Locair overcoming obstacles

---

LCNN - 1-11-2010 at 08:46 PM

Somerset Commonwealth Journal — Locair has overcome many obstacles to continue flying high over the Somerset skies — though Mother Nature is a daunting opponent.

The flight scheduled to take off for the nation’s capital Friday afternoon was supposed to be a triumphal unveiling of Locair’s new vessel, a symbol of sorts of the company’s ability to adapt and overcome. However, with snow pouring from above and blanketing the ground for the last several days, the more prudent option was to stay grounded for the day.

But no matter. Locair keeps motoring along, providing air travel for a growing southeastern Kentucky community that’s still adapting to a luxury it’s never enjoyed before.

Nate Vallier, the general manager of Florida-based Locair Inc., believes that his operation absolutely has a place here in Pulaski where it can be successful and fill a need for the local business community — “It can work,” assured Vallier, his voice hitting a note of confidence.

Certainly, one feather in Locair’s cap is the ability to bounce back so quickly from a potential setback. Last week, Locair’s Fairchild Metro III aircraft sustained some damage when it went off the runway during a landing, striking a fence. Fortunately, there were no injuries, although the mishap could have hurt Locair’s ability to serve its clientele.

Except it won’t. “After the recent incident, our plane is going to be out of service for a few weeks, and we had to decide to vacate the market or try to make it work,” said Vallier. “That’s when we turned to fellow Florida air carrier, Craig Air, to step in and operate the flights on our behalf as a charter.”

The airline will be flying Locair’s three flights per week to Washington D.C.’s Dulles International Airport using a Beechcraft 1900C, comparable to the Fairchild Metro. The plane will offer 18 to 19 seats and an “emergency potty” in the back.

“The plane is a very reliable, pressurized aircraft with two pilots — same as ours,” said Vallier. “Once (our) plane is fixed, we plan on replacing it with one of our own 19 seaters that has sporadically been assigned to Somerset. If these planes start filling up and we're flying 15 or 16 people a flight, we'll increase the flying to Washington.”

These words come as a key date inches ever closer for Locair and the Lake Cumberland Regional Airport — March 7, 2010, when the federal subsidy community leaders secured for the local air service provider expires. The $1 million grant was purposed to ease the birthing pains of commercial flight here in Somerset, and Vallier suggested that involved parties are working to think progressively about the future of Locair in this region, as the status of any future financial assistance is currently up in the air.

“At this stage of the subsidy, our next two months are focused on a service pattern that could potentially require little to no subsidy to operate,” said Vallier. “We’ve spent the last year determining the traffic patterns, traveler behavior, and fare polarity so that we are no longer looking into a ‘crystal ball’ to figure out the traffic… we kind of have an idea now.”CLICK HERE FOR THIS STORY AND MORE

---

FlukieLuke - 1-20-2010 at 07:45 PM

I've flown on both many, many times. They are safe and reliable. They are also both fairly fast planes... especially the Metro III.
i would fly on one again, any day.

---