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CEDAR CITY, Utah (AP) -- Phoenix-based Mesa Airlines has been picked by the U.S. Department of Transportation to replace SkyWest as Cedar City's essential air service provider.
SkyWest said it would contest the decision.
The Essential Air Service Program subsidizes air carriers to serve rural communities that otherwise would have no service.
Cedar City officials wanted the service to continue to be provided by St. George-based SkyWest, which provides flights to Salt Lake City. SkyWest has provided air service to Cedar City for more than 30 years. The contract is negotiated every two years.
SkyWest sought a higher subsidy than Mesa Airlines did.
Mesa Airlines' service is to include two nonstop round trips to Las Vegas each weekday and over each weekend, as well as an additional nonstop round trip to Phoenix on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
Michael Reynolds, acting assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs, said in issuing the decision Wednesday that Mesa Airlines could benefit Cedar City airport users by providing additional options in connecting to the national air transportation system.
He said Las Vegas and Phoenix are also served by a wide variety of air carriers, including a significant presence of other low-income airlines.
Reynolds said at $1,602,912 annually, SkyWest's proposal would cost almost twice as much as Mesa's option for $897,535.
"The cost of the SkyWest proposal is also more than twice as much as its current annual subsidy of $770,285, yet would only provide an additional six weekly round trips," Reynolds said.
Cedar City officials said the community needs regular air service to Salt Lake City and they fear the decision could hurt the city's economy.
"The airport brings $25 million dollars to our city each year," Mayor Gerald Sherratt said. "Having a daily schedule ... you can count on, is important to us. Fifty-one percent of our passengers fly to and from Salt Lake City."
Sherratt is not sure if the selection of Mesa is a done deal, but, "If we truly end up with Mesa, we hope we could negotiate where they go and when they go."
Airport Manager Steve Farmer said the airport can best serve the community by SkyWest remaining the air service provider.
In a news release Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, said Cedar City hopes to become independent of the Essential Air Service program and that will be harder without flights to Salt Lake City.
"Self-sufficiency for a small airport is directly tied to enplanements and in this case, flights to Salt Lake City are a critical element in the record traffic in and out of Cedar airport," he said.
Southern Utah University President Steven D. Bennion said, "This is terrible, absolutely terrible."
Bennion said he flies three to four times a month to Salt Lake City and travels to other destinations from the Delta Airlines hub. With all the connections in Salt Lake City, the rates are usually reasonable, he said.
"There are a lot of university people who go to meetings in Salt Lake City or connect with Delta. If there is not a Delta connection, it would skyrocket our costs," he said. "This is bad news for Cedar City and SUU. SkyWest has served us well for many years. How that decision was made baffles me."
SkyWest said it would contest selection of Mesa Airlines as the service provider.
"We will pursue any avenues we can to continue our service in Cedar City," said Steven Hart, SkyWest vice president of market development.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
