SkyWest Airlines (OO, St. George Municipal) will continue to provide Essential Air Service (EAS) regional jet flights on the Pellston to Detroit Metropolitan city pair from February 1, 2020, following the award of the route by the US Department for Transportation (DOT) in late January. Its existing EAS agreement on the 211-nautical mile (391-kilometre) sector ends on January 31.

The SkyWest service will again be flown 12x weekly by the airline's CRJ200 fleet operated in cooperation with Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) as Delta Connection. The two-year contract will attract an annual subsidy of USD1,724,962 for services operated from October through May of each year. The DOT will rely on SkyWest’s unsubsidised service from June through September of each year to provide Pellston’s peak season EAS. The regional carrier was the only operator to submit a proposal.

The DOT indicated that SkyWest’s proposal met all five of the carrier-selection criteria it typically considers:

  • service reliability;
  • contractual and marketing arrangements with a larger air carrier at the hub;
  • interline arrangements with a larger air carrier at the hub;
  • the preferences of the actual and potential users of the service, giving substantial weight to the views of the elected officials representing the users, and;
  • whether the air carrier has included a plan in its proposal to market the service.

In awarding the EAS, the DOT said: "SkyWest has served Pellston reliably for nearly a decade and the community has expressed its satisfaction with its service. Also, SkyWest’s codeshare with Delta Air Lines will continue to provide passengers connectivity and global access at the DTW hub. Lastly, the Department finds the service and subsidy to be reasonable."

SkyWest currently operates a fleet of 181 CRJ200ER and LR 50-seat jets. Its total fleet, all regional jets, now numbers close to 500 units. Skywest also flies on behalf of United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare), Alaska Airlines (AS, Seattle Tacoma International), and American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth).

The only other scheduled service which is presently offered from Pellston is a 5x weekly route to Alpena in Michigan, again operated by SkyWest as Delta Connection.