ALPENA -Alpena County Regional Airport Manager Billi McRoberts was notified the United States Department of Transportation has extended the due date for potential bidders for air service in Alpena until Feb. 14.
The federal government is in its third request for proposal to find a suitable replacement for Delta Airlines, which has said it plans to discontinue operations at the airport. McRoberts said Alpena Mayor Matt Waligora contacted the DOT and requested an extension so negotiations with other airlines could continue.
Waligora shared an idea with McRoberts and, after some initial discussions, a possible partner to combine flights with may have been located.
"I've been in contact with American Airlines, but it tells me they don't have an aircraft available to submit a bid in Alpena," McRoberts said. "I also talked to Sky West Airlines, and they also told me they aren't in a position to submit a bid either. Mayor Waligora recommended I contact the airport manager in Muskegon to see if it would be interested in tagging flights with passengers from Alpena."
McRoberts said she had conversations with the other airport, and the manager was open to the idea and in turn contacted Sky West to see if this might prompt it to bid in Alpena. The combined flights would utilize Chicago's O'Hare Airport as its main hub. McRoberts said she has been contacted and informed by Delta that it will begin combining flights with Pellston in about a month. She said if it gets to that point it could become a problem for local passengers.
"It could result in bumping for some of our passengers because there are a lot of people that fly out of Pellston," McRoberts said. "They would either have to wait until the next flight or the next day. They will receive some sort of compensation from Delta, like maybe getting the flight for free, but it is very inconvenient."
A third airline, Trans States Airlines, is also in play, but McRoberts said there has been no serious talk to this point. The first government RFP produced only two bids one from Intrepid International and the second from Gulfstream International. Since then Gulfstream has been sold to another firm and renamed Silver Airways and has yet to bid again.
Commissioner Tom Mullaney said the county is doing everything it can and is comfortable on how McRoberts and airline specialist Boyd Group International has handled the issue.
"We could have hired the top five companies in the industry, and we would be at the same point and have the same results as we do now," Mullaney said. "Billi has lived up to our expectations considering the circumstances. We could have the manager from Detroit Metro up here and the same thing would be happening, but everyone needs a scapegoat. I think it is just a sign of the times. There is a new air service climate. The airlines are dropping out of the local areas and want people to travel to the larger hubs. It is the wave of the future and it is happening all over, not just in Alpena."
Steve Schulwitz can be reached via e-mail at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5689.