MASSENA — Extreme winter weather and equipment failures led to 12 Boutique Air flights being cancelled at the Massena International Airport in December. 

According to Airport Manager Dylan Casselman, the equipment isn’t owned by the town or Boutique Air but rather the Federal Aviation Administration. 

He informed town board members during the Jan. 15 meeting the contributing factor was the Instrument Landing System (ILS). 

“The FAA maintains that equipment. It’s theirs. They’ve had some breakdowns with their planes that they do test flights with, so they have been unable to come up and do a check flight,” he told the board. 

Casselman said part of the issue is that the FAA replaced all antennas during the late fall, however they had yet to certify them. 

He said as a result the town was “kind of in limbo.” 

“It’s been pushed off twice. Right now I believe they’re saying it could be up to early spring before it’s turned back on. We are steadily in contact with them to try to push them along, but anything with the flight check takes time. So, hopefully we can get that sooner rather than later,” he said. 

In the meantime, Boutique continues to provide air service in Massena while the Essential Air Service bid process plays out. Boutique’s contract expires March 31 but officials have submitted a bid to continue service to Boston with 21 round-trip flights weekly. 

Also bidding for the EAS contract are Contour Air and Cape Air, both of which have a history of providing air service in the North Country. 

Cape Air previously provided air service in Massena until losing the contract to Boutique in April 2017. 

Contour Air most recently provided air service from the Ogdensburg International Airport until losing the contract to Breeze Air last September. 

Bidding for the Massena contract closed last month, which was followed with a public comment period that runs until Jan. 24.

Residents and town officials alike have the opportunity to weigh-in on the three airlines and the bids submitted, an opportunity a handful of meeting attendees took with Boutique Air officials in attendance. 

One such speaker who praised Boutique’s service and community engagement was town grant writer Linda McQuinn. 

McQuinn said Boutique has been very supportive of local organizations, including the Big Bass Blowout last year as they supported the linker prize. 

She said it was due to their generosity that the award was possible. 

“It should be noted that we are very, very grateful for their continued support and all that they do for the community,” she said. 

As part of their proposal, Boutique Air said they would spend at least $50,000 on local marketing throughout the span of the contract, which could potentially run anywhere from two to four years. 

Though town officials will submit a recommendation to the FAA, federal officials ultimately have the final say over which airline will be awarded the EAS contract. 

Town Supervisor Sue Bellor said the town board has yet to make a determination as they continue to receive correspondence from the public. She said the town will forward that information to U.S. Department of Transportation official Michael Martin. 

“We have to have our decision in to Michael Martin at the Department of Transportation in Washington by the 24th and I’m still getting comments. I’m getting preferences from people from the public. We want to make sure we have all the details on the proper wording, terminology, etc. because we put a recommendation from all that we gather and then they make that decision,” Bellor said.

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