Timing is key to news about air service

It is good news that passenger service, albeit limited, will return to the Macon Regional Airport. Contour Airlines, assisted by a $4.2 million annual subsidy from the U.S. Department of Transportation grant, will assure two nonstop round trips six days a week to Washington Dulles International Airport located in Sterling, Virginia, about 30 miles outside of Washington, D.C. Washington Dulles is an international hub so it opens up a world of destinations for at least the next couple of years. A Macon-Bibb County Commission committee approved a resolution to accept the deal on Tuesday and full commission approval is expected on Jan. 17.

We know, The airport has been down this road before. First Eastern Airlines and Delta Airlines departed, leaving behind Atlantic Southeast Airlines, a Delta subsidiary, to provide air service, Once it left town, Georgia Skies and Silver Airways followed. None could make it. Silver Airways lasted a short nine months. What will be different now?

First of all, like many things in life, timing is everything, and the timing just might be on Contour Airlines side. In the words of airport manager Erick D’Leon, “For us airport service is really icing on the cake that rounds out our services.” That’s the proper perspective. Contour Airlines comes to the table in the middle of the Georgia Department of Transportation’s $55 million Sardis Church Road extension, that will provide a route from the Sardis Church Road interchange at Interstate 75 over to Ga. 247. It will also provide access to the Macon Regional Airport from I-75.

Funds have been identified in the special purpose local option sales tax to help fund the extension of the runway at the airport which will allow for larger airplanes to take off and land with cargo or for maintenance. The economic impact of the regional airport is already $200 million, mostly attributed to aircraft maintenance. And while Contour plans to hire local flight and ground crews, the number of jobs in the aircraft maintenance arena coupled with cargo possibilities due to the extended runway and easy access to I-75 and Ga. 247, will be the exciting part of the process of watching the airport and the rest of the region morph into a Middle Georgia juggernaut.

This story was originally published January 12, 2017 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Timing is key to news about air service."