Great Lakes Aviation selected to provide air service

The service will consist of 18 nonstop round trips per week to Minneapolis-St. Paul with a 19-seat Beech 1900 aircraft.

The department will continue to hold-in the service now provided by Mesaba/Pinnacle Airlines until the transition with GLA is complete.

Bob Anderson, chairman of the International Falls-Koochiching County Airport Commission, said the service will meet the needs of the community for most of the year.

However, he added, GLA has told local officials in separate communications that it will bring at least one larger plane in the summer months to meet the increased passenger load. That plane is expected to be a 30-passenger Embraer, a Brazilian airplane.

No date for the transition from Delta to GLA has been determined, said Anderson.

In July, Delta gave notice of its termination of service to the Falls International Airport. Delta gets financial support from the federal essential air service program, which helps cover higher fuel costs of serving an outstate town.

Meanwhile, Congressman Chip Cravaack said he was pleased that essential air service program will continue in the International Falls and neighboring communities “which play such an important role in the Minnesota economy. Opening up these communities to the surrounding area provides many opportunities for growth in the region.”

The International Falls airport began receiving subsidies from the EAS program about two years ago to keep air service in the community.

Anderson said GLA was selected in late 2011 by the U.S. DOT to serve nine communities in the Midwest. In addition, he said Delta has asked GLA to also serve Pierre, S.D.

GLA has begun service in three of the nine cities they bid upon. Those communities are Iron Mountain, Mich., Devils Lake N.D., and Spirit Lake, Iowa.

Anderson said he attended in March an air service conference in St. Paul where he spoke about GLA with Jeff Hamiel, executive director of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. Hamiel, Anderson reported, said he is working closely with GLA to assist them in serving communities in the Midwest.

Anderson said he also learned that GLA is working to secure several more planes “which is a challenge because the smaller aircraft, 19- and 30-passenger planes, are sought worldwide by airlines and countries.

“Added to that problem is the banking industry is not real quick to lend money to regional carriers because the entire airline industry has not been making money and the recent news that Pinnacle, Delta’s connection, filed bankruptcy, so that caused the banks to be even more cautious.”

GLA serves 42 cities in the southwest U.S. and needs additional aircraft to serve six more cities in the Midwest and three of those are in Minnesota — Brainerd, Thief River Falls and International Falls, noted Anderson.

“These are challenging times for the airline industry, especially when you add in the increased cost of fuel and finding equipment,” he said.

Anderson predicted it will take a couple months for GLA to have additional planes that have been certified to fly.

“We’re being patient and in the meantime, Delta continues to serve the airport with a 60-passenger regional jet and are held in until Great Lakes is here,” said Anderson.

Now, Delta offers two flights from International Falls “and business has been good for us, with enplanements increasing through the year,” he said.

While Anderson said the process to secure a new provider has been unusually long, “given the circumstances, it’s understandable, too.”