Next week the Grand County Council will review bids received by the U.S. Department of Transportation  for a new contract to provide essential air service (EAS) to Canyonlands Field north of Moab.

    The council will compare a bid to connect Moab with Phoenix, submitted by Air Midwest, with a bid submitted by Great Lakes Aviation to connect Moab with Denver, and a bid from Salmon Air to connect Moab with Salt Lake City.

    Last spring Air Midwest, a subsidiary of Mesa Air Group, filed a notice to terminate its EAS subsidized service to six cities, including its flights from Moab and Vernal to Salt Lake City. The DOT responded with an order that required Air Midwest to continue serving the six cities until a carrier was selected and could begin service.

    The apparent reason for the termination is that the contracts allowed for no increase in subsidies to match increases in fuel costs. The designated Air Midwest spokesman has not returned calls from The Times.

    In its bid for a new contract Air Midwest proposes flights between Moab and Phoenix using 19-seat planes. The bid assumes 4,700 passengers annually for a total of $1.7 million in subsidies.

    Air Midwest also proposes flights between Vernal and Phoenix at a subsidy rate of $914,000  for 4,800 passengers, bringing the combined total subsidy request for Moab and Vernal to $2.6 million.

    Great Lakes Aviation proposes connecting service between Moab and Denver. The Great Lakes bid assumes 3,500 passengers per year for a total subsidy of $1.6 million. Great Lakes also would use 19-seat planes.

    Great Lakes' proposal for service between Vernal and Denver assumes 5,750 passengers and asks for a $1.1 million subsidy.

    Salmon Air would use seven-seat planes to connect Moab with Salt Lake City under one option, or connecting Moab with Vernal and Salt Lake under a second option For service between Moab and Salt Lake City only, Salmon assumes 2,000 annual passengers for a subsidy of $1.8 million.

    Under the second option, Salmon assumes 2,000 Moab passengers plus 3,000 Vernal passengers, and asks for $2.5 million in subsidies to serve both cities.

    While Salmon's bid is the lowest for Moab and Vernal combined, if Vernal does not request that the contract for its service go to Salmon, it is unlikely that the DOT would select Salmon Air because Salmon's smaller aircraft do not meet a 15-or-more-passenger-seat standard required by the DOT.

    In a letter to the DOT addressed to Grand County Council member Bob Greenberg and airport manager Mark Francis, along with officials in the other cities, the DOT explained that "The Department would not select Salmon Air's proposal unless we receive written support for such a selection from Moab and/or Vernal." The letter asks for comments, due by Aug. 27, on the bids.

    Greenberg said he is ambivalent about which air carrier might be preferable, as well as the best size of airplane. He said he is also unsure about connecting Moab with Phoenix, thinking that Air Midwest wants to go there in order to connect with America West Airlines, which is the nation's second largest low-fare carrier.

    Also skeptical that Air Midwest will work any harder in the future to build its business in Moab, or to meet its schedule, Greenberg said that the airline has made no attempt to contact the county council to express its interest, while Salmon Air has.

    "Salmon wants the business," Greenberg said. He also suggested that Salt Lake City is the more appropriate connection. But, Greenberg also pointed out that Salmon Air not only uses small planes, it also is not part of the national code share program, which means passengers will have to make their own reservations for connecting flights.

    Bob Jones of the Moab Area Travel Council is even more skeptical. He asserted that the bidding airlines just want the subsidy and will do nothing to build business. "I think," he said, "that EAS is not advantageous to the tourism industry," because the service is so unreliable.

    The purpose of EAS, "is not for economic development. It is to link residents with the outside world," Jones said. Greenberg agreed.

    Jones reiterateed that it is impossible for tourist agencies to connect their customers with flights to Moab because the service is so unreliable. Perhaps, he suggested, the criterion should be which city pair best suits the needs of residents, not businesses.