It’s “up, up and away” at the Alpena County Regional Airport these days.

This week, Airport Manager Steve Smigelski announced the airport had surpassed the magical 10,000 enplanement numbers in October, thus qualifying the airport for $1 million in federal subsidies next year.

The number is even more impressive because there remains two more months of passenger totals to tally in the calendar year.

Through October, 10,373 passengers have flown from Alpena.

“This is a huge relief, and we still have two months left to go in the year, and I think if we have good months of November and December, we can reach 12,000 enplanements for the year,” Smigelski said. “That would be great.”

Indeed it would.

In our estimation, and indeed most everyone’s opinion, as well, a big part of the airport’s success is the reliable air service being provided by SkyWest officials. Since SkyWest took over flights in and out of Alpena, service has become much more dependable.

Is that service always perfect? No, it isn’t. But it seems to be a thousand times better than service in the years prior to SkyWest.

Next spring begins a new round of airline service requests through the Essential Air Service division of the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is imperative that SkyWest again bids on the Alpena market for continued service here.

We’re excited by all that is happening at the airport these days, and we applaud Smigelski, his staff, and county officials for their part in keeping the airport moving forward in a positive direction.

Onward and upward.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)