The cheapest deal isn’t always the best deal, and officials with
Bradford Regional Airport are united with Jamestown (N.Y.) Airport
in asking the federal Department of Transportation to approve a
Washington, D.C., hub for $1.2 million more than a Cleveland, Ohio,
hub.

Both Bradford and Jamestown are under the federal Essential Air
Service program, which guarantees commercial air service to
communities who had it before deregulation. The two had been served
by Colgan Air Inc., flying to Pittsburgh. Due to increases in fuel
costs and a decrease in the number of passengers flying from
Bradford, Colgan is currently seeking to renegotiate its
contract.

“The increase in fuel prices made it difficult to operate,”
explained Mike Glesk, chairman of the Airport Advisory Committee,
on Friday. “There’s so much turbulence with these small regional
airports.”

Glesk said local politicians, the business community and
travelers are supporting a plan from Colgan to fly to
Washington-Dulles International Airport from Bradford.

The Colgan plan would be at a cost of $2,837,967. This plan
offers a chance for Bradford Airport to eventually return to being
self-sufficient and no longer reliant on the government subsidy,
Glesk explained.

However, RegionsAir has offered a plan for $1,649,913 that would
have the hub in Cleveland. Glesk explained that the RegionsAir
plan, while cheaper, has some serious drawbacks – one of which is
that the carrier does not have a written agreement with an
airline.

“They apparently have an e-mail promise, not even a written
promise from Continental,” Glesk explained. Bradford Airport’s
request for the Colgan plan sent to the DOT on Friday reads
“RegionsAir has neither a written code-share with Continental in
Cleveland nor the aircraft and personnel to provide reliable air
service and the required community marketing outreach.”

Glesk said RegionsAir is a small carrier. “Their total
headquarters staff down in Tennessee is about ten. They are
stretched too thin. We’re not even sure when they would be able to
deliver service. They are still not delivering on a contract they
got in West Virginia.”

The request to the DOT reads, “We do not support RegionsAir’s
proposal to provide service to Jamestown and Bradford because of
the high degree of uncertainty about the carrier’s ability to
provide reliable service… Changes in carriers, decreases in flights
and new hub airports all create uncertainty and confusion for
passengers. RegionsAir is likely to further prolong the uncertainty
rather than resolve it.”

Glesk added passengers are more likely to fly out of Bradford if
the destination is Dulles, since Pittsburgh and Cleveland are both
within driving distance.

“Local travel agents estimate that five percent to 10 percent of
travelers to Dulles will have Washington as their final
destination,” the letter reads. But less than one percent of
current travelers have Pittsburgh as their final destination.

“We will attract additional air travelers who can now fly
directly to Washington and with Washington as their final
destination,” the letter states.

Bradford-based businesses also back the Colgan proposal to fly
to Washington, D.C., Zippo Manufacturing Co. and KOA Speer expend
more than 75 percent of their travel budgets on international
travel, but Pittsburgh and Cleveland offer few international
destinations, according to the letter to the DOT.

Dulles offers direct connections to 14 international
destinations in Europe and Asia.

The letter also quotes Zippo President and Chief Executive
Officer Greg Booth: “Despite the fact that the RegionsAir proposal
for Cleveland looks attractive from an EAS cost perspective, it
does not make good business sense from Zippo’s perspective. If air
service from Bradford Regional Airport in the future means flying
to Cleveland first, most of us will simply be flying out of
Buffalo.”

Glesk said that the DOT will consider the proposals and will
make a decision within 30 to 60 days.

“We will continue to have the current service from Colgan until
that happens.”