By William Smith
Former Miss Burlington and current Miss Iowa contestant Olivia Keller wore her sash and crown to the airport Tuesday — her usual uniform for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
But she later admitted to an unspoken motive. The buy one, get one free sale that clogged the ticket counter at Southeast Iowa Regional Airport.
“I’m excited. I’ve never gotten to fly out of Burlington before,” she said. “When I heard this was happening, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve got to go and buy tickets.’ I love going to Chicago. My uncle lives there. I’m going to buy a couple of sets and jet off.”
The ribbon cutting for Southern Airways Express, held in conjunction with The Greater Burlington Partnership, packed the airport terminal with an eager local flying populace.
Southern Airways Express co-owner Mark Cestari could barely contain his excitement Tuesday morning as he stood in front of the red ribbon.
“Southern has only been here for 11 days. We now fly to over 50 cities coast-to-coast and in the Hawaiian Islands,” he said. “Our cities are usually smaller places, and in most of our cities, we’re the only airline in town. And when you’re the only airline in town, you have to do a good job. You have to be reliable.”
Southern Airways became the official airline for Southeast Iowa Regional Airport on April 1. Southern replaced Cape Air, which flew its final flights out of the airport on March 31.
“Hopefully, we’ll have a long relationship with them,” said Southeast Iowa Regional Airport Authority Board president Charlie Walsh. “We were with Air Choice One for 10 years, and the other one (Cape Air), 14 months.”
Walsh expressed his optimism about the future of Southern Airways Express.
“We’re one of seven airports in the state,” Walsh said. “So all the 24 flights that we’ll be having, those are two international airports that you can travel to anywhere in the continental United States and worldwide. I mean, Burlington is fortunate to have what we have, and we do welcome Southern.”
Southern Airways Express acquired Air Choice One in March of 2022, making it one of the largest commuter airlines in America. Southeast Iowa Regional Airport Director Sarah Sandburg thinks the airline will be a boon for the community, and has confidence in its longevity.
Sandburg was particularly pleased with the ticket promotion, which was helping rebuild the trust of the flying public.
“I had a call with a gentleman this morning who wanted to know if there was a limit to how many tickets you can buy. He wanted to buy eight,” Sandburg said.
Sandburg said the first 11 days of flights from Southern Airways Express went well, with the exception of storms and tornadoes that disrupted the entire state.
She said Southern Airways has pilots lined up for at least the next couple of years, which should protect against pilot shortages that impacted the previous carrier, Cape Air.
Those pilot shortages resulted in a multitude of canceled flights over the past year. Sandburg said Cape Air was averaging about six passengers per flight, but only made 64 percent of their flights.
“These planes are probably more sustainable, more reliable than what Cape Air’s were. And more room,” she said, noting that the planes will be carrying about eight passengers.
Cape Air’s 14-month tenure in Burlington was much shorter than expected. In May of 2022, Cape Air told the U.S. Department of Transportation that it planned on ending the four year-contract early due to a lack of viable pilots. Cape Air couldn’t pull out of Burlington, however, until the airport authority found another airline.
The DOT rejected a proposal from Boutique Air to become the new airline in October and received new proposals from Cape Air and Southern Airways Express.
The Southeast Iowa Regional Airport Authority voted to go with Southern Airways Express.
The U.S. Department of Transportation will compensate Southern Airways as an Essential Air Service with a subsidy rate of $3.4 million for the first year and $3.5 million for the second year.
Essential Air Service is a government program that guarantees small communities in the United States receive air service.
The essential air service will provide 14 round trips from Southeast Iowa Regional Airport to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and 10 round trips to St. Louis-Lambert International Airport with roughly 8 to 9 Cessna aircraft. That’s 24 round-trip flights per week, with two flights leaving each day for Chicago, seven days a week. Flights to St. Louis will be daily, including two flights on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Tickets went on sale on Feb. 14, ranging from $39 to $89. Cestari said partnerships with United and American Airlines, Alaska, and Hawaii would take passengers anywhere they want to go.