Boutique Air 'taking steps' to address concerns

McCOOK, Neb. — Boutique Air, the Essential Air Service (EAS) provider at the McCook Airport, is opening a maintenance area in Chadron, Neb.

It’s one of a number of new steps the airline has been implementing recently, said McCook Public Works director, Kyle Potthoff.

The McCook Airport Advisory Commission at its Jan. 14 meeting spoke to officials at Boutique via a conference call. A local employee of Boutique and a regional manager were also present at the meeting.

Of the 52 Boutique Air flights scheduled in December to Denver from McCook Ben Nelson Regional Airport, 13 were canceled, two because of weather and 11 for” other reasons.” Of flights coming in from Denver, 52 were scheduled and 11 were canceled, with weather cited for two and “other reasons” for nine.

Potthoff said he’s heard various comments from the public about flying with Boutique Air, with some having a great experience and others “not so great.”

“But I truly believe (Boutique Air) is being sincere…that they are taking steps to make things better,” he said, citing the conference call as being very productive.

“They understood our concerns and it appears they are taking steps to alleviate those concerns,” he said.

The new shop in Chadron will help with maintenance issues and result in higher efficiency rates, he said, bringing the total number of maintenance shops for Boutique to five. Other measures Boutique specified during the conference call were:

— five additional aircraft will be put in rotation, the same type that is currently used, a Pilatus PC-12. Certification of three was hampered by the government shut down and are still waiting for certification by the government, Potthoff said.

— additional pilots will be hired

— Boutique purchased its own fuel truck to speed up time fueling at the Denver airport

— new tracking software will be implemented to keep better track of operations

— the EAS contract includes $20,000 for advertising, that Boutique Air representatives said will be used for an “Awareness campaign” on radio, the McCook Area Chamber of Commerce, social media, the McCook Gazette and other area newspapers

San Francisco-based Boutique Air, founded in 2007, is used at 30 airports, including three in Nebraska: McCook, Chadron and Alliance. As of 2015, it had 14 routes with an Essential Air Service airport. It first became the EAS provider at the McCook Airport in 2016 with a two-year contract. That contract was extended in February 2018 for four years, with Boutique Air receiving a government subsidy of $2.46 million for the first year (2018) and $2.51 million for this year.

Members of the McCook Airport Advisory Commission are Dick Trail, Mike Kugler, Doug Skiles, Trevor Taylor, Richard Stull, Griff Malleck and Dave Pfeffer.