Barkley Airport gets bids from 5 airlines for this fall's new contract

Barkley Regional Airport's board members will have a big decision to make in July as to which regional airline will serve the airport after the current contract expires this fall.

The airport board has received proposals from five different carriers, including Contour Airlines, who currently flies daily into Paducah from Charlotte.

All proposals are for 12 weekly round trips over the next four years.

Contour's new proposal would now split flights to Chicago with its Charlotte flights on 30-seat jets.

American Airlines is looking to get back into our market by giving Paducah the choice of three options using 50- to 64-seat jets: 1) exclusively to Charlotte; 2) split flights between Charlotte and Dallas-Fort Worth; or 3) split between Dallas-Fort Worth and O'Hare in Chicago.

Air Wisconsin proposes using 50-seat jets to provide service to Chicago.

Denver Air has proposed using 50-seat jets to fly to and from Chicago and Atlanta.

SkyWest has also given the Barkley board three options: 1) Chicago using United Airlines aircraft; 2) Houston and/or Chicago via United; or 3) Detroit using Delta jets.

The board will vote to select a new carrier at its special meeting on Tuesday, July 8.

The final recommendation will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation, who subsidizes Paducah's flights under its Essential Air Service program, which can only fund one air carrier at each qualifying small market airport.