Contour Aviation (LF, Smyrna) has reduced its scheduled services from Altoona, Pennsylvania, during September as a measure to remain within federal funding limits.
Altoona’s airport manager, Tracy Plessinger, told the Altoona Mirror daily that the maximum number of flights for the federal fiscal year is 1,211 in order to stay within the Alternate Essential Air Service (AEAS) threshold.
“They’re not allowed to go over that [amount]. That’s a hard cap,” Plessinger said. “[Contour has] actually flown more people than they planned on flying.”
Contour Airlines receives an annual subsidy of USD6.4 million to maintain up to two daily flights from Altoona to Charlotte International using an E135 with capacity for 30 passengers.
The carrier also operates AEAS flights from Muscle Shoals, Beckley, and Parkersburg to Charlotte; from Page, Show Low, Moab and Vernal to Phoenix Sky Harbor; from Macon Regional to Baltimore International; from Manistee to Chicago O'Hare; from Greenville, MS to Dallas/Fort Worth; from Tupelo to Dallas or Nashville International; and from Plattsburgh International to Philadelphia International.
ch-aviation reached out to Contour Airlines for comment on potential further impacts to its Alternate Essential Air Service segments, but it was not immediately available. The company’s fleet comprises fifteen CRJ200s, one Challenger 800 (CRJ100), one Citation Excel, ten E135s, eight E140s, three E145s, one Falcon 2000, and one Legacy 600.
