Although the current carrier, SkyWest Airlines, has been quiet after announcing it will be terminating service in the community, the Salina Airport Authority is encouraged about the future of passenger service to and from Salina.

Tim Rogers, the executive director for the airport authority, updated the Salina City Commission on Monday about the situation, and said that a proposal was submitted last week to the United States Department of Transportation for Essential Air Service (EAS) to the airport.

"One proposal was received from Denver Air Connection ... proposing 50-seat regional jet service to and from Salina and Denver, with an option for continued operation also to and from Salina and Chicago," Rogers said.

Rogers said the Department of Transportation, Salina Regional Airport and the other 28 communities expected SkyWest to rescind its notice to terminate the service that was issued on March 10. He also said the lack of communication from SkyWest is stunning and described it as "aggravating" for Salina and the other communities affected by SkyWest's decision.

"The communities have done a lot of consultation with the air carrier, in coordination with (U.S. DOT)," Rogers said. "For proposals to be received on (May) 11 and for SkyWest to remain silent...really to me is stunning."

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While Rogers said SkyWest's lack of communication has been disappointing, Denver Air Connection's proposal is a welcome sign to the Salina community, as the air carrier has a good reputation in offering EAS to other communities, including Pierre and Watertown, South Dakota.

"The South Dakota communities are pleased with the service," Rogers said.

Rogers said that while there is only one proposal submitted for Salina, the city is fortunate that it is for this level of service.

"Other communities, for example in Kansas and some other smaller communities, received proposals for single-engine turbo-prop service, nine-seat aircraft, a significant reduction from 30-50 seat regional jets," Rogers said.

He said Denver Air also visited Salina recently, and stayed much longer than the anticipated hour-and-a-half it was scheduled to be here, meeting with community partners including Kansas State Salina Aerospace and Technology Campus about its professional pilot training program and 1 Vision Aviation, which does heavy-check maintenance on aircraft.

"In fact, the type of jets that Denver Air operates, there's six of them on the ramp at 1 Vision that are available for acquisition that (Denver Air) was able to look at," Rogers said.

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The proposal, as it stands now, would be at least one non-stop flight to Denver with the option for another non-stop flight to that same city or to Chicago, with Rogers saying having a flight to Chicago being preferable and the commission agreeing.

The commission seemed pleased with the update, with Commissioner Greg Lenkiewicz calling the Denver Air proposal a "slam dunk."

Next steps for this process will be for U.S. D.O.T. to receive feedback about the proposal. Transportation, as the department providing the funding for EAS service, will ultimately make the final decision, but Rogers said the input by the city commission, with a preference of non-stop flights to both Denver and Chicago, will be passed along to U.S. D.O.T.

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Salina in good place with passenger service after update from airport