The US Department of Transportation (DOT) says it has awarded Boutique Air (4B, San Francisco) an Essential Air Services (EAS) contract to the Californian town of Merced Regional. The contract runs for two years and is valued at USD2,991,546 per annum.
Over the period August 1, 2015 to July 31, 2017 Boutique Air will operate twelve weekly return flights each to Los Angeles International and Oakland International, and seven weekly return flights to Las Vegas Harry Reid for a total of thirty-one weekly services. Operations are on-board PC-12 aircraft.
Other operators that submitted proposals include Great Lakes Airlines (Cheyenne), Makani Kai Air (Honolulu), Mokulele Airlines (MHO, Kona), and SeaPort Airlines (Portland International).
Incumbent operator Great Lakes was directed by the DOT to extend its service obligations from March 1, 2015, to a date no later than September 30 of this year to cover the contract's reallocation.
