The latest news about Maine lakes and ponds.

Cape Air Ready to Take Over Colgan's Flights From Augusta

November 22, 2010 - AUGUSTA -- The skies over Augusta, at least for commercial airline passengers, will belong to Cape Air starting at 10:45 a.m. Dec. 1.

That’s Cape Air’s first scheduled flight after the changeover in passenger carrier providers from the current, longtime provider, Colgan Air.

“It’s going very well,” said Andrew Bonney, vice president of planning for Hyannis, Mass.-based Cape Air. “We’re on track for full operations startup the first of December. All systems are go.”

Cape Air’s nine-passenger Cessna 402s will replace the 34-passenger Saab 340-Bs that Colgan currently fly out of Augusta.

Augusta State Airport Manager John Guimond concurred with Bonney that the transition from one carrier to the other is going smoothly.

“We’re working very closely with Colgan to effect a smooth and seamless transition,” Bonney said. “We have a great working relationship with Colgan. We do frequently compete for the same routes, but that also means we know each other quite well. It’s a good, healthy, competitive relationship.”

Although individual flight fares vary, an online search for flights from both airlines indicates flying with Cape is likely to be considerably cheaper.

The Nov. 30 flights on Colgan, operating as US Airways Express, are $94 from Augusta to Boston. While tickets for the very first Cape Air flight out of Augusta are currently offered at $119, most other Cape flights from Augusta to Boston will cost $49 or $59, according to www.capeair.com.

Cape Air plans to employ 10 to 12 workers in Augusta, depending on the season.

Bonney was unsure how many of those workers currently work for Colgan but knew at least some were making the transition from Colgan to Cape Air.

One Colgan worker making the transition will be Nancy Witham, station manager, who Bonney said the company has already “heard wonderful things about.”

Guimond said he believes nearly all the Colgan workers in Augusta will also work for Cape Air.

“It will be the same people, so it’ll be a seamless transition,” said Guimond. “They’ll be ready, absolutely.”

The airline plans to offer four nonstop flights between Augusta and Boston during the summer, and three nonstop flights in winter. The flight is generally just more than an hour long.

Cape Air will establish a presence in Augusta even before the Dec. 1 changeover.

A Cape Air city ticket office will open today at 295 Water St., in the Old Federal Building downtown. Customers will be able to buy tickets there or at the airport.

The ticket office, Bonney said, will “increase awareness of the airport, the airline serving the airport, and put a human face and presence in front of the airline.”

The federal Department of Transportation endorsed an Augusta City Council vote to select Cape Air, and its smaller planes and lower cost, for the next four years of passenger service at the state-owned, city-run airport.

Through the Essential Air Service program, the federal government subsidizes commercial airlines that fly into airports where service is deemed essential, but where passenger traffic doesn’t generate enough income to cover expenses. The subsidy is capped at $200 per passenger.

Colgan currently operates at a subsidy of $298 per passenger. Cape Air’s proposal includes a less than $200-per-passenger subsidy, at $159 to $163 per passenger.

Cape Air’s Augusta flights will fly into Logan International Airport’s Terminal C, which is also used by Jet Blue.

Cape Air was founded in 1989, flying between Boston and Provincetown, Mass. It now offers flights via its fleet of some 60 Cessna 402s in New England, New York, Florida, the Mid-Atlantic, the Caribbean and Micronesia.


Posted: November 22
By Keith Edwards kedwards@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer


Lakes:
Regions: Belgrade


Print this story

Email this story

return to Lake News