nantucket Airlines brand, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cape Air.
Forney Field is a potentially lucrative market, as evidenced by the increase in fuel sales from June to July, as recently reported during the Waynesville City Council meeting.
Fuel sales have skyrocketed from just more than 2,000 gallons in June to 3,100 gallons in July.
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Fort Leonard Wood's Installation Transportation Officer, just as the joint-city Airport Committee, has recommended to the U.S. Department of Transportation that Cape Air be the next Essential Air Service provider at Forney Field.
Darlene F. Battle, the installation's Transportation Officer, in a letter dated last week, has recommended that Cape Air's bid be accepted.
“Although there was comparable information for the companies that submitted proposals, based on our review of the proposals and hearing proposals submitted by Seaport Airlines, Air Choice One and Cape Air, Fort Leonard Wood recommends the proposal submitted by Cape Air,” Battle writes in her letter of recommendation dated Aug. 24, the same day the recommendation needed to be forwarded.
The FLW recommendation made it a clean-sweep for Cape Air.
Battle then was specific in her recommendation.
“(The) Cape Air proposal offered a code share with American Airlines and interline e-ticketing and baggage agreements with all airlines flying out of St. Louis, comparable rates for airline service between St. Louis Lambert Airfield and Fort Leonard Wood, as well as their additional abilities to send more aircraft, if needed for passengers and/or baggage,” Battle writes in her letter of recommendation.
Asked to comment about her recommendation, Battle at first was reluctant. When told her letter was a matter of record, and that it was posted online, she was more at ease.
“Yes, we have recommended that Cape Air be the next provider,” Battle confirmed late last week. “No, it doesn't mean they're a sure thing. (The DOT) has gone against a recommendation before. However, it's my guess that Cape Air will be the chosen,” she said.
Battle's recommendation coincides with the decision of the joint Waynesville and St. Robert Airport Committee. Members of both city councils, Waynesville City Administrator Bruce Harrill and St. Robert City Attorney Kevin Hillman also sit on that committee.
Chris Schrantz, the Fixed Base Operations Manager at Forney Field, previously said the decision now could come at any time. Schrantz also said it may come after the Labor Day holiday. “We just don't know,” Schrantz said.
Whatever the timeline, Schrantz said the current service provider — Great Lakes — has a contract through Sept. 5, which could be extended.
Schrantz said the contract could be extended until Cape Air or the next provider can take over.
The intent of that extension will be to make sure there is no lapse in service, Schrantz said, indicating the new provider could take over by mid-month.
While Cape Air does business out of Cape Girardeau, it is a subsidiary of Hyannis Air Service, Inc., an airline headquartered at Barnstable Municipal Airport in Barnstable, Mass.
It operates scheduled passenger services in the Northeast, Florida, the Caribbean, Mid-Atlantic States, Midwest, and Micronesia.
Flights in Micronesia are operated as Continental Connection flights through a code share partnership with Continental Airlines. Flights between Hyannis and Nantucket, Mass., are operated under the Nantucket Airlines brand, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cape Air.
Forney Field is a potentially lucrative market, as evidenced by the increase in fuel sales from June to July, as recently reported during the Waynesville City Council meeting.
Fuel sales have skyrocketed from just more than 2,000 gallons in June to 3,100 gallons in July.
