SkyWest will consider charter flights to serve smaller communities: fly weekly

Contour Airlines can find new ways to address the pilot shortage and expand its network into smaller markets.

Now, megaregional carrier SkyWest hopes to emulate that approach by continuing to fly 29 federally subsidized Essential Air Services (EAS) routes that it operates in partnership with United Airlines.

But the solution was not to operate the airlines as a public charter operator, but rather as a certified air carrier, drawing opposition from the powerful Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA).

The FAA administers the EAS program to help connect small communities to the commercial aviation network. The program will subsidize routes that airlines may abandon because they are not profitable enough.

The US pilot shortage has caused United, Delta and American to accelerate plans to scale back on small-community flying by combining with regional airline partners such as SkyWest, but Contour is growing into EAS markets.

For example, Contour On July 1, SkyWest began flying EAS service from Plattsburgh and Ogdensburg, NY to Philadelphia, replacing United Express service that operated from those communities to Washington Dulles. Through an interline agreement with American, Contour customers can continue to destinations beyond Philadelphia.

Those services bring to 10 the number of federally subsidized routes Contour is flying. All routes are operated by aircraft with 30 seats, the maximum number allowed for airlines operating under approval as a public charter operator.

Contour is competing for seven more EAS contracts, CEO Matt Chaifet said. If awarded, the carrier will fly nearly three times as many of the six subsidized small community services it offered as of September.

But by working for a public charter carrier certificate, Contour co-pilots are not required to have 1,500 hours of flight time, as is the requirement for airlines operating scheduled air carriers under FAA rules. Instead, pilots can start with 250 hours, although Chaifetz said most non-commissioned officers start with 500 to 800 hours of flight experience. Captains on public charter flights are required to spend at least 1,500 hours in the cockpit.

Additionally, the mandatory retirement age of 65 for pilots working for traditional airlines does not apply to public charters.

The ability to draw from a pool of pilots who can’t fly for scheduled carriers “really just comes down to the laws of supply and demand,” Chaifetz said.

Sky West aims to establish a charter subsidiary.

SkyWest is clearly paying attention.

Last February, the carrier requested permission to withdraw from the 29 EAS routes it operates under the United Express livery. As US regional airlines face severe pilot shortages, the move appears to be aimed at allowing SkyWest to focus on its more profitable United codeshare routes.

But in June, SkyWest applied for federal approval for a subsidiary called SkyWest Charter to operate as a public charter. SkyWest next April 18 proposed to lend the aircraft to the branch for service of 25 routes.

The carrier will remove 20 seats from its 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft to meet public charter requirements. Included in those 25 proposed routes are 18 EAS communities that SkyWest wanted to exit.

SkyWest did not respond to a request for this story. But Bob Mann, an airline industry consultant at RW Man & Co, said he did not believe the regional carrier would be able to operate public charter routes under the name of the mainline carriers, as all SkyWest flights currently do. Instead, the flights should be sold under the SkyWest branding.

Still, Mann said, by launching public charter services, SkyWest could solve two problems: ease its own recruitment challenges and provide a more profitable way for pilots looking to reach the critical 1,500-hour threshold.

“SkyWest is a quality operator. They have done a good job for decades in a strong business,” Mann said. “I think they’re looking for a creative way to solve the problem they’re having when it comes to enabling their customers to use their services in difficult markets.”

ALPA, however, has notified DOT that it will oppose the plan because it would miss the 1,500-hour rule.

“SkyWest believes that it will address the manpower issues by reducing the safety gap on its fleet through the gap,” ALPA wrote in a recent regulatory filing with the DOT.