The Moab City Council on Tuesday listened to presentations by Grand County Council and Airport Board member Bob Greenberg and by Salmon Air owners Bob and Tom Wilkins pertaining to commuter air service at Canyonlands Field.

    Commuter service is now being provided by Air Midwest, which holds the essential air service (EAS) subsidy but has asked to be released from its two-year contract. The U.S. Department of transportation (DOT) has ordered Air Midwest to continue serving the route until another carrier is selected and begins service. The EAS contract is now being re-bid with offers coming from Mesa Air, Great Lakes and Salmon air.      

    The Airport Board has voted to not recommend any applicant and the Grand County Council has postponed making a recommendation until its first meeting in September.

    In his presentation, Greenberg said that he had been asked by the county council to appear before city officials because the county feels it would be most effective for both governments to work together on this opportunity to impact the type of service to be provided at the airport. He added that Salmon Air had made a very good presentation to the county and that the council was leaning heavily toward recommending the Idaho-based airline to the U.S. Department of Transportation, which oversees the essential air service program.

    Greenberg asked the city for some indication of which airline carrier the municipality would like to recommend.

    "I think we need to walk together on this," Greenberg said. The county council will discuss this matter again at its next meeting on Sept. 4 and would like to hear from city leaders prior to that meeting. City council members said they will make sure they have consensus with the county before proceeding with offering a recommendation to the DOT.

    "We understand your concerns about a return to smaller planes but it makes us more agile and adaptable," Salmon Air owners and operators Tom and Bob Wilkins said, "We will hear your concerns and work with you."

    Salmon Air, which uses seven-passenger planes, once held the EAS contract for Canyonlands Field but lost it to Mesa Air Group when the contract came up for rebid. "When we lost the contract here, we survived, but it really hurt" said Tom Wilkins.

    "We will fly empty if we have to because our EAS contract requires it," Bob Wilkins said.

    One of the major disadvantages of Salmon Air is that the airline does not have code-share agreements with larger airlines. Code-sharing allows passengers to book their ticket and have their baggage routed and transferred through to their final destination. Salmon Air believes the baggage problem will be solved with their new barcode machine.

    Salmon Air officials said the airline is eager to try and build a successful stand-alone service here in Moab that would eventually do away with the need for the EAS subsidy to Canyonlands Field.

    "There is nothing we won't consider." Tom Wilkins said. "We would like to sit down with everyone here and see what will work."