New airline provider may take over in Clovis

CLOVIS — A new airline may be providing flights from Clovis to Dallas early next year with Contour Airlines instead of Boutique Air Service as the alternate essential air service (ESA) provider for Clovis.

During Tuesday’s meeting, the city commission recommended Contour’s offer out of 11 options from five different companies. Contour will take over at the start of 2020 if the Federal Aviation Administration accepts the city’s recommendation as expected.

Eight communities currently use Alternate EAS, with the FAA subsidizing those flights for annual amounts between $1.85 and $4.4 million.

Advanced Air, Contour, Key Lime Air Corp., Sky West Airlines and Boutique — which had provided service since 2014 — submitted ESA and alternate ESA service options to the city. Commissioner Rube Render said the alternate options allowed for more flexibility. Mayor David Lansford said a traditional ESA service offers scheduled flights and has 24 hours to complete them, while an alternate ESA does chartered flights and has 48 hours to complete them.

Boutique’s contract with the city expires in 2020, with the city giving its competitors a chance to present better offers.

Render said that before this time the city had never received so many offers for air service or any proposals for alternate ESA service. That’s why a task force was put together to review the offers and give a recommendation to the commission, which Render headed as a non-voting member.

Members of the task force rated each option using a system that awarded points for different categories, such as reliability, destinations, marketing and airfare. The service providers were also rated on their ability to accommodate the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Defense Travel System, which would expand options for flyers.

Getting TSA services in Clovis would cut down on travel inconveniences and help secure direct flights.

Contour came most recommended by the task force with a score of 467 points, with two ESA options by Sky West taking the second and third most recommended, neither of which were alternates.

Contour offered 30-passenger planes and direct flights to Dallas, while Sky West offered a 50-passenger plane and direct flights to Houston. Both offered flights to Denver.

Sky West also offered the option to book flights anywhere, while Contour is still negotiating for connectivity with American Airlines, but expects to make an arrangement soon. Render said that without TSA services all of the options would have issues booking direct flights, being forced to land and travel to another airport with TSA services.

Commissioner Fidel Madrid also said that Sky West would not be able to service Clovis at all until TSA services were available.

It was a 7-1 vote to recommend Contour, with Commissioner Sandra Taylor-Sawyer voting no. Taylor-Sawyer said that out of the options presented, she preferred one of the smaller service providers, chiefly Advanced Air, which had offered a larger plane with more bag space that would have catered to the local military population who often travel with multiple bags.

Other highlights from the Tuesday meeting included:

• A request to allow a beer and wine license for Coronado BBQ, LLC was tabled for approval at a future meeting.

The commission meets again on Nov. 5 at 5:15 p.m. in the North Annex of the Clovis-Carver Library.