EAU EAS: TOO CUTE BY HALF

If this becomes the definition of ESSENTIAL AIR SERVICE (EAS) in 2022, at least Congress will get to learn in real time the difference between being connected to the grid v. simply having access to some leisure destination offering low fares. The latter is a utility that takes local money and spends it elsewhere. The former has the potential to import passengers that will spend in the local community.

On 5/11/22, #SunCountryAirlines (SY) filed an application to provide EAS service at Eau Claire (EAU), WI to replace the service #SkyWest asked to terminate. This proposal goes against everything I have been saying in public since February about the shortage of pilots, the uneconomical small jet, and the badly outdated EAS program.

My podcast partner and co-author of the thought papers #MikeBoyd however seems to think the SY proposal has some merit. One can change their mind, but this proposal would only make bad public policy worse. The one good thing that the SY proposal puts on the table is the idea that #Landline at EAU might be considered a part of the EAS framework.

Landline should be considered as an airplane surrogate to replace vacated airports formerly served by regional airlines. The working assumption is there will be no political will to modernize it.

For the past 3 months, I/we have been trying to challenge a law put in place 44 years ago that established EAS. The fact that it is outdated is an understatement despite trade associations suggesting that the old architecture will return if only we have pilots.

In the first thought paper titled THE REAL THIRD RAIL ISSUE — Swelbar-Zhong Consultancy (https://lnkd.in/gTwq548S), we challenged the notion that 2 daily flights to a network carrier connecting hub is competitive with LCC/ULCC services within some reasonable driving distance. We challenged whether most of the EAS services in place within 120 miles of a larger airport is a good use of limited public monies.

We challenged whether the USG should be subsidizing any service that competes with a struggling nonhub airport that cannot use airport money to address a government-induced competitive disadvantage (think LaCrosse, WI). Finally, we made it a point to speak to the need for any EAS service to connect to something. With twice weekly service to its MSP hub, this is no different than subsidizing a potential service from Ogdensburg to Syracuse. Yes, MSP is a connecting point for SY, but twice a week will do little to keep EAU local passengers off of the highway.

The SY proposal violates all four principals. I am a big SY fan. With their IPO and a pilot contract behind them I am hoping for more. Surely this was not part of their investment thesis.

Maybe a new DOT study should be undertaken to replace the "Southwest Effect" work done in the early 1990s. The 2022 version might be called "The Government-Induced EAS Effect".

May 1, 2022