fort dodge airport to mason city iowa airport

Since major airlines such as American, Delta, Southwest, and United pay higher than regionals, pilots with a year or two of regional experience under their belt are now quickly able to jump to a major airline. In terms of the pilot shortage, regional airlines such as SkyWest and Envoy have been hit harder than mainline carriers due to regional airlines’ space in the pilot talent pipeline-typically as the first airline job for new first officers (co-pilots). Dubuque, Fort Dodge, and Mason City all had four or more flights per day.

Sioux City had two 90-seat DC-9 jets per day in addition to multiple 31-seat Saab 340 turboprops to Minneapolis. Screenshots of Northwest Airlines’ April 1999 timetable depicting service from these four Iowa cities.

More likely is that a small EAS-only airline such as Southern Airways Express, which operates as a charter carrier with fewer limits on pilot experience and much smaller aircraft, might step in and provide once or twice-daily scheduled flights with eight-seat Cessna Caravans-single-engine turboprops. So while these airports may continue to have some level of scheduled service, it’s likely to be a significant step down from the twice-daily 50-seat jets Dubuque, Fort Dodge, Mason City, and Sioux City had recently. Burlington was also given the bad news by independent carrier Cape Air in May.Īt the moment, all four previously-notified airports still have airline service because of the federal government-subsidized Essential Air Service (EAS) contracts those airlines agreed to-they can’t leave until a new carrier is able to serve the market. Dubuque joins Fort Dodge, Mason City, and Sioux City, which heard similar news from United Airlines’ regional partner SkyWest back in March. 7, its subsidiary Envoy Airlines would be halting twice-daily service to Chicago. On June 22, American Airlines gave notice to the Dubuque Regional Airport that on Sept. In the span of a few months, five small Iowa commercial airport markets were notified by three airlines that they will no longer have passenger service in the near future due to the nationwide shortage of airline pilots. In a three-part series, Twitter user AirspaceIowa will explain what’s been hindering Iowa’s smaller airports and what it means for their future. What’s happening with airports across the country as airlines deal with staffing shortages, capacity constraints, and delayed and canceled flights is nothing new to Iowa’s smaller-commercial airports.

Fort dodge airport to mason city iowa airport