Despite the government shutdown, communities around the country are in the midst of Essential Air Service (EAS) proposals, selections, and recommendations, with a handful of communities still waiting for the DOT to officially select their carrier for the next two-to-four years.
Two such communities in the process currently are Saranac Lake, New York, and Escanaba, Michigan, and both are nearing the same point of the process with vastly different outcomes not only for the airport and its service, but their respective communities. However, both involve the same carrier: Delta-branded SkyWest service.
One Possible Loss
Escanaba, Michigan, located in the state’s Upper Peninsula along the northern shores of Lake Michigan, has passed its community comment time period and is just waiting on a selection from the DOT. But with the government shut down, who knows how long this could take, and their current contract with SkyWest under the Delta brand is expiring on Dec. 31.
At the moment, the airport has seen virtually the same service for a long time with Delta Connection, previously Northwest Airlink, serving Escanaba from both Minneapolis/St. Paul and Detroit since 2008. First with the 34-seat Saab 340s until 2012 when the airline retired the type from the fleet, and then the 50-seat CRJ-200 from 2012 until recently when Delta retired that type from its fleet, with the aircraft serving Escanaba now being the 50-seat CRJ-550, still with one daily flight to Minneapolis and Detroit.
Although the destinations will remain largely the same, the Escanaba Airport board in Delta County, Michigan has recommended that they change air carriers this time around.
The community has recommended Colorado-based Denver Air Connection, or DAC for short, to serve the community with its 50-seat Embraer E145 jets. The reason for the new selection is the “vastly superior connectivity it offers through interline agreements and the option to serve an additional major hub.” Denver Air Connection has interline partnerships with not only Delta, but also American and United, giving the community a wide variety of service opportunities, especially being located nearly equidistant between Minneapolis, Chicago, and Detroit.
The number of yearly seats available would be identical, as both would offer 12 weekly flights to their respective destinations, and both would be on 50-seat jets, SkyWest/Delta on the CRJ-550 and DAC on the Embraer E145.
Although the community board in Escanaba, Michigan, did recommend DAC be chosen for service to the community back in the middle of August, the DOT has yet to make an official selection for the next carrier, and at this point, they are in the waiting game. Until the DOT officially selects or rejects DAC, the current carrier, SkyWest under the Delta brand, will continue to serve the community of Escanaba.
One Possible Gain
Saranac Lake, New York, is in a very different situation as far as the future of its air service than Escanaba; located in northern New York State in the middle of the Adirondack Park and appropriately named “Adirondack Regional Airport” back in 1989, the community is currently in the midst of its comment period, with it ending early next week.
Like a lot of the smaller Essential Air Service airports around the country, Saranac Lake has only ever seen service with propeller aircraft and has never seen scheduled jet service with larger regional jets. Just like Escanaba, the airline serving Saranac Lake, Cape Air, has also been there since 2008 and is deeply rooted in the community.
But unlike Escanaba, where they have had aircraft types change throughout the years, Cape Air has been flying the 8/9 seat Cessna 402s to Saranac Lake since they started 17 years ago, so the passenger numbers have stayed largely consistent over time.
Cape Air currently flies from Saranac Lake to Boston twice a day and New York-JFK once a day. The JFK service was new with the most recent EAS contract two years ago; before that, the carrier offered three daily flights to just Boston.
Saranac Lake, for the most part, has only ever received one or two applicants for EAS air service: Cape Air and Boutique Air. But this time is different: not only did they get the two applicants they always have, but they got five different airline proposals, which is unheard of for a community of this size, and gave the airport board and community members a decision they have never had to make before.
Applicants included current carrier in Saranac Lake, Cape Air, along with Boutique Air, and Saranac’s first-ever proposals that offer jets from Contour and SkyWest with a United or Delta option.
Although the community comment period is still open until early next week, in a vote from the Harrietstown Town Council, where the Saranac Lake/Adirondack Regional Airport is located, the majority, 3-2, voted to change their service to SkyWest service from Detroit under the Delta Connection brand.
AirlineGeeks did have a chance to chat with the airport manager in Saranac Lake, Corey Hurwitch, and he wanted to make an important point with this recommendation: “I really do value their [Cape Air] years of service here, I still respect them and appreciate what they’ve provided for us, and it’ll be a bittersweet change. Cape Air has been a trusted partner and has truly supported our community for nearly two decades. At the same time, I’m excited about the new possibilities and the chance to welcome Skywest’s Delta jet service to SLK.”
If the DOT selects SkyWest’s Delta-branded service for Saranac Lake, service would start with the new contract term on March 1, 2026, and it will be the first time that Saranac will not only see scheduled jet service, but it will also be the first time they will receive service from an aircraft that offers a first-class section.
The service would be 12-weekly flights onboard the airline’s 50-seat CRJ-550. Although the airline would offer fewer flights per week than Cape Air, the amount of available seats will dramatically increase from around 8.7K seats a year with Cape to just over 31K seats with SkyWest service to Detroit.
So, while one community might be losing the SkyWest and Delta name, there is a chance that the Delta brand could be entering its 11th city in New York State.
It is important to note that these are only recommendations at this point. The DOT will ultimately make the final decision.
