Key Lime Air (KG, Denver Centennial) will begin Essential Air Service (EAS) regional jet flights on the Clovis Municipal to Denver International route from May 1, 2020, replacing the existing turboprop service which is operated by Boutique Air (4B, San Francisco). The existing contract with Boutique Air, which operates from Clovis to an alternative hub at Dallas/Fort Worth, ended on January 31.

The two-year contract, awarded by the US Department for Transportation (DOT), will attract an annual subsidy of USD4,398,896 and be operated under Key Lime's Denver Air Connection (Denver Centennial) brand. Other carriers that expressed interest in operating the service, included SkyWest Airlines (OO, Salt Lake City), which proposed a 12x weekly service with its 50-seat CRJ200s to either Denver or Houston Intercontinental, and Advanced Air (AN, Hawthorne) which proposed an 18x weekly service with its nine-seat Beech (twin turboprop) King Air 350s to either Dallas/Fort Worth and/or Albuquerque International.

In addition to awarding Key Lime Air the EAS contract, the DOT also agreed to extend Boutique Air's existing agreement from February 1 until April 30, 2020. This would allow the incumbent carrier to continue to provide its 18x weekly service to Dallas/Fort Worth.

In September 2019, the DOT requested community comments regarding this air carrier-selection case, and in response, the Mayor of Clovis, David M. Lansford, submitted an Alternate Essential Air Service (AEAS) proposal. He proposed a 12x weekly E135 public charter service to Dallas/Fort Worth to be provided by Contour Airlines (LF, Tupelo).

The community comments also listed a variety of other elements which it deemed pertinent for the decision on which airline should be chosen for the EAS:

  • selecting a carrier which had been approved to transport military personnel;
  • selecting a carrier which operates aircraft with 30 seats or below, as the airport is limited by its Class III FAA Operating Certificate to types of this size;
  • selecting a carrier with an interline or codeshare agreement with a major airline at the intended hub.

In choosing Key Lime Air, the DOT said its proposal "aligns well with the required statutory criteria, including the preferences expressed by CVN [Clovis]. CVN expressed the community’s strong preference for an air carrier that can transport military personnel" and "also aligns with CVN’s wishes related to seating capacity and flight frequency. Also, it also has an interline agreement with United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare) at Denver and it has been "providing reliable EAS at Alliance, Nebraska, since June 2019."

The DOT also rejected the AEAS application as "typically... public charter service are approved when there is a lack of other viable air service options that meet basic EAS requirements and/or the community’s needs."

Key Lime Air operates five Do328-300s, one E120(ER), three E145(LR)s, and twenty-five Metroliners.