Cape Girardeau city council votes to recommend new airline carrier

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KBSI) – The Cape Girardeau city council voted to recommend Contour Airlines as the regional airport carrier on June 20.

The final decision will be made through U.S Department of Transportation. The decision may take up to 90 days.

Flights to Nashville will be $39.

The Cape Girardeau city council discussed this new plan a proposal from Contour Aviation at its meeting on June 5.

Since COVID-19 affected the country, a lot of changes, including pilot shortages, schedule changes, and the reductions in number of flights, have impacted local airports.

In March, SkyWest gave notice of terminating its round-trip services to 29 air service communities including Cape Girardeau. SkyWest flies to Chicago from Cape Girardeau.

On June 3, Cape Girardeau Regional Airport (CGRA) was presented with multiple proposals but decided to stick with two.

One proposal was with Contour Aviation which according to Cape Girardeau Regional Airport Manager Katrina Amos was the best they could hope to get. The proposal would allow two flights to Nashville with more seating.

The second proposal was unofficial but would be with SkyWest Airlines. This option would allow CGRA to share planes with Paducah, Kentucky and Decatur, Illinois.

Amos mentioned that this option is less attractive due to limited seating.

The city will have to send the final decision to the Department of Transportation by June 30.

At its June 5 meeting, the Cape Girardeau City Council decided to wait in order to give SkyWest and the city more time to decide on the proposal. The council concluded with a 5-1 vote to move the final decision to June 20.