Daily flights between Owensboro and Chicago O’Hare International Airport via a 30-passenger jet could be coming later this year. That’s a switch from the local airport board’s initial recommendation to offer flights to Charlotte, but would still result in no longer offering flights to St. Louis or Nashville.
In January, the Owensboro-Daviess County Regional Airport (OWB) board approved making a recommendation to accept a bid from Contour Airlines to become the new Essential Air Service (EAS) provider for OWB.
That initial recommendation was for Contour to provide daily round-trip flights between OWB and Charlotte-Douglas International Airport.
However, Contour and the OWB board had mutual interest in modifying that plan to provide service to Chicago rather than Charlotte, according to OWB board chair Doug Hoyt.
“Contour recently also won bids for two other airports, and those two other airports will be providing service to Chicago. In that discussion, it came up about us (switching to Chicago), and so it just moved from there,” Hoyt said. “We did a lot of investigation and legwork, and we believe that it is best for the community.”
The recommendation must first be approved by the Department of Transportation (DOT). Hoyt said the board’s initial recommendation of service to Charlotte had already been approved — with a timeline of starting around the first of August — so he’s hopeful that modifying that plan will also get the green light from the DOT.
Hoyt added that thinks the time frame of early August to begin the new service is still viable.
“We believe that a modification will take considerably less time than the original approval. We have confidence that they will (approve the recommendation), but it’s up to them,” Hoyt said. “We will be the only airport in this region that provides airline service to Chicago if we’re successful in getting this recommendation approved. That’s an exciting thing for Owensboro and Daviess County.”
Hoyt noted the recommendation does not include a specific flight schedule. He said there will be a total of 12 flights per week, but the times and days would be decided at a later date. However, he said there will be at least one flight each day of the week, with two flights each on five days.
Hoyt is also excited that Contour would bring an upgraded travel experience to OWB with its service — offering a twin-engine jet that seats 30 passengers in a 2-by-1 configuration and features 36” of seat pitch in every row.
“It’s the first opportunity to have that service out of Owensboro,” Hoyt said. “I think it’s a tremendous opportunity for this community, and we’re very excited about that.”
