I saw this article in KeysNet News:
"Cape Air's first Marathon landing schedule for Friday
Airline will fly Cessnas to Fort Myers
By RYAN McCARTHY
rmccarthy@keynoter.com
Posted - Wednesday, December 17, 2008 07:01 AM EST
By RYAN McCARTHY
rmccarthy@keynoter.com
Posted - Wednesday, December 17, 2008 07:01 AM EST
Finally, commercial air service is returning to the Middle Keys this week. 
Cape Air is scheduled to begin serving Florida Keys Marathon Airport on Friday.
It's the latest in a long line of airlines to give it a go in the Middle Keys. The Massachusetts-based plans to fly three times daily to Fort Myers through mid-April.
Airport Manager Reggie Paros said Cape Air's first flight is scheduled to land around 1 p.m. Friday and that the public is welcome to visit with company officials.
"We've got plans under way for a welcome reception for the inaugural flight. We want everyone to be able to ask questions," Paros said. "We have a good feeling this will be a dependable airline, and it'll be up to us to make it work."
The county pulled out all the stops to welcome Delta Airlines in February 2007 -- including fire hoses, a jam band, hundreds of onlookers, blowing conch shells and a host of officials. But Delta was gone just five months later, citing a runway too short to allow the airline to fill planes to capacity.
Prior to American Eagle discontinuing flights in April 2000, carriers including US Airways Express, Com Air, Gulfstream and Florida Air have served the airport.
But Paros said he believes Marathon may have found the right fit this time around.
"I think this is the right size for a startup operation. I believe their dependability rate out of Key West is ... over 98 percent," he said.
Cape Air has been flying into Key West International Airport for more than 15 years and has a fleet of nearly 60 nine-passenger Cessna 402 airplanes.
Cape Air has a code share agreement with Continental Airlines and will actually be operating as Continental Connection. Tickets for passengers aboard Cape Air flights out of Marathon will read Continental Airlines.
On Sept. 17, the County Commission decided to give Cape Air a $250,000 revenue guarantee, without which the carrier would have walked away.
The final hurdle for Cape Air was lifted in October when the U.S. Transportation Safety Administration gave the OK for passengers to be reverse-screened in Fort Myers. "
Cape Air is scheduled to begin serving Florida Keys Marathon Airport on Friday.
It's the latest in a long line of airlines to give it a go in the Middle Keys. The Massachusetts-based plans to fly three times daily to Fort Myers through mid-April.
Airport Manager Reggie Paros said Cape Air's first flight is scheduled to land around 1 p.m. Friday and that the public is welcome to visit with company officials.
"We've got plans under way for a welcome reception for the inaugural flight. We want everyone to be able to ask questions," Paros said. "We have a good feeling this will be a dependable airline, and it'll be up to us to make it work."
The county pulled out all the stops to welcome Delta Airlines in February 2007 -- including fire hoses, a jam band, hundreds of onlookers, blowing conch shells and a host of officials. But Delta was gone just five months later, citing a runway too short to allow the airline to fill planes to capacity.
Prior to American Eagle discontinuing flights in April 2000, carriers including US Airways Express, Com Air, Gulfstream and Florida Air have served the airport.
But Paros said he believes Marathon may have found the right fit this time around.
"I think this is the right size for a startup operation. I believe their dependability rate out of Key West is ... over 98 percent," he said.
Cape Air has been flying into Key West International Airport for more than 15 years and has a fleet of nearly 60 nine-passenger Cessna 402 airplanes.
Cape Air has a code share agreement with Continental Airlines and will actually be operating as Continental Connection. Tickets for passengers aboard Cape Air flights out of Marathon will read Continental Airlines.
On Sept. 17, the County Commission decided to give Cape Air a $250,000 revenue guarantee, without which the carrier would have walked away.
The final hurdle for Cape Air was lifted in October when the U.S. Transportation Safety Administration gave the OK for passengers to be reverse-screened in Fort Myers. "
As long as the carriers operate smaller planes, I'm all for it. The community just needs to legislate that runway expansion stays in check.
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