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CEDAR CITY, Utah (AP) -- SkyWest has been awarded federal subsidies to provide air service to Cedar City Regional Airport.
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Monday that it had selected the airline to provide two round trips daily -- except Sundays -- between Cedar City and Salt Lake City.
It will receive an annual federal subsidy of $770,285 for two years, beginning next Jan. 1.
"This is good news," said Mayor Gerald Sherratt. "Three roundtrips would have been better news, but it was the right decision to stay with SkyWest."
The airline was competing with Mesa Airlines for the bid.
The proposal from Mesa Airlines was about $15,000 less, but the agency selected SkyWest, as recommended by the City Council.
The council cited the long-standing relationship with the airline, its connectivity to the Delta Airlines routes and the fact that SkyWest will offer a larger airplane, seating up to 33 passengers each trip as compared with the Mesa Airlines plane, which seats 19.
"We are required by statute to give great weight to community preferences," said Michael W. Reynolds, acting assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs. "We find that the strong community support for SkyWest outweighs the relatively small savings that would be realized by selecting Mesa."
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
