Essential Air Service

HAGERSTOWN - Hagerstown Regional Airport's only provider of commercial airline service will be leaving the airport in September. Air Midwest will discontinue flights at Hagerstown Regional Airport on Sept. 30, when the company's $650,000 annual federal subsidy to provide service at the airport expires. Tom Bacon of Mesa Air Group, which owns Air Midwest, said it would not be profitable to continue flying to Hagerstown after the subsidy ends. "We've done the calculations, and it just doesn't make sense," Bacon said.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- Speaking at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Hagerstown Regional Airport's new commuter service to Baltimore, U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Maryland, said her support for the airport was all about creating jobs, but getting there provided plenty of work for her, as well. "This airport has been like a soap opera," said Mikulski, who joined U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Maryland, in fighting for a special waiver to make the airport eligible for federal funding through the Essential Air Service (EAS)

Passenger service could return to Hagerstown Regional Airport within three months under a bill passed by the U.S. Senate to restore a federal airline subsidy, an airport official said. Maryland Democrats Benjamin Cardin and Barbara Mikulski said they expect President Bush to sign the legislation, which passed the House earlier this week. "This is really great news for the community, assuming that it moves forward, and we believe it will," said Greg Larsen, the airport's business development manager.

HAGERSTOWN -- Kay Baker flew in from Tyler, Texas, to see her niece. Steve Berner was able to get back to Hagerstown quicker to handle a family medical emergency. Kay Cannady came from Tulsa, Okla., to visit her granddaughter. The three passengers were among those who took advantage of the first day of commercial air service between Hagerstown and Baltimore being offered by Cape Air. Hagerstown lost commercial air service in September 2007 when a federal Essential Air Service subsidy expired.

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday approved a temporary extension of a subsidy program to help Hagerstown Regional Airport land another commercial carrier, according to Sen. Benjamin Cardin's office. The Senate and House have approved the measure, which President Bush is expected to sign, Cardin's office said in a news release. The measure would let Hagerstown Regional Airport continue to be part of an Essential Air Service (EAS) program through Sept. 30, 2009. Cardin's office said Congress is expected to pass a bill next year continuing the operations of the Federal Aviation Administration for another four years and make Hagerstown Regional Airport eligible for the subsidy program for another four years.

HAGERSTOWN - Local residents likely will no longer be able to book flights through Hagerstown Regional Airport starting Monday. Air Midwest, which has flown US Airways commuter flights between Hagerstown and Pittsburgh for the last three years, has said it will leave the airport when its contract expires Sunday. Airport officials had not found a carrier to replace Air Midwest by Wednesday evening, according to Greg Larsen, Business Development Manager for Hagerstown Regional Airport.

WASHINGTON COUNTY ? Hagerstown Regional Airport's slogan is "Ready for the Future," but the theme of Friday's ribbon-cutting ceremony for the airport's new runway extension could have been "Acknowledging the Past. " Almost all of the event's 15 speakers thanked the dozens of former local and state officials who they said made the new 7,000-foot runway possible. "It's an honor to have all of them here," said Airport Manager Carolyn S. Motz. "So many people were a part of this.

Local air service will change Oct. 31/Nov. 1 at Hagerstown Regional Airport, when a new carrier starts flying to a new destination. On Wednesday, Cape Air's flights between Hagerstown and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport will end, said Andrew Bonney, the airline's vice president of planning. On Thursday, Sun Air International will start service between Hagerstown and Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia near Washington, D.C. Sun Air will begin with two flights per day, or 14 a week.

WASHINGTON COUNTY - Hagerstown Regional Airport's slogan is "Ready for the Future," but the theme of Friday's ribbon-cutting ceremony for the airport's new runway extension could have been "Acknowledging the Past. " Almost all of the event's 15 speakers thanked the dozens of former local and state officials who they said made the new 7,000-foot runway possible. "It's an honor to have all of them here," said Airport Manager Carolyn S. Motz. "So many people were a part of this.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- It is unlikely that passenger airlines will take advantage of a federal subsidy to fly to Hagerstown Regional Airport before that subsidy expires this September, Airport Business Development Manager Greg Larsen said Friday. Larsen said if the airport contracts with a carrier by the fall it probably would be outside of the subsidy program. The Essential Air Service (EAS) subsidy, which pays airlines to fly to communities far from larger hub airports, was to expire on Sept.