PELLSTON — The Pellston Regional Airport has officially shifted to a new tag flight schedule that will operate beginning Sept. 12 until returning to the normal schedule in early October.

The new set up — worked out with Skywest Airlines and operating through Delta — incorporates flights out of Detroit with stops in Pellston and Escanaba, and then ending in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Tag flights are being offered to help work through pilot shortages.

The airport will begin offering 12 nonstop flights to Detroit again Oct. 6.

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More:Pellston, Sault Ste. Marie airports to be impacted by 'tag flights'

Under the new schedule, Pellston will have a flight coming in from Detroit at 10 a.m. that departs for Escanaba and then Minneapolis, Minnesota at 10:30 a.m.

Once it arrives in Minneapolis, the flight will be reversed, making stops in Escanaba before landing at Pellston around 5:15 p.m. The plane will depart for Detroit at 5:45 p.m.

Tag flights use the same plane to bring people from multiple destinations, which leads to having the same number of tickets available but for a larger variety of markets.

The change was originally announced in mid-August. Following the announcement, concerns were raised about flight options and delays by community members and airport management.

Pellston Regional Airport Director Ryan Bachelor said he’s interested to see how many people will be flying to Minneapolis, a flight they do not consistently offer.

“It'll be interesting to see how the flights going to Minneapolis fill up,” he said. “I think it's a great opportunity to see how those flights go. We wanted to get Minneapolis flights in the past, and this isn't exactly the way we wanted to get them, but that’s a positive I’m taking out of it.”

Tag flights go from location to location, and then reverse their flight. This means there are fewer nonstop flights. They’re still direct in the sense that you won’t have to reboard a different plane, but they will not be as quick.

The schedule is in compliance with the Essential Air Service contract with Skywest.

Bachelor said he is happy Skywest listened to the airport's concerns about tag flights and adjusted the schedule, allowing for typical off-season routes.

After returning to the typical routes, there will be an early morning departure at 6:43 a.m., a midday arrival at 11:13 a.m., departure at 11:55 a.m., and a late arrival at 10:28 p.m.

“It's great that we're going back to the roundtrip flights, I know that there was a lot of concern in the community,” Bachelor said. "Working with Skywest as a great partner, we expressed our concerns, they took those concerns, and we're back to the way things should be.”

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Pellston Airport to return to regular flight schedules in October