The terminal at the Pierre Regional Airport in South Dakota. Photo: Jeffrey Beall / CC BY 4.0
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — SkyWest Airlines plans to stop flying out of two South Dakota airports.
The company, which operates as United Express, will dial back its service to Watertown and Pierre, with its last flight at both airports on January 3rd.
The airline lost support from the federal government’s Essential Air Service program earlier this year. The contract instead went to Denver Air Connection in June. SkyWest petitioned the government to reconsider but was denied.
The move will leave Denver Air as the sole airline at each of the two airports.
Watertown City Manager Amanda Mack said the decision was expected, adding it was unreasonable to expect an airline to keep up with expenses without federal support.
(Mike Tanner, KWAT, and Jody Heemstra, Dakota Radio Group, contributed to this report.)
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