HomeMy WebLinkAboutAirport.Minutes.01-15-2008\.1
AIRPORT BOARD MINUTES
January 15, 2008
The Drop Zone Restaurant
Members Present: Craig Bohnsack, Bill Dunn, Fred Eggley, Rick Hetzel, Gerry Keene, Robbie Rollins,
Mark Seesing, Be Shantz, Walt Wildman
Others Present: Bruce Loy, Airport Manager; Angela Wilder, Administrative Coordinator; Brian
Kinsey, Director of Marketing at St. Louis -Lambert International Airport: Shane Storz,
CEO Air Choice One; Rudy Keller, Southeast Missourian Reporter; KFVS-12 News
Crew; Bill Malone; Jason Fdwards: Dr. Dave Sterratt
I. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
The meeting was called to order at 5:01 PM. Mr. Eggley moved and Mr. Wildman seconded
the motion to approve the December 2007 minutes. The motion passed by unanimous vote.
II. OLD BUSINESS
A. Airport Activity Report — Mr. Loy presented an Airport Usage Report for December 2007.
Mr. Loy informed the Board that the airline was showing improvement in December as
compared with November; however by the middle of the month Big Sky Airlines informed us
that they would be cancelling operations on January 7, 2008. This cancellation came as a
surprise to, not only Cape Girardeau, but to all operating cities on the east coast as well. Mr.
Loy reported that local traffic was down for December due to poor weather conditions for the
month.
B. Cape Aviation Report — Mr. Loy presented a Cape Aviation Fuel Report for December 2007,
along with requested fuel comparisons that included both a year-to-year for the last three years
and month-to-month for 2007. Mr. Loy reported to the board that fuel sales were also down for
December due to weather.
C. ProjectUpdates—
• Cape Aviation Facility Rehabilitation — Mr. Loy infonned the Board that construction at the
FBO is looking at a completion date at the end of February. He reported the hangar beams had
rust damage, but have been repaired and have been painted along with the hangar ceiling.
There are also minor projects that need finishing. Mr. Loy also informed the Board that
MoDOT contacted him about $90,000.00 of entitlement funds that they have available for us to
add to the project.
III. NEW BUSINESS
A. Election of Officers — Mr. Hetzel moved and Mr. Dunn seconded the motion to table the
Election of Officers until the next meeting in order to focus on the Essential Air Service
proposals. The motion passed by unanimous vote.
B. Discussion regarding Essential Air Service airline proposals — Mr. Loy stated that the
USDOT is fast -tracking the EAS issue to benefit the cities involved. Mr. Loy informed the Board
s... that bids were received from Air Choice One, offering service to St. Louis, and Great Lakes
Aviation, offering service to Kansas City, St. Louis, or Cincinnati. He also informed them that
neither service would be run without a code share with a major airline carrier; however there is a
possibility that Great Lakes could be attainable. Bruce explained the definition of what not
having a code share means, but stated that luggage would be interlined with the airline of a
customer's destination. Brace introduced Shane Storz, CEO of Air Choice One and Brian
Kinsey, Director of Marketing at St. Louis -Lambert International Airport. Chuck Howell was
unable to attend because Great Lakes had presently been awarded service in Billings, MT.
Mr. Storz introduced his family-owned company that was established in 1979. He informed the
Board that currently the only commercial service they provide is from Mountain Home to St.
Louis, however that is scheduled to begin April 1, 2008 as Part 135. Mr. Storz educated the Board
on the reliability of his company. He explained that when flying cargo for UPS for a year and a
half they had a reliability rate of 99.1 % for on-time departures and only one cause for delay. They
would have two aircraft to service two cities and would be able to get started between 90-120
days after the award is granted. Air Choice One would fly into concourse D and there would be
no need to reclaim luggage or go through security again. A board member inquired about the
luggage capabilities that the Cessna Caravan would be able to provide. Mr. Stutz's answer was
275 lbs. per person with 8 passengers per flight. He also described the aircraft to have executive
seating with the flight time to be about 49 minutes long.
There was no representative from Great Lakes Aviation present; however we were able to contact
Chuck Howell, the airline's President, via telephone. Mr. Loy informed the Board of Great
Lakes' current services. Marion, IL is doing moderately well, while the airline is much happier
with the response to service in Quincy, IL. Mr. Howell explained to the Board that his airline is
currently without aircraft and pilots, so they are not going to speculate on a starting time frame.
He explained that he will need seven pilots per aircmfl that is needed. Big Sky will be
terminating service out of Montana on March 8, 2008, while Mesa Airlines, who has cut their
services out of Marion, 11, dramatically, is holding 20 available aircraft. Mr. Howell assured the
Board that he will continue speaking with American Airlines on the possibility of attaining a code
share. He also informed the Board that code shares already exist in Kansas City with United
Airlines and Frontier Airlines. Currently, Great Lakes services 70% of the EAS system in 28
cities. When asked about the amount of planes that they needed to acquire, Mr. Howell's
response was: 2 in California, l in Nevada, 7 in Montana, 2 in St. Louis, and possibly 2 for Cape
Girardeau, Jackson, TN and Owensboro, KY.
Brian Kinsey, Director of Marketing at SL Louis -Lambert International Airport, provided the
Board with a comparison of both the St. Louis and Kansas City airports. He explained that St.
Louis -Lambert ranks 3rd or 0 largest operation of American Airlines, the nation's largest airline.
Mr. Kinsey discussed changes that were happening at Lambert for the betterment of the
passengers, as well as the cities that would be directing service to the airport. Discussion followed
by the public attendees. Discussion regarding Cincinnati led to the conclusion that the airport
would be too expensive without a code share.
Mr. Hetzel moved and Mr. Eggley seconded the motion to table the meeting to the following
evening in order to think about the information that was presented to them. The motion passed by
unanimous vote. A meeting was set for Wednesday, January 16, at 8:00 pm.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:36 p.m.
Minutes prepared by Angela Wilder, Administrative Coordinator
Minutes Appro ed By:
William Gerry Keene,B
Chairman Airport Advisory Board