Published: November 12, 2007 08:05 pm            

Last Colgan flight leaves Mercer Airport

BLUEFIELD — Early Monday afternoon the final Colgan Air flight in Mercer County left for Washington D.C., leaving a county airport that remains open for business despite the lack of commercial air service.

Colgan Air announced in mid-August that it would discontinue its three daily flights at the Mercer County Airport on Nov. 12. The final flight was expected to arrive at approximately 2:50 p.m. from Washington, D.C., and leave with two passengers, said one airline employee. The three full-time employees, now slated to work at the Raleigh County Airport, had started packing.

Despite Colgan Air’s departure, the Mercer County Airport remains open for private aviators, members of the county airport authority said.

“The airport’s still open,” said authority board member Laura Gooch. “The staff will be there, the facility will still be there, we will still be selling fuel.”

Ongoing renovations to the airport’s runway will be completed, said Authority President Charlie Peters. The improvements should allow the airport to handle jets, he said.

When Colgan Air informed the Mercer County Airport Authority about the decision to leave, the airline’s plan to switch from Beech 1900 commuter aircraft to the larger Saab 340 was cited as a reason for the airline’s departure. The new aircraft’s performance “severely limits” its “ability to carry a proper payload in a safe manner,” airline officials stated in the notice.

However, one local pilot who uses the Mercer County Airport, Bill Cole of Bluefield, said he believed the Saab 340 could operate safely in Mercer County.

Completing the runway improvements would help eliminate “any excuses” for not bringing new planes to Mercer County, Peters said. Meanwhile, the airport will stay in operation.

“We’ll just keep it up and maintain it,” Peters said. “The snow removal will continue on the runway, and we will keep it maintained and open to any and all private airplanes.”

A contract has been made, and the authority already has the matching funds needed for a Federal Aviation Administration grant funding facility improvements, Peters said.

Local leaders said they have been working to keep commercial air service in the county by contacting the region’s representatives in Congress.

“We’ve been lobbying, we’ve been writing and we’ve been calling,” said Mercer County Commissioner Joe Coburn. “We’re going to keep it [the airport] open as long as we can.”

Area residents seeking the best value for air travel will still have the Raleigh County Airport as an option, said Gooch, who also works for AAA of Bluefield.

“We will continue to take a look at Beckley as well as other regional airports,” she said.

Gooch said advertisements encouraging residents to use the Mercer County Airport have been in the local media regularly, but there is limited funding for promotions. Regulations under the federal Transportation Security Administration restrict other possible activities at airports with commercial service, she said.

“With the TSA regulations and the security and the Orange Alert, there would be limited access to the airport for community events such as Business After Hours,” Gooch said.

Rules pertaining to passenger screening, personal identification and who can be on airport property apply both to major airports and small rural airports with commercial air service, Gooch said.

The federal security regulations limit the public’s access to airports with commercial air service during activities such as air shows, Gooch said.

“With the commercial service now gone, then the restrictions change, and I’m sure the airport manager would be open to a variety of ideas,” Gooch said. “Those would have to be looked at on an individual basis. You would still have a certain amount of liability for any event at the airport.”

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com

        

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