Joplin airport seeks Kansas City, Dallas flights

Airport Manager Steve Stockam said April 28 that the city is recommending federal approval for one of two plans for Essential Air Service submitted by Mesa Airlines.

The proposal would give the airport 12 nonstop roundtrips a week to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, plus six nonstop roundtrips a week to Kansas City International Airport.

Two carriers presented a total of three options to provide EAS to the airport after current carrier Trans States Airlines announced its intention to leave when its current deal expires on July 31.

EAS is a federal program that guarantees air service to cities that had carriers before airline deregulation. The federal government pays the cost of the subsidy.

“After careful consideration of the two carriers and three options, the city of Joplin strongly endorses Mesa Airlines Option 2, offering Beech 1900D service to both Kansas City and Dallas/Fort Worth, for an annual subsidy of $1,149,875,” Stockam wrote in a letter to the DOT.

The other option presented by Mesa called for 18 nonstop roundtrips a week to Kansas City with an annual subsidy of $849,757. Regions-

Air proposed 19 nonstop roundtrips a week to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport with an annual subsidy of $1,336,786.

All three options called for service on 19-seat turbo-prop aircraft.

The department will now review the proposals and recommendations and decide which airline will get the federal money. Stockam said he anticipates a decision before the end of May.

Stockam said the city recognizes that its EAS rules currently allow only one hub, but said that the extra $300,118 could end up saving the program money if it boosts Joplin out of EAS.

“The city of Joplin believes it is at a crossroads in terms of air service,” Stockam said in the letter. “The city’s determination to grow its air service back to self-sufficiency must be supported, near term, by the EAS program. Long-term, the community is confident it can re-attain air service self-sufficiency, starting with selection of (the recommended option), the best air service option available now.”

According to its Web site, Mesa currently operates 182 aircraft with more than 1,100 daily departures to more than 165 cities in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Canada and Mexico.

Trans States, operating in Joplin as AmericanConnections, currently offers 14 nonstop roundtrips a week between Joplin and St. Louis with 30-seat aircraft. The current annual subsidy is $755,762.

Stockam said that Joplin’s air service has declined in recent years, “not because of a lack of local patronage, but because of strategic changes in the airline industry that were completely beyond (Joplin’s) control.”

Northwest Airlines eliminated its Joplin-to-Memphis routes as part of its realignment of hub operations in 2000. American Airlines bought TWA in 2001 and reduced service at St. Louis. The loss of connectivity at St. Louis caused Trans States to request EAS.

Stockam said he was upset with Trans States’ lack of cooperation in the city’s efforts to promote the airport.

“In all instances the incumbent carrier has declined the city of Joplin’s proposals,” Stockam said. “This has been very frustrating for the community, which is determined to restore air service to a level commensurate with its economy and market population levels. More importantly, Joplin is determined to grow its way out of the EAS program and to have self-sustaining air service to multiple hubs.”

Jeff Wells is editor of Joplin Tri-State Business, a sister publication of Springfield Business Journal. This article also ran in the May 8 Joplin Tri-State Business.