WILLIAMSTOWN - An official with the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport is still waiting to hear about the facility's commercial air service.
"It is supposed to start in a week but since I haven't heard anything, it makes me a bit antsy," said manager Terry Moore.
Current airline Silver Airways was the only bid received by the United States Department of Transportation by the June 30 deadline for service expected to begin on Oct. 1.
Moore said he spoke with a DOT representative on Monday who said federal officials are still discussing the terms of the bid. He does not know what is holding up the local facility's agreement, but the Silver proposal was an all-or-nothing bid with all five airports having to receive the service or none would, he said.
"I don't know exactly what is going on, but it's still all up in the air and we have to wait and see what happens," Moore said, adding that the recent announcement of Silver taking over service to three Mississippi airports after Delta Airlines dropped them gives him hope.
"Since they took over the Hattiesburg flight, it seems that the DOT doesn't have that big of issues with Silver and there shouldn't be much of a problem for our service," Moore said. "It would just be nice to know what is going on."
It was announced late last week that beginning Oct. 1, flights out of the Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional Airport and the airports in Greenville and Tupelo will go to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport via Silver after Delta Airline dropped 24 routes in smaller markets across the country.
Silver Airways began providing four weekday flights between the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport and Cleveland Hopkins International Airlines on Oct. 1, 2010, as Gulfstream Air. The airline changed its name last year.
The DOT is in charge of making the decision because the service to the local airports is offered through the agency's Essential Air Service funding program.
While individual airports can make their opinion known, the DOT will make the final decision because the service is federally subsidized.
According to Silver Airways' website, it operates over 100 scheduled non-stop flights daily and serves or soon will serve nearly 57 airports in 14 states and the Bahamas.
