These Nebraska and Kansas Cities Just Lost Air Service

The PenAir regional airline has announced it will end service to three cities.

According to The Associated Press, PenAir officials notified the United States Transportation Department last week that service to Kearney, North Platte and Scottsbluff in Nebraska and Dodge City and Liberal in Kansas would end later this month as part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan.

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The Alaska-based carrier provided government-subsidized service to the five impacted cities, leaving them without any commercial flights. PenAir filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan in August. The airline also announced plans to close its hubs in Denver and Portland, Oregon.

Officials from PenAir said the original plan was to continue providing service to the impacted cities in Nebraska and Kansas, but a mass exodus of pilots from the company forced the airline to eliminate service.

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Officials from one of the impacted facilities, the Western Nebraska Regional Airport in Scottsbluff, said they are seeking new bids for essential air service. However, until the new contract is signed, the airport will be without commercial flights.

“The best-case scenario is we're looking at February, if not March,” airport manager Darwin Skelton told the Scottsbluff Star-Herald. “We'll know who the carrier is by then, but we still have to wait until they can get moved in.”

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