Council affirms Denver Air Connection for EAS contract

McCOOK, Neb. — By a unanimous vote, the McCook City Council voted Monday night to recommend to the Department of Transportation the two-year proposal from Denver Air Connection as the new Essential Air Service airline provider at the McCook Airport.

Essential Air Service is a federal program that provides small communities with direct airline service to larger airports. The council, minus Councilman Jerry Calvin, who was absent and excused from the meeting, took the recommendation of Denver Air from the City of McCook Airport Advisory Commission. Denver Air will replace Boutique Air, whose contract is up the end of May, as the essential air service provider at McCook Ben Nelson Regional Airport. Denver Air was one of five airline companies vying for the federal contract. The two-year proposal requested from Denver Air is $2.91 million for the first year and $2.96 the second year. City Manager Nate Schneider said there is an option for a four-year contract but the McCook airport commission felt the two-year contract was best at this point. Proposals from the other airlines, including from Boutique Air, were similar in scope, Schneider said. Denver Air will operate 12 nonstop round trips per week from the McCook airport to Denver International Airport, two daily flights Monday through Friday and one daily flight on the weekend. Schneider said he talked with the airport manager at Alliance, Neb., that also switched to Denver Air, who said that they are extremely happy with their service and reported a 96% flight success rate. Schneider said Denver Air has an interline agreement with United Airlines that will make it easier for passengers for baggage transfers and check-ins at the Denver Airport. The nine-passenger Fairchild Metro 23 aircraft will be manned by two pilots, has twin turboprops engines and is capable of carrying 150 pounds of luggage per passenger, Schneider said. There’s also enough room on the plane for “unique” baggage, such as skis, he said. Councilman Gene Weedin said the five vendors competing for the contract spoke well of the city. The last time the essential air service contract was up for bid, only three vendors submitted proposals, he said. “That says something about the City of McCook.”Mayor Mike Gonzales said he was surprised at how smooth the process has been and cited members of the Airport Advisory Commission and city staff. Other airline providers that submitted proposals were Boutique Air, Air Charter Express, Air Choice One and Southern Airways. According to its website, Denver Air operates flights out of Alliance, Chicago, Ill., Clovis, N.M., Denver, Colo., Ironwood, Mich., Minneapolis, Minn., Pierre, S.D., Telluride, Colo., Thief River Falls, Minn., Watertown, S.D., Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas and Phoenix, Ariz.

Also at Monday night’s regular council meeting, the council took city staff’s recommendation to solicit bits and select its health insurance broker in 2022 and conduct the same process in 2023 for the city’s property/casualty insurance.

The city currently contracts with Hayes Companies, inc. for its medical insurance brokerage services and Ellerbrock-Norris for its property/casualty insurance.