Jamestown to welcome Great Lakes Aviation
January 30, 2012, 10:22 am
The North Dakota congressional delegation recently announced the U.S. Department of Transportation has selected Great Lakes Aviation to provide long-term service to Jamestown as part of the Essential Air Service subsidy program, which helps small communities pay for airplane services.
The Associated Press reported Senators Kent Conrad and John Hoeven and Representative Rick Berg said Great Lakes will offer 18 round-trip flights between Jamestown and Minneapolis each week, and services on the 19-seat planes are expected to take flight in mid-March. Last year, Delta stopped offering flights to and from Jamestown and Devils Lake, as well as many other smaller cities across the nation. In an effort to fill this void, the state congress acquired Great Lakes services.
"We're pleased that we finally got this going," said Jim Boyd, chairman of the Jamestown Regional Airport Authority. "It took a long time."
Also part of the 24-month contract between Great Lakes and Jamestown is partial code-sharing with Delta Air Lines, enabling travelers to book flights through Delta even after the carrier has left Jamestown. These flights will be honored and fulfilled by Great Lakes. An integrated marketing agreement has been reached between Delta and Great Lakes, allowing the Delta network to still operate through the airport while Great Lakes offers the services, the Jamestown Sun reported.
According to Boyd, the code-sharing details have yet to be worked out, as does some scheduling. But once all the paperwork is complete, there will be three departures from Jamestown on weekdays for travelers to choose from: one in the early morning, one at noon and one in the late afternoon.
"It's good in that we have continued air service, which is great," Boyd told the source. "We were lucky to have a good qualified bidder. It isn't who we wanted, obviously - from the beginning we've just wanted to keep what we had - but (Delta) chose not to go that route."
Great Lakes will start services using 19-seat Beech 1900 planes, but the airport authority hopes the carrier will eventually upgrade to larger, 30-seat planes to accommodate more passengers per flight. In 2011, Jamestown Regional Airport reported record boardings, attributing its recent growth to a new terminal and hoping to further spur growth with the addition of Great Lakes services.
"We've got to be patient, we've got to perform, and we're hoping the community will support us on this - and when we're ready for new negotiations, we'll have a little more strength in negotiations to get a bigger plane," Boyd told the source.
One other aspect that is always important when airports are growing is to stick to the fundamentals of safety and security. One way pilots can protect from the unexpected is by purchasing pilot insurance.
Are you covered? Are you overpaying? Find out! Get a Quote Now!
| 
