The ramp area at Northwest Alabama Regional Airport where the SeaPort Air plans would park. Now empty.
THE SHOALS – For the last several years, since Delta Airlines and others decided that passengers from small communities could be better handled by small, private air carriers… getting a flight out of here has been a gamble at best. It hasn’t been a pretty picture, to say the least. The last airline, SeaPort Air of Seattle, was asked by the Airport Board of Directors yesterday to relinquish it’s franchise with the FAA to service Northwest Alabama.
SeaPort air’s empty ticket counter.
In their agreement with the FAA, SeaPort agreed to provide 4 flights a day between here and Nashville. They have reneged on that commitment. As of last month, fewer than 40 people have flown from here to Nashville. The airline’s excuse is that their pilot contingent has been raided by the big air carriers, and they don’t have anybody in reserve.
This is the gate area where passengers would normally check in before boarding flights. Now empty.
Evidently, that was of little solace to the committee that oversees the local airport. They made a unanimous vote to ask for the airline’s resignation of their service.
The Quad-Cities Daily has contacted SeaPort for a statement. When we have it, we will publish what they have to say.
