By CHRIS HARRIS, Staff Writer
Somerset — Locair has overcome many obstacles to continue flying high over the Somerset skies — though Mother Nature is a daunting opponent.
The flight scheduled to take off for the nation’s capital Friday afternoon was supposed to be a triumphal unveiling of Locair’s new vessel, a symbol of sorts of the company’s ability to adapt and overcome. However, with snow pouring from above and blanketing the ground for the last several days, the more prudent option was to stay grounded for the day.
But no matter. Locair keeps motoring along, providing air travel for a growing southeastern Kentucky community that’s still adapting to a luxury it’s never enjoyed before.
Nate Vallier, the general manager of Florida-based Locair Inc., believes that his operation absolutely has a place here in Pulaski where it can be successful and fill a need for the local business community — “It can work,” assured Vallier, his voice hitting a note of confidence.
Certainly, one feather in Locair’s cap is the ability to bounce back so quickly from a potential setback. Last week, Locair’s Fairchild Metro III aircraft sustained some damage when it went off the runway during a landing, striking a fence. Fortunately, there were no injuries, although the mishap could have hurt Locair’s ability to serve its clientele.
Except it won’t. “After the recent incident, our plane is going to be out of service for a few weeks, and we had to decide to vacate the market or try to make it work,” said Vallier. “That’s when we turned to fellow Florida air carrier, Craig Air, to step in and operate the flights on our behalf as a charter.”
The airline will be flying Locair’s three flights per week to Washington D.C.’s Dulles International Airport using a Beechcraft 1900C, comparable to the Fairchild Metro. The plane will offer 18 to 19 seats and an “emergency potty” in the back.
“The plane is a very reliable, pressurized aircraft with two pilots — same as ours,” said Vallier. “Once (our) plane is fixed, we plan on replacing it with one of our own 19 seaters that has sporadically been assigned to Somerset. If these planes start filling up and we're flying 15 or 16 people a flight, we'll increase the flying to Washington.”
These words come as a key date inches ever closer for Locair and the Lake Cumberland Regional Airport — March 7, 2010, when the federal subsidy community leaders secured for the local air service provider expires. The $1 million grant was purposed to ease the birthing pains of commercial flight here in Somerset, and Vallier suggested that involved parties are working to think progressively about the future of Locair in this region, as the status of any future financial assistance is currently up in the air.
“At this stage of the subsidy, our next two months are focused on a service pattern that could potentially require little to no subsidy to operate,” said Vallier. “We’ve spent the last year determining the traffic patterns, traveler behavior, and fare polarity so that we are no longer looking into a ‘crystal ball’ to figure out the traffic… we kind of have an idea now.”
Like any successful business, figuring out what works and what doesn’t has meant a bit of trial-and-error for Locair. Currently, Dulles International Airport is the only destination available for local travelers. When Locair first assumed scheduled flights for Air Azul — the first provider for Lake Cumberland Regional Airport — this past spring, Nashville was the key destination. Talk came of adding Cincinnati, and eventually Washington, Baltimore, and even Beckley, W.Va., made their way into the mix.
Different problems spelled the end of most of these routes, however. Vallier admitted that “Cincinnati was a disaster,” and stated that atypically high fares at that airport, actually located in Northern Kentucky, contributed to the low traffic. “Tinker(ing) with flight times” couldn’t increase the low number of passengers headed to Nashville, and Locair has recently suspended Baltimore and Beckley until it is better able to determine its future plans.
Washington, however, was a success — enough so that passenger usership hasn’t seen a crippling drop-off even though other routes have been nixed. In September, Vallier told the Commonwealth Journal that 200 to 250 customers were flying monthly to all of the above-mentioned destinations. These days, Locair is still seeing around 200 passengers per month, he said.
“When I first heard DC, I kinda rolled my eyes thinking, ‘Yeah, that will never work,’” said Vallier, “and I was amazed when our first flight went out with almost a full load.”
And although some corners have suggested that the Washington flights exist primarily to assist local Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers in flying to Capitol Hill and back with ease — including an editorial in the Lexington Herald Leader earlier this year, and a political watchdog group called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) — Vallier notes that numerous clients make use of the scheduled flights to and from the famed “beltway” area.
“Unfortunately that got the attention of some regional and national media that felt we were pressured to start the route, and that just isn’t the case,” said Vallier. “We do get politicians on board, not just the local congressman. We’ve flown folks from the federal prison, TSA, both senator’s aides and staff, auditors, policemen, etc.
“While the route is more attractive to government, people fail to realize the government is one of our largest employers and its money is also green.”
Or take it from a businessman with ties to this area. George C. Pappas is Executive Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Development for Presidium Inc., the IT support provider for education-based clients with a strong presence here in Somerset. As of this summer, they employed 250 Kentuckians and were working on adding 200 more jobs.
Presidium also operates out of Reston, Va., and Pappas and his fellow Presidium executives find themselves flying between the two locations frequently. Of course, Reston is inside the Washington D.C. metro area, meaning travel to and from Dulles makes life very convenient for what could have been a tiring trek for one of this community’s most prominent economic movers-and-shakers.
“We use (Locair’s service) practically every week,” said Pappas. “When you think about the other alternatives, we can drive (from Reston to Somerset), about nine to 10 hours. We can take a flight that connects at Cincinnati and drive from there; you’re looking at a 10-hour trip if things go well. If there’s a delay, 14 hours. Or you can get on the local flight to Somerset and be here in an hour and 25 minutes. ... That can make the difference in the success or failure of a growing (business) presence in a region.”
Presidium has a lot invested in Somerset, currently building a software development and computer technology infrastructure operation and maintaining a large local agent group. Additionally, Pappas pointed to other companies operating in this area, including Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and computer giant IBM, as utilizing the Locair flights in a way that makes doing business in Pulaski County much more efficient and less costly.
“What we see here in Somerset, we’re pleased with,” said Pappas. “We’re the first of many companies that can have a continued presence in Somerset. One organization has to spearhead the transportation requirements of those businesses, though, and we view Locair as that operation.”
Locair is actively looking ahead. Vallier has meetings this week with three airports in North Carolina, that unlike Somerset, once had USAirways Express and Delta Connection flights. These cities are offering a lot of promise, said Vallier, and enough passenger traffic to support keeping a plane in the region. Expanding Locair’s scope —potentially in Pikeville, Ky., as well — could lend a hand to overall economic well-being that, along with assistance from regional economic development entities, could allow Locair “to stand on (its) own legs in Somerset very soon,” as Vallier put it.
“Moving forward, we believe we have used the government money in the most efficient manner,” said Vallier. “We’ve taken a market and have been able to fly more people out of Somerset than a large number of cities covered under the Essential Air Service Program, where some airlines collect double, if not triple, what we get for flying in and out of Somerset. I know of one airport that only flew 61 people in a month — that is something we haven’t done since May.
“The numbers for Somerset prove we have some type of market here,” he added, “and in the final two months (of the subsidy), we need people to use this service so we can stay.”
