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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAirport.Minutes.07-12-2017i t AIRPORT BOARD MINUTES July 72, 207? SanaJ,'.s Place Restaurant Special meeting Members Present: Justin Albright,.left Brune. Robert ('ork, Ryan Dewrock. Pau: Minvus. Brian Ozark. Mark Wcl er Others Present: Brace Loi, Airport Manage,: Satr.ra Amos. Deputy Airport Manager; nc Derrick Iin, Flight Line Supervisor; Moll, flood, Deputy City Manager; John Metzner, Presider: and CEO ofCalle (iirardcau Chamber of Commerce; Chris Drury. JCPVS 12; Greg Atkin, Managing Director of Market Deoelopnzcnt for SkyWest Airlines. Mike Ostler. SkvWest Airlines 1. Minutes of Previous Meeting: the mowing wu called to order at 5:03pm. bluratex xere not available a, apprewe from the previous meeting. IL Appearances: A. SkvWest Airlines --All. Loy intrxluced Greg Alk in and M ike Ostlerw:tl; Sk)mesl to the Board. Mr. Atkin gave the Board an overview of Sky West Airlines and their Mstory. The eo:r:paoy slatted li rty-Y.ve 1,15) )ears ago in St. George Utai: and' -as grown to the largest regional airline in the world. Skv West operates flights for Delta and United. They are proposing service in Cape Girardeau with United Airlines and would operate as United Express with a tidy) (50) real Canadair Regional Jet (C'RJ) - 200 to Chicago O'Hare. Mr. Atkin reported that 9kyWesf has operated at 100% Load Factor for 187 days whenta ith respect to controllable carce'l.:aliurz. There were 7Crot0) caae:iations due to mechanical, crew, etc. 'Play have a 99.Qd°:n completion tate for their United branded flights and 10(46 for the Delta branded !lights. Sky West operates 2,000 daily flights fix various carriers around the world. Alk. Alki-. sated 1, :1 led Airlines operates tuna) daisy O;ghts out of Chicago O'i rare. Passengers would have the benefit of being screened in Cape Girardeau and not having to go had; through cecurdN upon arrival in Chicago. Witb t"e United codeshare, there would be one ticket pricing, Passengers would also be able to utilize mileage and frequent flyer moltrams. Mr. Atkin and Mi. Ostler both expressed SkyWest is a "hig brand airline with a small carrier rM-'6 Mesa eanunUniiiei they currcn::y operate shared out below I0,00m annual enplanements and are now above that mark. Thee provided examples of several memo writs that Crew their piosat:er numhers>nbs±aslialIN nLear Ilei ±witch from prop service lojet service. Those communities include: Devil's Lake, ND. I hanesburri. MS, Cedar Ctrv, LN. Larmtzie, WY, Jattestou il, ND. and Me:idiac, MS. and Sky West operates their flights with one I I f flight attendant and lavatory accessibility. According to Mr. Atkin, SkyWost has not experienced as many issues from the pilot shortage an others in the irdustr}. They plem to overnight the aircrall and crew in Cape (iirardcau every night. 'I'lle crew domicile is in C'Iticago. In speaking about their nl ilot> and emplovecs.:l-cv vserr :named one of the top emplo)cx h% 1 ods, s" magazine. Mr. Loy asked about their marketing budget, the amount and what their plan for the Cape Girardeau market would consist of: Mr. Atkin stated SkvWest has dedicated marketing personnel and are willing to provide $10,000.00 for adverbs ing buys in the region. As previoush stated, the airline would he branded as United Express and marketing would reflect that name instead of Skv West. They do not provide much sponsorship but do offer community support through ticket donations and giveaways, which are a huge draw in other cumnumities. Mr. Ostler noted that they are huge supporters of Habitat for Humanity. The Board asked how the seat structure would work since some ]lights would be shared with Quincv. Mr. Ostler noted their reservation system is designed to handle communities coupled together and tickets are first come, first serve basis. 