Results of a study done to determine if there are changes that could be made in passenger airline service to boost business at Missouri’s airports will be detailed in a public meeting Friday at the Joplin Regional Airport.
The meeting will be held at 9 a.m. in the conference room on the second floor of the new airport terminal.
The study was done by Boyd Group International, a consultant used by airports including Joplin’s, for the state aviation program of the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT).
The study was done to determine if there can be changes made at local airports in Joplin, Kirksville, Waynesville, Columbia and Cape Girardeau or statewide to increase use of air service. The study also addresses whether there are changes that would help the state’s two major airports in Kansas City and St. Louis and the startup airport at Branson.
Passenger air service at the five smaller cities, including Joplin’s, is subsidized by federal taxpayers through the Department of Transportation’s Essential Air Service (EAS) program. That program pays Joplin’s air carrier, Great Lakes Aviation, a subsidy to keep commercial air service available in Joplin.
Steve Stockam, manager of the Joplin airport, said the study was done because several factors have decreased the availability of services at all Missouri airports and also to help market Joplin this year when its EAS air service is due to be rebid.
For more on this story pick up a copy of Friday's Joplin Globe.
