BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. – The decision to suspend a state-sponsored aviation grant fund marks the second financial hit sustained by the Tri-Cities Regional Airport in recent weeks.
During Thursday’s Airport Commission meeting, airport Executive Director Patrick Wilson said the Tennessee Equity Fund has temporarily suspended its grant-making process.
The equity fund uses tax revenues from the sales of airplane fuel, lubricants and tires to help airports across the state renovate and expand their facilities, Wilson said.
The local airport typically receives between $450,000 and $2 million worth of these grants each year, he said.
“We won’t have any state money available to us [without the fund],” Wilson said.
Bob Woods, director of aeronautics with the Tennessee Department of Transportation, said his agency suspended the equity fund’s grant-making process after noticing its revenues have come in lower than projected.
“We’re just temporarily ceasing grants until the next revenues come in,” Woods said, adding the fund’s administrators should have an idea how much money it
will receive by the end of March 2010.
During the meeting, airport officials also talked about Delta Airlines’ recent decision to cancel two flights per day connecting Tri-Cities with its hub at the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. That service is scheduled to end in February.
“We were extremely disappointed to learn Delta was cancelling its Cincinnati service,” airport Marketing Director Melissa Thomas said, adding the 50-seat jets used on this route were almost always full of business travelers.
However, Delta Airlines spokesman Kent Landers said Thursday the decision to cancel the Cincinnati service was based on sagging passenger numbers.
The airline will continue to offer service to Atlanta, he said, and will start offering flights from Tri-Cities to Detroit, once the Cincinnati flights stop.
Wilson said he was unable to provide an adequate estimate of how Tri-Cities would be hurt by the cancellation.
But even with the uncertainty, Thomas said, she was working to find a replacement carrier for Delta’s Cincinnati route.
The airport could bring in Continental Airlines and open up a flight to Cincinnati, she said, while bringing in either American Airlines or United Airlines could offer service to Chicago.
Delta is one of three commercial airlines that offer currently serve the Tri-Cities Regional Airport. Allegiant Air offers flights to the Orlando-Sanford International Airport and Tampa, Fla, and U.S. Airways Express offers flights to Charlotte, N.C.
gmclean@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2518
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