Airport boardings soar in April

By TOM LAVENTURE

tlaventure@yourdailyglobe.com

Ironwood — There have been significant improvements with on-time arrivals and departures along with increased boardings according to comments from an official of Boutique Air Inc., the Essential Service Provider that started service on Aug. 1.

Tom Warren, vice president of business development for Boutique Air, traveled from Colorado to provide a progress report on issues presented by the Gogebic-Iron County Airport Regular Board at its meeting on Monday. He first appeared before the board in February.

“I think our on-time percentage is 80% right now, which is better than most of the major airlines,” Warren said. “So, we’re headed in the right direction from my perspective.”

Boutique has a part-time mechanic in Ironwood and is working to increase the availability to full-time, he said. A pilot from the former EAS airline, Air Choice One, has recently joined Boutique and will serve a major role in familiarizing pilots with flying in and out of Ironwood in all conditions, he said.

Weather is the most common cause for cancellations and work is improving on pilot education for flying in this climate, Warren said. Adding 15 minutes between arrivals and departures has also helped in decreasing delays, he said.

There were 404 passenger arrivals in March, which is a 66% increase from 243 arrivals in March 2020. There were 438 departing passengers in March, which is a 118% increase from 201 in 2020. 

“Even during the pandemic we’re running numbers that are 50% greater than what they were pre-pandemic last year,” he said. “The one thing that is definitely working is that we are putting more people on the airplanes than was happening a year ago.”

Boutique currently schedules 19 weekly departures from Ironwood, which is one more than required by the EAS agreement. The extra flight per week adds 471 extra seats per year which is part of the Boutique goal to increase the airport capacity to 8,000 boardings that, if achieved, would help the airport receive more transportation funding. 

Boutique currently schedules 988 flights annually with a capacity of 7,904 passengers. There are several consecutive flights currently booked and more flights need to be added to accommodate demand.

“Our goal this year is to add enough flights to get you over the 8,000 capacity,” Warren said. “Before we do that we need to make sure that we are doing everything else right as to the contract requirements.”

Boutique will eventually set capacity at 10,000 to help assure the 8,000 capacity will be reached, he said. With the potential for reaching 10,000, if the airport can achieve that goal, the transportation funding would increase again. 

“That is my personal mission to accomplish that,” Warren said. 

Dan Siirila, board member from the Gogebic County Commission, asked what Boutique was doing about the luggage issues. Warren said the plans were submitted to the Transportation and Security Administration and they are waiting for a response.

Warren said airport manager Michael Harma is knowledgeable of operations and a good resource to inform Boutique about how things work here. His suggestions have been put into practice and are working including added vans in Chicago, Minneapolis and Ironwood as a back up for cancellations. 

There were four cancellations in March due to weather and crews calling in sick. The goal is again to have pilots based locally. 

There were some recent lengthy delays due to parts availability in Chicago, he said. Boutique recently hired a ground specialist from a major airline. The position is to focus on getting planes back in the air as soon as possible when they have unexpected delays due to mechanical issues or crew availability. 

James Byrns, an airport board member from the Gogebic County Commission, asked if Boutique would take part in the Ironwood Festival as part of its community support and outreach. He said the company would have people present for the event and would create something like a voucher giveaway through the festival.

“It’s very important to us to be part of the community,” Warren said. “But we need to fix what is essential first before doing more. But vouchers are not a problem.”

The airline is launching a Facebook page that is specific to Ironwood, with customized ads that should be popping up on member pages in the area, he said. He also suggested the local chambers of commerce provide brochures to be placed in seat folders for passengers to read all over the country.

He said Boutique can help the airport reach the 8,000 and 10,000 plateaus. At that point the board can assess whether it would benefit more from its other goal to bring in 50 passenger jets or to stay with an airline that flies several more flights per week. 

Answering questions of the board, Warren said that Boutique is still waiting for the Federal Aviation Administration conclusion regarding the Pilatus PC-12 turboprop plane that lost a tire on approach to O’Hare International Airport in Chicago during a flight in January. The plane landed without incident or injury.

In the airport manager’s report, Harma said the hangar construction project is ongoing and that Coleman Engineering is working with the plans and feasibility study. He said the logging of airport land is complete and if any other trees present an aviation hazard they will be cut by hand.

In other business, the airport board approved:

—A 4-0 approval for Coleman Engineering to update the airport plan, not to exceed $7,000. Board member Jim Lorenson was not present.

—A 3-1 approval for an aircraft tug purchase not to exceed $10,000. Siirila voted against, saying the Boutique tug and the airport tractors were adequate.