Pleased with Prescott City Council approval of the motion that SkyWest Airline be recommended to provide Essential Air Service to Prescott Municipal Airport, (from left) ERAU Chancellor Frank Ayers, Prescott Airport Director Robin Sobotta, Assistant Airport Director Jessi Baker and Prescott Mayor Greg Mengarelli posed before the tally board that just moments before had shown unanimous city council approval of the motion.
United Express (SkyWest) Airlines will begin service out of the Prescott Municipal Airport in the fall.
The U.S. Dept. of Transportation issued the order July 16, stating that “SkyWest Airlines, Inc., operating as United Express (SkyWest) … will provide Prescott with 12 weekly round trips to Denver International Airport (DEN) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).”
City council members voted unanimously July 3 to accept the recommendation of the Prescott Airport Advisory Committee and the Prescott Airport Director Robin Sobotta and her staff that SkyWest be asked to provide commercial air service to Central and Northern Arizona passengers. The service will see 50-passenger regional jet service to Denver and Los Angeles.
In a press release from the City of Prescott, the mayors of both Prescott and Prescott Valley praised the selection of SkyWest as a new carrier for Essential Air Service (EAS).
The area has been without commercial air service since March 26, when Great Lakes Airlines unexpectedly canceled service at the local airport.
Prescott Mayor Greg Mengarelli said, “SkyWest will provide our citizens and our entire region with a reliable, comfortable and convenient way to fly anywhere in the world from Prescott Municipal Airport.”
Prescott Valley Mayor Harvey Skoog echoed Mengarelli. “Our leadership wholeheartedly supports the selection of SkyWest Airlines. It has a solid reputation of providing reliable air service to communities across the country. I am certain it will support the needs of the entire region.”
Selection of SkyWest as the preferred carrier followed a 30-minute analytical PowerPoint presentation by Sobotta. She presented specific details from seven commercial carriers that had applied to provide EAS to the area.
Those proposals came from Advanced Air, ADI/California Pacific Airlines, Boutique Air, Key Lime Air, Mokulele Airlines, Silver Airways and SkyWest. Only three proposals would have provided service with jet aircraft.
In her analysis, Sobotta included specific details such as
- size of aircraft (which ranged from nine-passenger propeller-driven planes to 50-passenger jet aircraft).
- frequency of flights.
- types and kinds of reservation systems.
- code-sharing capability (ticketing relationships with major carriers).
She then summarized what she viewed as strengths and weaknesses for each proposal.
At one point, it was speculated that airfare from Prescott to either of the two destinations could be as low as $87. It also was noted that a recent study of passenger preferences for desired destinations cited the two which SkyWest would fly to — No. 1 being Denver; and No. 2 being Los Angeles.
A potential critical future factor would be the number of annual enplanements — boarding of individual passengers. If fewer than 10,000 people annually are emplaned, the federal subsidy is $150,000. However, if more than 10,000 board, the subsidy jumps to $1 million annually.
Several council members said they easily could envision more than 10,000 persons annually flying from the municipal airport (also known as Ernest A. Love Field). They noted that not having to fight traffic, parking and terminal congestion at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix would appeal to people from throughout Central and Northern Arizona.
Sobotta initially presented her analysis to the Airport Advisory Committee. It accepted her report and members unanimously recommended the SkyWest proposal be forwarded to the city council. Sobotta then repeated her presentation before the city council in a public session with several community members present.
It was noted during both presentations that Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University recently signed a multi-year partnership to provide aviation and aeronautical support to SkyWest. Audience member ERAU Chancellor Frank Ayers affirmed that he earlier had met with executives from SkyWest to complete the complex agreement.
SkyWest is based in St. George, Utah. The airline has more than 13,000 aviation professionals who operate more than 2,400 daily flights that help connect passengers to 245 destinations across North America. It has a fleet of 443 aircraft.
