SkyWest unpopular with Houghton County passengers

HOUGHTON COUNTY -- Houghton County businesses are speaking out following the Department of Transportation’s surprising final decision on its Essential Air Service program at Houghton County Airport.

Last Friday it was announced that the Delta-operated carrier, Mesaba Airlines, would be replaced by United’s SkyWest Airlines.

This not only means a drop in the number of daily flights from three to two, but also a change in destination from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Chicago.

Frequent flyers are saying they feel as though their opinions were ignored.

Ellen Campbell, Vice President of the Nitrate Elimination Company in Lake Linden, is one of the many local business representatives who've come to depend on Delta service.  She says she’s in disbelief over the DOT’s decision to switch from Mesaba to SkyWest.

"I am more than surprised,” says Campbell.  “I attended the public meeting last month and the comments were 100 percent in favor of keeping Mesaba, who's been very good to us."

In the DOT’s official statement regarding their decision, they said that Delta's proposal for three daily flights was unresponsive to their terms.  They had specifically stated that they would only subsidize two flights per day through their Essential Air Service program.

Ed Burger, President of Midwest Loan Service in Houghton, thinks that the Delta bid was aimed at keeping customers happy.

"Mesaba knows the needs of the community,” says Burger.  “If they wanted to offer three flights a day, they had reason for it."

Campbell says that everyone in her company takes multiple flights out of Houghton each year.  But because of this decision, that could be changing.

"I’ll definitely be driving more.  I'll drive to Rhinelander and get better connections from there," Campbell says.

Mesaba will continue to serve the airport until SkyWest is fully in place.  That switch may happen as soon as December.