Business View Magazine - Dec 2023

As of now, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the FAA are negotiating a possible agreement on new rules and regulations, which could take at least a year. Meanwhile, SkyWest’s contract with DVL is being extended monthly until either a new carrier is found to service the airport or SkyWest gets its charter certificate. “So, we don’t know what’s going to happen,” Cruse says. “It would be a tragedy if we lose those folks because of this rule change they’re trying to do. So, we’re up in the air; we don’t know what tomorrow brings until it gets here. Right now, it’s month by month. If they get the charter certificate, they will be splitting Jamestown, and Devils Lake will have its own routes. They will pull 20 seats out of their aircraft in order to comply with the charter service rules and we’ll be down to a 30-passenger jet, but it will be our own and we won’t have to mix with Jamestown. We’re hoping it works out and that the FAA and DOT can come to a favorable answer to this charter deal that they’re fighting about now. I guess time will tell. As a community, we really would not like to lose SkyWest as our carrier. They’ve been very good to work with and do a great job.” SOARING HIGH Meanwhile, Cruse says that one of his current goals is to reach 10,000 enplanements a year. That would increase the airport’s AIP funding, which is currently set at $150,000 per year. “If we get to 8,000 boardings, that would bring us to $600,000 annually, and if we reach 10,000, that increases our funding to $1,000,000 annually. That can do great things for the airport.” Key to achieving that goal, according to Cruse, would be convincing people that flying from a small regional airport makes economic sense when compared to flying in and out of a larger hub. “We have a lot of passenger leakage to the big cities east of here,” he opines.“But if people were to really sit down and do the math, they’d figure out that it really doesn’t cost a lot more to fly out of your local airport. I’ve sat down and done cost comparisons. After you’re done paying for driving, parking, and all those other odds and ends fees, you’re not paying a lot more for the convenience of getting off your plane, getting into your car, and driving home in five minutes. That’s one of the big keys I wish people would look at before they fly out of some other airport.” All in all,Cruse says that he’s happywith the progress 347 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 12 DEVI LS LAKE REGIONAL AI RPORT