Courtesy Photo A SkyWest jet is parked near the passenger terminal in Alpena on Jan. 18.

ALPENA — The U.S. Department of Transportation released a Request for Proposals on Thursday for the essential air service at Alpena County Regional Airport.

The federal government’s RFP process is used to explore options for air service providers for the airport in Alpena.

For years, SkyWest Airlines has been the air service provider and selected by the USDOT to handle commercial travel in Northeast Michigan.

As an essential air designated airport, whoever the winning bidder is, receives a subsidy from the USDOT.

SkyWest currently receives $5.5 million for providing flights to and from Alpena.

The current EAS contract with SkyWest, which operates in conjunction with Delta Airlines, expires on Sept. 30, 2024. The contract provides travelers with 12 round trips per week from the airport in Alpena to the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

The RFP includes language for any bidder to provide air service between Alpena, Detroit, and/or the Minneapolis St. Paul Airport in Minnesota.

At one point, flights to Minneapolis were included in the flight schedule, but have been taken off the table in recent years.

The deadline for bids is March 14, with the winning bidder beginning service on Oct. 1. The new contract would end on Sept. 30, 2026.

It is not known at this time if SkyWest intends to bid on the contract again, but Airport Manager Steve Smigelski said his gut tells him it will. He said because the airline also services Pellston and Sault Ste. Marie, keeping Alpena in the fold makes business sense.

“SkyWest is very important to our area and I would be surprised if it didn’t bid again,” Smigeski said. “I’m definitely comfortable continuing to work with them.”

Because the government considers the airport in Alpena an essential air service airport, it also receives a subsidy from the federal government if it eclipses 10,000 paying passengers each year. For years the mark was easily met, but a large runway project, that ran into several unexpected challenges, caused the airport to miss its goal.

Smigelski said he has applied for a waiver to the federal government because flights were unable to come and go. He said he expects to have his request granted and for the airport to receive its $1 million.

The beginning of 2024 has come with some challenges. A pair of winter storms made clearing the runway a chore but then the machinery needed to do the job broke down and forced several cancellations.

That helped contribute to only 579 paying passengers using the local airport. Last January, the airport had 708 paying passengers, which are also called enplanements.