LITTLE ROCK — SeaPort Airlines of Oregon expects to start service this fall to four Arkansas airports that have been without passenger service for a year.
Service to Memphis from Harrison, Hot Springs, El Dorado and Jonesboro should start Oct. 1 with three daily flights each weekday, said Kent Craford, president and chief executive officer of SeaPort's parent company, Alaska Juneau Aeronautics Inc. The weekend schedule has yet to be set, he said.
The company is negotiating contracts for aircraft to serve the routes, 9-seat Pilatus PC-12, single turboprop airplanes, Craford said.
SeaPort won't have a problem obtaining the aircraft, Craford said.
Great Lakes Aviation Ltd. agreed to take the contract last summer but backed out in April because it had trouble securing and refurbishing the 19-seat Beechcraft 1900Ds it planned to fly on the routes.
"Our type of aircraft, unlike Great Lakes' Beech 1900s, are relatively new, still in production and equipped with modern avionics," Craford said.
After SeaPort acquires its aircraft, the planes will need only a logo and some possible repainting, he added.
The four Arkansas airports have been without service since June 2008, after Mesa Air Group Inc. dissolved its Air Midwest subsidiary. Mesa flew to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on 19-seat aircraft.
SeaPort's contract calls for 18 flights a week at a subsidy of $6 million, as part of the Essential Air Service, a federal program begun during deregulation of the airline industry that guarantees continued service to any airports that had commercial airline service in 1978.
Gary Harrell, airport manager for South Arkansas Re-gional Airport at Goodwin Field in El Dorado, said that when Mesa served the area, most business travelers flew to Dallas to connect to other flights.
"It'll take some getting used to" flying to Memphis, he said.
But the Delta-Northwest merger will provide plenty of opportunities for travelers to use Memphis as a hub, he added.
Hot Springs Memorial Field Airport still needs to work out some details with the company, said George Downie, director. For example, he understands that SeaPort won't fly directly to the Memphis terminal but to a separate fixed-base operations area at the airport, which means passengers will have to get to the terminal and go through security. That will also remove the need for Transportation Security Administration personnel at thequarters are in Memphis, so the about 1,400 Arkansas employees will have an easier time traveling on business, she said.
However, she thinks it might take some convincing to get people to take the smaller planes.
"It's a great aircraft, and very comfortable," she said. "Once we get you on there, then the word will spread."four Arkansas airports.
The airline and airport officials are meeting Thursday to discuss these issues, he said.
Judy McCutcheon, airport manager of Boone County Regional Airport in Harrison, said, "Memphis is a great fit for us. That's really what we wanted."
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Business, Pages 25, 30 on 07/08/2009