Athens airport wants to pursue American Airlines, others as new service provider

Athens-Ben Epps Airport Director Mike Mathews wants to actively pursue American Airlines as a potential new provider of commercial passenger service at the facility, he told members of the airport authority at a recent meeting.

Mathews’ comments at the authority’s March meeting came after a February trip by airport staff members to a conference designed to match passenger air carriers with interested airports and vice versa.

At the conference, airport staff spoke with representatives of American Airlines, Allegiant Air, Avelo Airlines and Breeze Airways about scheduled service at Athens-Ben Epps Airport.

The airport has a somewhat spotty history with commercial passenger air service. It has not had a scheduled carrier since 2014, when the now-defunct Oregon-based SeaPort Airlines halted service from Athens to the Tennessee cities of Nashville, Memphis and Jackson, where passengers could connect with flights from major airlines.

More: Airlines interested in Athens airport, but more parking needed

SeaPort halted service in Athens less than two years after arriving, due to its failure to board a minimum of 10 passengers daily to continue qualifying for a $1.6 million annual federal Essential Air Service subsidy. EAS subsidies are designed to attract commercial air service to smaller markets that can’t otherwise attract such service.

Prior to SeaPort’s brief tenure at Athens-Ben Epps Airport, the facility was served by another EAS-subsidized carrier, Georgia Skies. That airline offered service between Athens and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport from 2008 to 2012 but was plagued by an inconvenient connections process in Atlanta.

Prior to that, Athens-Ben Epps Airport was linked to Charlotte via US Airways Express, which followed service provided by Piedmont Airlines in the mid-1980s. Until that time, commercial air service was provided by a string of airlines, beginning in 1949 with service from Southern airways.

At the March meeting of the Athens-Ben Epps Airport Authority, Mathews told the group that in talking with American Airlines, he and others “tried to tell them the urgency of getting something here.” What they heard from the airline, Mathews continued, was that its routes currently are well-established, but that American is poised next year to talk more about its routes.

“I’m still hopeful,” Mathews told the authority members about prospects of bringing American Airlines service to Athens-Ben Epps Airport.

“My plan now,” Mathews continued, “is to gather some local folks – local Chamber (of Commerce) and (county) Economic Development and the Classic Center, perhaps, and make a trip out there to Dallas (American Airlines headquarters) and let them know that we’re interested, give them a good pitch. … I want to actually talk to the folks there at corporate and bring our arsenal of folks … and let them know what we do have to offer.”

Putting a timeline on his plan, Mathews told authority members he’d like to get the trip to Dallas done within the next “four to five months.”

American Airlines has a large hub at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, which would place it in line potentially to offer service there from Athens, like service that has been offered by various airlines from Athens-Ben Epps Airport in the past.

The airport already has something of a connection with American Airlines. Four years ago, the airport received a $750,000 federal grant for use in attracting commercial passenger air service. At the time, American Airlines submitted a letter of support in the airport’s grant application. That support at least hinted at the possibility of a future link between Athens-Ben Eps Airport and the American Airlines hub in Charlotte.

In a bit of related news, Athens-Clarke County commissioners are expected at their May 7 meeting to approve proposed concepts for two airport projects – an expansion of automobile parking and repaving along with new lighting and pavement markings for a taxiway to Runway 2-20.

According to information presented to the commission at its April 16 agenda-setting meeting for the May 7 voting meeting, unidentified airlines with whom airport staff met at the February conference included talk about parking availability, inasmuch as the aircraft now flown by potentially interested airlines can carry between 70 and 120 passengers.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: American Airlines, others sought to provide service at Athens airport