The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has reselected Boutique Air (4B, San Francisco) for the Essential Air Service (EAS) flights at Massena, NY, connecting the city 21x weekly with Boston using PC-12 equipment.
The EAS was previously awarded to SkyWest Airlines (OO, Salt Lake City), which was due to start CRJ200 operations on April 1, 2019. However, the carrier later pulled out of the contract, having established that the runway at Massena does not fulfil the requirements to serve regional jets.
Boutique Air is the current EAS operator at Massena and will retain its schedule. It will receive USD3.07 million for the first year of operations and USD3.17 million for the second. The new EAS contract is valid through March 31, 2021.
The DOT has also formally accepted the SkyWest's decision to serve only Ogdensburg, NY, which initially was awarded as a part of the same EAS tender as Massena.
