http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070629/NEWS04/706290363/1024/NEWS04 CommutAir will pull out of Rutland June 29, 2007 By Bruce Edwards Herald Staff NORTH CLARENDON ? Rutland is in the market for a new commuter airline. CommutAir has given notice it intends to shut down operations at the Rutland State Airport, Assistant Airport Manager Don DeGraw said Thursday. DeGraw said CommutAir is shutting down several of its Northeast operations to focus on communities served from the Continental Airlines hub in Cleveland. CommutAir, operating as Continental Connection, serves Rutland with twice-daily flights to Boston using 19-passenger aircraft. The airline receives an $849,705 annual federal subsidy under the Essential Air Services program. The program helps support air service to rural communities. DeGraw said there are indications three or four carriers are interested in applying for the subsidy to serve Rutland. CommutAir spokesman Joel Raymond said the airline filed a notice with the Department of Transportation to terminate its Rutland service. However, he said that under the Essential Air Service program, CommutAir will continue to serve Rutland until a new carrier is chosen. Raymond said the decision to leave Rutland and several other communities is related to the upgrade of its fleet of aircraft. He said CommutAir is retiring its fleet of Beech-1900s, replacing them with 37-seat Bombardier Q-200, twin-engine prop aircraft. In addition to Rutland, Raymond said CommutAir will discontinue service in Plattsburgh, N.Y., and Saranac Lake, N.Y., both of which receive a federal subsidy. The airline will also drop its Albany-Buffalo, Burlington-Boston and Boston-White Plains, N.Y., service. Based in Plattsburgh, CommutAir serves 24 cities in eight states. Like its predecessors, CommutAir has struggled to make a go of it in Rutland. That challenge has been made more difficult in recent years with the arrival of discount air carriers in Burlington and Albany, N.Y. Both cities are within a two-hour drive of Rutland. "They've been consistent," DeGraw said of CommutAir. "They haven't been any better or worse than anybody else." Last year, 4,957 passenger flew the Rutland service, a nearly 3 percent increase from the year before. Raymond said "? it's very unlikely that any carrier would be able to make it a profitable route without the subsidy." Even with the subsidy, he said CommutAir lost money during its first two years in Rutland. He said when the company rebid the contract two years ago, it helped the airline turn a small profit on its Rutland to Boston route. Raymond added that there is no mechanism in the EAS program that allows for cost adjustments to take into consideration such items as rising fuel costs. DeGraw said the deadline for airlines interested in the Rutland EAS subsidy is July 11. The Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce has taken the lead role over the years in ensuring Rutland has commuter air service. Tom Donahue, the chamber's executive vice president, said the chamber along with the city are aggressively pursuing a replacement airline. "I'm not overly concerned we won't have an airline to replace," Donahue said. He said at least four airlines have expressed interest in Rutland including Gulfstream International, Airlines, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Great Lakes Airlines, Cheyenne, Wyo.; Pinnacle Airlines, Memphis, Tenn.; and Big Sky Airlines, Billings, Mont. Donahue also said he believes Cape Air in Hyannis, Mass., may be interested. The EAS program is under fire again this year from critics in Congress who claim it's a waste of taxpayer money. But Donahue argues Rutland shouldn't be treated as a second-class citizen. "I don't think you can just cut us off," he said. "I think we deserve access to the rest of the country." Donahue said that once the DOT receives applications from interested airlines the community will be given an opportunity to comment and designate a preferred carrier. He said it's been the policy of the DOT to go along with community's preferred choice. Contact Bruce Edwards at bruce.edwards@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ____________________________________________________________________________________ Pinpoint customers who are looking for what you sell. http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/ <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".