BY ANDY GARDNER
North Country This Week

OGDENSBURG — The Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority is recommending SkyWest to continue as Ogdensburg International Airport’s Essential Air Service carrier, and the OBPA board heard presentations from three others who could also potentially fly to and from the city.

The four airlines discussed their proposals with the OBPA board during a Wednesday, Dec. 2 special meeting.

Greg Atkin from SkyWest said they’re proposing a three-year contract to continue daily flights to and from Washington, D.C. and Chicago on 50-passenger United-branded jets. He said there’s also an option to instead do two daily flights to and from Washington, D.C. The jets are pressurized, with bathrooms, a flight attendant and two pilots.

“There are more flights between Washington and Florida than there are between Chicago and Florida,” Atkin told the OBPA board.

He said they offer what’s called “through pricing,” meaning if for example someone wanted to go from Ogdensburg to Las Vegas, it would all be on one ticket, rather than going from the city to a hub on a first ticket, and from that hub to Vegas on a second ticket.

He believes with the 50-seat jets, Ogdensburg could hit 10,000 enplanements in a year, opening the door to $1 million in federal Airport Improvement Program funding.

Andrew Bonney spoke on behalf of Cape Air. He asked OBPA Chairman Vernon “Sam” Burns why they should give a presentation when OBPA recommended SkyWest to the U.S. Department of Transportation last month.

“We’re always looking for additional airlines. Even in the end if you turn out not to be Essential Air Service, I think maybe we need to talk about opportunities between Cape Air and the OBPA,” Burns replied.

Bonney said Cape Air is proposing three daily flights with new twin-propeller Tecnam Traveler airplanes. They would all land in Albany, with two continuing to Boston and one to JFK Airport in New York City. He said for the “vast majority of flights” they use two pilots, but the airplanes are certified to be operated with one.

He said the cabins are not pressurized “for a whole bunch of reasons,” one of them being the plane doesn’t go very high on short flights from Ogdensburg to Albany, and then on short routes from Albany to the two major hubs.

Boutique Air, who the Massena Town Council has recommended for their EAS contract, is proposing three daily flights out of Ogdensburg with the OBPA board able to choose destinations including Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia and LaGuardia Airport in New York City. Massena’s flights go to Boston, and they may add a Baltimore route.

They would use eight-seat Pilatus PC12 airplanes with pressurized cabins. Boutique doesn’t charge extra fees for itinerary changes, pets or extra baggage. They are going to be introducing new Piaggio twin-propeller planes in Massena, and that could be an option for Ogdensburg. In addition to that, Boutique Air wants to start a green aircraft initiative where they convert a plane to electric-powered and fueled by hydrogen. They would have a facility in the St. Lawrence Valley region to build that and more of the same technology, potentially creating 50 or more jobs, said Tom Warren from Boutique Air.

Southern Airlines CEO Stan Little said they will offer four flights per day, and the OBPA board could choose from destinations including New York City, Buffalo, Boston or Washington, D.C. Little said if Ogdensburg were to pick the Buffalo flights, they would “absolutely commit” to adding a Buffalo-to-Pittsburgh route as well.

Little said Southern Airlines needs a New England maintenance facility. While he didn’t make a promise, he said Southern building their own maintenance hangar in Ogdensburg could be an option. Much of his presentation centered on their infrequently canceled flights, and timely flights. He said 94% of them land within 14 minutes of the scheduled arrival time.

Their flights are on nine-seat Caravan propeller planes with two pilots each.