The US Department of Transportation has selected Advanced Air (AN, Hawthorne) as the operator of the Essential Air Service (EAS) flights between Silver City, NM, and both Phoenix Sky Harbor and Albuquerque International between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2020.

The carrier will operate 17 weekly roundtrips to Albuquerque and seven to Phoenix using nine-seat Beech (twin turboprop) King Air 350. Advanced Air will receive USD3.51 million subsidy in the first year and USD3.6 million in the second.

Currently, Boutique Air (4B, San Francisco) operates 17 flights per week from Silver City to Albuquerque and seven to Phoenix using PC-12 equipment.

The current provider of the EAS also applied for a renewal of the contract but was criticised by the local authorities for poor reliability and high airfares on the existing flights.

Silver City sees no other scheduled traffic besides the EAS routes.