Regional towns disagree over airport contract

By Jon Hochschartner
Harrietstown and Plattsburgh officials are in disagreement over what airline should service their airports.Plattsburgh officials prefer a bid offered by Colgan Air, which offers 34-seat planes with a higher ticket cost, while Harrietstown officials prefer a bid offered by Cape Air, which offers nine seat planes with a lower ticket cost.The issue was central to Harrietstown's Nov. 23 town board meeting.Town Supervisor Larry Miller said that if the Department of Transportation decides against separating the Essential Air Service contracts, it's "very possible" that Harrietstown's Adirondack Regional Airport could end up with Colgan Air."We've been working diligently," Miller said. "I've been working with the chamber, I've been calling our political allies, (including State Senator) Betty Little. I did receive a phone call today from (Congressman) Bill Owens, and he assures me that he's fighting for both airports to have what they're looking for."Town Councilman Jim Murnane said he understood Clinton County legislator's perspective, and thought it would be beneficial to open up a dialogue with them."They're looking for growth," Murnane said. "Of course, I understand our point of view as well. They weren't very complimentary about Cape Air's service. They weren't, by any means, too impressed with Charter Air. They didn't want to get stuck with them. They wanted the opportunity for growth."But Miller said Cape Air has offered to fly larger airplanes if the demand is ever there."According to what I've heard, they don't very often get more than nine people flying out of Plattsburgh to go to Boston," Miller said. "So why would you want a 15 seat airplane if you only have eight or nine people?"When asked by the board, Ross Dubarry, the manager of Adirondack Regional Airport, said he didn't think a fear of flying in a small plane, such as those Cape Air provides, was much of a customer disincentive."There are definitely people who have a fear of flying," Dubarry said. "With those particular individuals, that fear increases with the decrease in the size of the aircraft. In my estimation that's a very small percentage of the flying public."Town Councilman Ronald B. Keough said he believed that without its greater share of Canadian customers, Plattsburgh International Airport would not receive as much business as Adirondack Regional Airport.