A new charter airline under the SkyWest corporate umbrella has filed an application with federal transportation officials to provide commuter-level air service between small markets and large hubs, including the route between Scottsbluff and Denver.
Under the June 17 proposal, SkyWest Charter would provide two daily round-trip flights using CRJ200 turbojets reconfigured to a maximum 30 seats and 7,500 pounds of payload.
Another key to the proposal helps address the pilot shortage while still maintaining an emphasis on safety, which would be a unique, but short-term solution according to Western Nebraska Regional Airport Director Raul Aguallo. “The pilots still have to have 1,500 hours, and I’m not sure of the exact hours for the co-pilot, but it allows them to fly with a co-pilot with less hours, which opens up a whole stream of new pilots to get trained up to 1,500 hours and allows Skywest to continue to fly and and make money while the pilot shortage works itself out.”
The application to the U.S. Department of Transportation seeks approval for SkyWest Charter to operate under Part 135 regulations, which sets the requirements for charter and commuter air service. As opposed to Part 121 regulations which guide operations for SkyWest Airlines, Part 135 has somewhat different thresholds for certain pilot flight hours and certifications, and has commensurate limits on the types of aircraft that can be used, the number of passenger seats and amount of payload that can be carried.
Aguallo tells KNEB News while there would be fewer seats available per flight, the impact could be negligible. “Prior to COVID, we were at 18,000 boardings, (but) we were still flying at only 65 percent capacity on the best flights, which was in the morning, and then 35 percent on the second one,” said Aguallo. “So, out of 120 seats, we were only filling sixty of them over the two flights when we were doing our best. We’re basically getting dropped down to sixty per day, and if we can fill those, we’re going to hit the numbers we need.” Under the Essential Air Service program, small-market airports are eligible for $1 million in airport improvement funds each year in which they have 10,000 or more enplanements.
Skywest is seeking expedited consideration of the application, and if approved, the new airline would start to phase in service beginning in October, with the company adding 3-4 planes to routes for 4-5 markets per month to reach an initial goal of 25 markets served by next April.
In a description of the proposed service that’s part of the application, the company says “because of SWC’s relationship with SkyWest, Inc. and its subsidiaries, the company has unique access to the operational and market history in each of these (25) locations. SWC has used that data to forecast demand in each of the markets, making estimated adjustments for the 30-seat configuration of SWC aircraft, and believes it is well-positioned to operate profitably and reliably in these markets.” The description also says SWC anticipates each aircraft would fly an average of 6 segments and 8 block hours per day, with an average flight time of 1.25 block hours.
Service between North Platte and Denver is also on the initial list, however, flights between Kearney and Denver are not. In March, SkyWest Airlines advised 29 communities in a 90-day notice that it intended to terminate service, however, federal officials ordered the airline to continue flying those routes through the end of 2022 and the end of those EAS contracts.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This version has been updated to add the SkyWest Charter expectations of daily flight time involving each aircraft
