PIERRE — After years of trying to win the Essential Air Service contract to provide commercial air service to Pierre, Denver Air Connection finally put its first flights in the air last week from airports in both Pierre and Watertown. Vice President, co-founder and pilot for the company Glen Rich says serving smaller towns is at the heart of what Key Lime Air does…
SkyWest beat out Denver Air two years ago for Pierre’s Essential Air Service contract. Company President Cliff Honeycut, also a pilot for Key Lime, pleaded with the Pierre City Commission in February of 2019 to reconsider their recommendation of SkyWest…
Rich says the denial may have helped the company grow…
Rich says it could be some time to really gauge how Denver Air is from a boarding standpoint…
Key Lime Air has Pierre’s Essential Air Service contract for the next two years. SkyWest is continuing to provide service to Denver, but has not indicated how long it will remain flying from Pierre without the benefit of the federal E-A-S subsidy.
