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Jet service returns to Abilene Regional Airport
By Jerry Reed
American Eagle is soaring higher than ever over the West Texas skies on the wings of its new Embraer 145 passenger jets.
The first regional jet transportation flight landed at Abilene Regional Airport the evening of November 15, 1998, launching once-a-day round-trip jet service out of the airport.
But that was only the beginning. In January 1999, the Abilene-based airline added a second outgoing flight of the 50-seat jet on Saturdays and Sundays. Even more will arrive by mid-year, says Wayne Hoye, airline general manager.
By June 30, 1999, the airline plans to start mixing in Embraer 135s, 37-seaters purchased from the same Brazilian manufacturer. It's part of the airline's continuing phase-out of its turboprop fleet in favor of the regional jets.
Hoye said that landing the new jets pushed Abilene way ahead of most cities its size in passenger air service.
The new jets are quieter, smoother and faster than the turboprops that still fly the balance of American Eagle's eight daily flights in and out of Abilene Regional. They can climb to 37,000 feet to escape a thunderstorm, and give passengers a more comfortable ride lasting 34 minutes, about 10 fewer than the turboprop ride.
The return of passenger jet service capped an eventful year for air passenger service in Abilene.
The Development Corporation of Abilene started the ball rolling by deciding to spend $1.75 million to enable Eagle Aviation Services to expand so that it could start maintaining passenger jets. Its first customer for that service, unsurprisingly, was its sister corporation, American Eagle.
Since the airline had to fly its new jets into and out of the Abilene airport for routine maintenance, it decided to fill them with passengers while it was at it.
In September, the U.S. Economic Development Administration kicked in a $1 million grant to help fund the Eagle Aviation expansion, thus slashing that DCOA outlay by more than half, to $750,000.
The $1.75 million paid mainly for a 27,300 square-foot hangar that the DCOA is providing to Eagle Aviation on a long-term lease, in return for a pledge of 83 new jobs created.
Another part of the synergism at the airport is the aircraft maintenance school of Texas State Technical College, whose graduates will be prime candidates for the 82 additional jobs neighboring Eagle Aviation pledged to create in return for the hangar and other facilities the DCOA built for them.
A happening outside Abilene last year raised hopes for still further enhancement of air passenger service in the not-so-distant future. Continental Express announced plans to start flying its own 50-passenger regional jets from Dallas Love Field to Houston and Cleveland. Guess which local aircraft maintenance firm has been mentioned as a likely candidate to take care of those planes?
If Eagle Aviation were to land the Continental maintenance contract, the same logic that impelled American Eagle Aviation to start jet service here would seem to apply: Why fly empty when you can put paying paying passengers in those seats?
Knowledgeable local aviation observers, however, don't see Continental launching passenger service here earlier than 2000.
Last year also saw the arrival of a new airport general manager, Richard Crider, to succeed the retiring Fal Falcioni. Crider will oversee an expansion-renovation project starting early in the year at the airport, and keep a sharp eye peeled for any prospective new passenger carriers.
The city of Abilene received a $1.74 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to update its airport master plan. Runway safety improvements, extended taxiways, and rehabilitation of the terminal building are among the scheduled improvement projects at the airport.
The airport also ordered two $250,000 jetways, enabling jet passengers to emplane and deplane without descending from the second-floor check-in area to the ground and then climbing back up again.
For air travelers whose needs don't fit an airline's flight schedule, Abilene Aero operates a busy charter service. Nine- and five-passenger planes are available to fly anywhere in the 48 connecting states. For most customers, though, only trips terminating in Texas and the four adjacent states are cost-effective, said Abilene Aero president Joe Crawford..
Business travel is the mainstay of the charter business, Crawford said.