Contour addresses operation questions
PLATTSBURGH — The Clinton County Legislature questioned how Contour Airlines, if chosen to receive a renewed Alternate EAS contract again, would improve upon some of the operating issues the community has complained about over the past two years of service.
Chair of the Plattsburgh International Airport Committee and County Legislator, Bobby Hall (D-Area 10, City of Plattsburgh), said he has been on the receiving end of most of the feedback about Contour — both good and bad — since their service began in July of 2022.
In that time, Contour has offered 12 weekly trips to Philadelphia on a 30-passenger jet, with two round trips available five days a week.
The airline recently bid to receive a renewed federal Alternate Essential Air Service contract, which is scheduled to begin Oct. 1. In its proposal, Contour offered continuing flights to Philadelphia or starting new flights to Washington Dulles International Airport.
Other airlines like Breeze Airways and Boutiques Airlines are also bidding for the EAS contract.
Hall said when an issue arises with Contour, flight cancellations are usually at the top of the list of concerns from residents. Subsequently, finding out why a flight is canceled is also a challenge, he said.
As Contour Airlines' CEO Matt Chaifetz discussed the EAS bid with the county's airport committee at their last meeting, he addressed the community's concerns with the airline.
Chaifetz noted Contour's on-time performance had fallen from 86.8% in 2022 to 83.9% in 2023. However, the airline's completion factor, which was around 98%-99% and dipped to the 96%-97% range for a period of time, was the weakness, he said.
Chaifetz said the airline's growth was a good part of the reason for that.
"Contour has grown quite a bit since we first began service in Plattsburgh; we are now the second largest carrier in the Essential Air Service program. Second only to SkyWest," he said.
"There's no question that the growth has impacted our operation a little bit. Before this, we were routinely the most punctual airline in the country."
He said that growth attracted the attention of SkyWest, which acquired 25% of Contour earlier this year. Contour then added new interline agreements with United Airlines and Alaska Airlines this year on top of its previous existing agreement with American Airlines.
"If I had to do it all over again, I would because of that growth and the scale that we created ... It really helped us to build first, cultivate and then build relationships with the major airlines that are so important to Essential Air Service."
Through SkyWest's investment in Contour, Chaifetz said he expects a continued improvement in their operations.
He said SkyWest is putting airplanes into Contour's fleet and they are also cooperating on pilots and pilot training.
Additionally, Chaifetz touted that most recently, Contour hasn't had a cancellation in 60 days.
"So that's really the impact of the additional SkyWest airplanes joining the fleet, creating slack, positioning spares around the system."
Prior to SkyWest's involvement, when PBG first approached Contour in becoming its Alternate EAS provider in 2022, fuel was almost $5 a gallon and it was a "very expensive time" to be operating, Chaifetz said.
In addition to Plattsburgh, he said two other markets, Ogdensburg and Altoona, Pennsylvania, also approached Contour with the same request at the time.
Because of this, they were forced to combine three cities in two airplanes to make the total subsidy offered by the Department of Transportation for the EAS service at the time, which was $10 million.
"So that's what we did. Except, running six legs a day on both airplanes was not really a sustainable operation. It was the best we could offer at the time, but it also meant that there was no room for error. Our longest turn during the day is one hour and we have about 40 minutes of slack on the evening arrival before a late arrival will impact the morning departure," Chaifetz said.
"So we've been operating with virtually no room for error for the better part of two years."
Going forward, Chaifetz said there will be no more than four legs assigned to any aircraft.
When they started service to Philadelphia, Chaifetz said they ran into a "problem" where they were forced to outsource ground handling to American Airlines. This meant American controlled the gates, equipment and used their people to support flights.
Chaifetz said he thinks most of the complaints from flyers are a "Philly-specific problem."
"Because American has taken over service for us in Chicago and Phoenix and we don't receive one-tenth of the complaints that I hear about the service in Philadelphia," he said.
"It may not be an issue if you want to go to Dulles, but at the very least I can tell you that we're aware of it and every one of our hubs is now getting a Contour station manager even where American handles us."
