BEAVER, W.Va. — The Raleigh County Airport Authority announced the addition of a new carrier at the county airport near Beckley on Wednesday.
Tennessee-based Contour Airlines will begin service from Beckley to Charlotte, North Carolina in early December. Company CEO Matt Chaifetz was on hand for the official announcement and ribbon-cutting ceremony at Raleigh County Memorial Airport. He explained why the company initially decided to make a bid for service out of Raleigh County, last year.
“We have a history of rehabilitating markets that have been poorly served in the past. (In) Tupleo, Mississippi, we took a market that had only been carrying 3,000 people, and have turned it into a market now carrying 30,000 people. I think because we have such stellar operational performance, going into a community where the previous carrier had kind of depressed the passenger load, because of delays and cancellations, makes people appreciate the Contour service that much more,” he said.
Chaifetz also said Contour’s management has had preliminary discussions with American Airlines regarding a possible agreement to have connecting flights between the two companies, although there would be some large hurdles to overcome before such an agreement could be finalized.
“Technology integrations between a big airline like American and another carrier are not easy and they’re not particularly inexpensive. So, we are optimistic that we believe that we can convince American that we have enough passengers to bring to the table to make it worth their while, and we’ll continue to have those discussions with them,” Chaifetz said.
Founded in 1982, Contour currently serves airports in six states, operating a fleet of approximately 30 aircraft ranging in size from Cessna business jets to Bombardier and Embraer regional jets. The route between Beckley and Charlotte normally will be about 35 minutes in the air. Additional routes out of Beckley are expected to be added in the coming months.
In anticipation of service by Contour, the Raleigh County Airport Authority opted not to renew it’s contract with ViaAir, a regional airline that currently provides essential service. ViaAir has been operating of Beckley since December 2014, but will cease operations at the airport after the current service contract expires on November 30th.