Press Release
Despite what sounds like some major changes to airline service at Falls International Airport, travellers flying to and from International Falls probably won’t notice much difference, if any, according to International Falls-Koochiching County Airport Commission chairman Bob Anderson.
Delta/Northwest Airlines formally announced earlier this month it will seek to continue commercial air service to International Falls under the Essential Air Service (EAS) program, which guarantees airline service to community airports that had such service prior to airline deregulation in 1978.
The program also provides federal subsidies to help the airlines that provide the service.
In order for the EAS program to kick in, however, an airline first must file a formal announcement of termination of service to the airport with the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Delta announced last week it would cease service to the Falls within 90 days.
“That sounds a little scary at first until you realize it’s just a necessary beginning step in a formal process that will, in fact, end up guaranteeing consistent service for our airport for quite a while,” Anderson said.
He explained that commercial air service will continue after the 90 days, but it then will be under auspices of the EAS program, which will guarantee at least two flights per day in and out of the Falls.
“What Delta’s formal termination announcement does is allow our airport to move into the EAS category,” Anderson said. “Service to the Falls will then go out for bids.
“It seems likely that Delta would be the bid recipient, since they are already established here with ground crews and equipment, and they’ve said they intend to participate, although it’s too soon to say for sure that they will ultimately be awarded the bid,” he noted.
“Then, after the bidding is done, federal dollars will come into play to help the airline provide service to our airport without losing money.
“The harsh economy and a slowing of traffic to and from Falls Airport has meant that Delta has struggled to make it profitable to come here,” Anderson said.
The EAS program began after commercial airlines were deregulated nationally in 1978. Anderson said many small communities faced a potential loss of air service at that time as the airlines jockeyed to find the most profitable routes and stations for their aircraft.
Congress responded with the EAS program, which requires that service be provided to smaller regional airports, such as Falls International, that had service in 1978 when the program began.
It also allows for subsidies to airlines that successfully bid on those EAS contracts.
Falls Airport received subsidies as part of the EAS program until the early 1980s, Anderson explained.
“We left the program when our annual enplanements got to the point where the airline felt they didn’t need the subsidies anymore to be profitable flying into the Falls,” he said.
“Now times are a little tough and we’re glad to have that safety net out there to help us get through until things are looking up again.”
Anderson said other airports with a dip in enplanements might not be so lucky since only those that had service in 1978 are included in the EAS program and are allowed to participate now.
Chisholm-Hibbing and Thief River Falls are two other EAS airports in Minnesota that have been subsidized for several years.
“We hope and expect this will be a seamless transition,” Anderson said. “And while we’re very glad to have the EAS program available, there are still some risks and challenges out there that we’ll need to tackle as a community.”
One of those challenges might be making do with two flights a day instead of the three that Falls Airport patrons have become accustomed to.
Anderson said the Airport Commission will continue to work with the airline to arrange for the best possible scheduling of those two flights.
As well, he said the numbers indicate that the two flights, which will not be shared with any other communities, should provide enough seats to accommodate everyone who wants to come and go from Falls International.
“We have a fine airport,” Anderson stressed. “We are an important part of the state’s regional airport system.
“We have great technical and navigational aids and a 7,400-foot main runway, with instrument landing systems at both ends, which doubles our safety quotient.
“It’s true, the airlines are struggling right now because of the economy, with some of them just coming out of bankruptcy, and air travel has slowed down, here as well as nationally and internationally,” Anderson continued.
“But it will come back and when it does, we will be here with our very fine airport, and then we will say thank you to the EAS program and we’ll move ahead, just as we did before.”