'I here are some seats that are reserved for the last minute business traveler. The average fare would begin around $98.00/one Way. Mr. Cork asked if the, plan to purchase fief locally. Mr. Atkin stated Sky West prefers to buy fuel locally as a part of an Into -Plane fuel agreement but would defer more specific questions to their Operations Coordinator. Other questions were asked including the need to increase the size of the sterile holding area to which Mr. Atkin replied the terminal is adequate in size fur their operation with minimal changes needed. Other operational needs were addressed including the need for a lavatory disposal area. Discussion continued on other terminal changes that Would need to be made to accommodate larger passenger loads. They SkyWesl Airlines presentation concluded at 6:48pm. B. Boutique Air— Mr. Loy introduce Matthew Butcher, director of operations, with Boutique Air to the Board. Mr. Butcher gave a summary of Boutique Airs history. Headquartered out of San Francisco, CA, Boutique Air has provided scheduled passenger service for over four (4) years. They are interested in growing their business within the Essential Air Service (EAS) as well as non -EAS routes. Boutique operates twenty-one ('_l ) Pilams PC -f2 and tour (4) King Air 350 aircraft. Mr. Butcher provided examples ofcommunitics that had struggled with previous carriers until Boutique started service and significantly increased their number of enplanements. Two of those communities include Carlsbad, NM and Show Low, AZ. He stated they recent1v began service in Massena. NY and ridership has increased 159x. Mr. Butcher went over some of the options proposed for Cape Girardeau sluting the flights would be offered in the Pilatus PC -12, a single engine aircraft. They offer low fares, starting at $50.00, and there arc no last minute price increases. Ihey also offer discounted vouches in increments of om 1101 Or haenh, (20). He noted the vouchers are popular with businesses. They currently have an interline baggage agreement with United and are working on a aodeshare. Boutique dues not charge baggage fees, unaccompanied minor lees, or pet fees. Boutique has their own internal IT department that writes the codes for their software and maintains all ol'their systems. s'► They also offer flight cancellations on their Website. the Board asked how Boutique is handling the nationwide pilots lie rage. Mr. Butcher assured the Board that Boutique has comfortably managed to remain unaffected by the shortage, stating that each location is adequately staffed. Adjournment: There being no other business, Mr. Welker moved to adjourn the meeting and Mr. Dewrock seconded the motion. All were in favor. The meeting was adjourned at 820p n. Minutes prepared by Katrina Amos Deputy Airport Manager Southern Airways Interview Summary— Mr. Loy introduced Stan Little, CEO of Southern Airway to the Board. Mr. Little provided a history on Southern Airways. Based out of Memphis,'I N. Southern was formed as a response to Delta Airlines "de-hubbing" Memphis International Airport. In business for four (4) years, they started w ith flights to Destin, Fl. at an average cost of $50/one. Mr. Little expressed that the FAS program is a foundation for their business model but they have plans outside of the program. He stated their goal is to have a healthv mix of destinations and connections. Mr. Little gent over their successes in other communities thev serve including Harrison, Arkansas and Jackson. Mississippi. 1 to discussed their plan for growth and options that would be available as a result. He stale tltey would consider non -subsidized flight options to increase the number of enplanements. Discussion continued on how Southern has been affected by the natiomv ide pilot shortage. Mr. Little stated Southern pays their pilots well, average $65,000/year in the lett seat. They also created a pilot mentor program with the legacy carriers, noting their pilots IJy until age 70 with approved medical. They also have a program with Mesa Airlines to help pilot's get to the required 1,500 hours that include bonuses to sign on as a First Officer and an incentive bonus to stay with Boutique for 800 hours Mier that requirement has been met. Southern Airways has a tiered pricing structure as tial lows: $19,00 14 da7s advance reservation $49,00 7 days advance rescrvation $69.(10 Walk -Up Fare Mr. I,ittle Stated that Southern is in all of the Global Distributing Systems and they have an interline baggage agreement with American Airlines. They are also working on a codeshare agreement with American. Discussions continued on the topic.