Council chooses Boutique

McCOOK, Neb. -- If all goes as expected, Boutique Air will be the next commercial air service provider at McCook Ben Nelson Regional Airport, although when the airline takes over is still an unknown.

The McCook City Council unanimously supported recommending Boutique Air receive the Essential Air Service contract during its regularly scheduled meeting Monday evening. Councilors voiced various reasons for supporting the airline's proposal and seemed in agreement that the sooner the airline was in place the better.

The Boutique Air proposal indicates the airline could begin service 60 to 90 days after being awarded the contract from the Department of Transportation.

Councilman Gene Weedin asked how soon city staff expected the airline to begin operations and city staff indicated they were still researching the contract situation with Great Lakes.

Boutique Air similarly assumed commercial air service responsibilities from Great Lakes in Alliance, Nebraska, according to City Manager Nate Schneider. He said Alliance had to maintain Great Lakes for a certain period of time but he didn't yet know what that would look like for McCook.

Schneider said getting a recommendation to the Department of Transportation by the Dec. 17 deadline had taken priority and researching the contract situation with Great Lakes would be a focus in the near future.

"As far as what we can and can't do," said Schneider, adding the city was still contractually obligated with Great Lakes. The Great Lakes contract expires in June of 2016 but the airline has faced growing criticism for trending at more than a 25 percent decrease in commercial passengers at the McCook airport for the year, after posting an 82 percent decrease in passengers in 2014.

The city received proposals for future air service from Boutique Air, Aerodynamics Inc. and Great Lakes Aviation in recent weeks and councilors expressed their appreciation Monday for receiving two of those contracts, as well as their collective optimism for the future of local air service. All three airlines proposed two-round trip daily flights to Denver with fares less than $100 one-way.

Councilman Bruce McDowell said Boutique Air was definitely the way to go and touted the airline's understanding and preparedness for changes made to federal pilot requirements in recent years. The changes have been cited repeatedly by Great Lakes as the reasoning behind the decreasing number of commercial passengers flying out of McCook.

McDowell said Great Lakes financial situation was a factor in his decision also, as well the airline's service level over the length of the contract.

McDowell expressed his appreciation for the proposal submitted by Aerodynamics Inc. to provide commercial air service via passenger jet.

"I'm glad ADI thought enough of us to submit a proposal," he said, adding it would be really nice at some point in the future but the city was in no way financially ready for such an investment in the timeframe available.

Mayor Mike Gonzales indicated Great Lakes had been given ample opportunity to rectify the situation and was still posting double digit decreases in boarded passengers.

"It's time we gave someone else a chance," he said.

Councilwoman Janet Hepp echoed similar support for Boutique Air and Councilman Jerry Calvin indicated he found it difficult to take the Great Lakes proposal serious, given the airline's recent performance.

"I thought the Great Lakes proposal was a practical joke considering the service provided by them," said Calvin, adding he really liked the Boutique proposal.

Councilors unanimously approved recommending the Department of Transportation award the EAS contract to Boutique Air. The decision was supported by a recommendation from city staff and unanimous recommendation from the Airport Advisory Commission last week.