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Survey seeks air service input
City wants to bring regional jet back to GB
great bend airport
After not receiving a federal grant to help bring air service back to the Great Bend Municipal Airport, city officials are looking at other options.

The City of Great Bend is seeking a federal grant that will enable it to bring in a regional jet service back to the Great Bend Municipal Airport. Understanding the importance of this, the city and Great Bend Economic Development Inc. are seeking survey responses to help gage support and gather input, said airport Manager Martin Miller.

“It would be a nice touch to get this back,” he said. In 2016, the airline serving Great Bend went bankrupt and the city lost its Essential Air Service status. EAS is a program through the U.S. Department of Transportation that gives subsidies to airlines to help keep fares low in smaller communities.  

In order for the DOT to maintain this service, the per-passenger subsidy had to be less than $1,000. But, in 2016, this figure was much higher because of the falloff in usage.

Miller and the city realize such a service is critical for the city’s growth and started looking at other options. 

First, they are seeking a Small Community Air Service Development grant through the DOT. This works similarly to EAS, except there is a local match required. 


What is involved?

The city would be working with St. George, Utah-based SkyWest Airlines which has committed to fly a 50-seat jet into Great Bend, offering round-trip flights to Denver. The total cost to make this happen for a year would be $1.2 million with the grant covering 90%, City Administrator Kendal Francis said.

This would be a one-time grant, but it could actually stretch a little longer than 12 months, he said. After that, the hope is for the service to reach a consistent 60% capacity which would make it self-sustaining. 

The grant application is due by Jan. 22 with the recipients announced by early summer, Francis said. If successful, the plan would be for Great Bend to have service by Thanksgiving.


Public input 

To make this happen, they have been reaching out to local business leaders, asking them to write letters of support for the grant program. “But, “this is a competitive grant,” said GBED President Sara Hayden. 

“We want to show a wide range of support,” she said. “The survey is an attempt to get the public involved.”

Although a city-led effort, Hayden understands the importance of the air service and jumped on board. “This is huge,” she said.

“From an economic development perspective, this would make the community more accessible and therefore more attractive to incoming business and current business that operate using a significant amount of air travel,” she said. “Unfortunately, the last airline we had was unreliable and unable to provide a successful operation for us, but with a very well known and proven airline taking over the new operation we have the opportunity to create a lasting service for the community.”

The survey is on GBED’s websiste, www.gbedinc.com. Survey questions include:

• Before the pandemic, how many trips per month did you usually take that required air travel?

• Would you fly from the Great Bend Municipal Airport if non-stop jet service was offered to a major hub airport? 

• What price point, per round trip, would you be willing to pay for the convenience of flying out of Great Bend?  

• Knowing that parking can cost upwards of $20/day at many airports, would free parking at Great Bend Municipal Airport make you more likely to fly out of Great Bend?

• Would you prefer a direct flight to Denver or a direct flight to Dallas and why? 

• If you support Great Bend Municipal Airport offering commercial, non-stop flights to a major hub airport would you be willing to sign a letter of support to be submitted to the grant committee? 


Other options

But, Miller said the are also working on another possibility. They are also going to pursue some congressional action to possibly change the parameters for Essential Air Service that will allow Great Bend access back into the program. 

There are now two qualifying parameters – a city has to be at least 175 miles from a mid to large hub (Great Bend meets this since Kansas City is the closest) and the $1,000 subsidy cutoff. Great Bend hopes to see this revised.

There is a chance that a flight from Great Bend to Dallas might become an option  in the future, Francis said.