Friday, October 21, 2011

Three airlines interested in serving Mason City Municipal Airport (KMCW), Iowa

MASON CITY - Three airlines have expressed interest in serving Mason City Municipal Airport, replacing Delta Airlines.

The three proposals are far different in scope and service. They are: Great Lakes Aviation; Multi-Aero Inc., doing business as Air Choice One; and Sovereign Air.

Great Lakes would provide four daily round trips between Mason City and Minneapolis on a 19-seat Beech aircraft, 11 fewer seats than the aircraft now serving Mason City.

Air Choice One is offering 47 round trips a week, roughly seven a day, on a nine-seat Cessna Grand Caravan.

Sovereign Airlines is not yet operating, does not have an aircraft and is seeking funding. It is proposing 19 flights a week on a 30-seat aircraft.

Airport Manager Pam Osgood said the city and the Airport Commission have until Nov. 21 to respond to the proposals.

"I want to remind everyone that Delta Airlines is committed to service Mason City until another carrier is operating here," she said. "People can book their flights out of Mason City without being concerned about any changes."

She said Great Lakes Aviation would allow local service to be marketed and priced utilizing the Great Lakes reservations system which includes customer ticket purchasing capability on both the Great Lakes' website and on all major web booking websites.

Great Lakes will be utilizing interlines e-ticketing and baggage agreements with American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Frontier Airlines, United Airlines and U.S. Airways. All of them offer passengers maximum access to the domestic and international air transportation system at the Minneapolis hub.

Osgood said Great Lakes and Delta Airlines are coordinating an upgrade of electronic communication systems to enable Great Lakes to provide Delta boarding passes and Sky Miles processing.

Delta and Great Lakes also intend to enable the sale of Great Lake's passenger segments on the Delta website for added passenger convenience, she said.

These reservation system upgrades are anticipated to be completed in the spring of 2012, said Osgood.

Great Lakes is headquartered in Cheyenne, Wyo.

Air Choice One is offering web-based booking and connectivity with United Airlines. It is based in St. Louis.

Osgood said Sovereign Air, headquartered in South Dakota, intends to have baggage and ticket agreements with the major air carriers by the start of the service.

There are 24 cities, including Mason City, seeking air service that would be subsidized by the federal Essential Air Service program.

"Every community in this situation is anxious to see something happen," said Osgood.

She said Great Lakes indicated it needs to be selected by at least five of the 24 cities in order to provide the service proposed for Mason City.

http://globegazette.com

No comments:

Post a Comment