What does it take to maintain air service in a rural area? Vernal City Manager Quinn Bennion explains the current happenings of Vernal’s air service like this: Currently, the commercial service into and out of the Vernal Regional Airport is operated by Skywest in coordination with United Airlines. Commercial flights are made possible through the Essential Air Service (EAS) program administered by the FAA. The EAS flights are heavily subsidized with federal funds. Only two Utah airports receive the subsidy: Vernal and Grand County (Moab). EAS is bid out every three years for proposals and the renewal is underway. Skywest was the only carrier to submit a proposal for flights into and out of Vernal and Moab. The Uintah County Commission and Vernal City Council reviewed their proposal at their meetings last week. Skywest’s proposal includes 12 flights leaving Vernal a week, 6 round trips to Denver with United and 6 round trips to SLC with Delta. The proposal is for two years of service starting in June. Ultimately the FAA selects the winning bid and negotiates the final number of flights and destinations.
