The Twin Falls City Council and Twin Falls County Commissioners will hear a presentation by an air service consultant to review the state of the airline industry and local conditions at Magic Valley Regional Airport. The presentation will include considerations for changes to the Minimum Revenue Guarantee (MRG) in order to sustain air service.
The presentation will be held during the City Council Meeting at 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 5, followed by a brief council discussion and an invitation for public input.
The MRG contract covers financial losses to the air carrier when ticket revenue fails to meet operational cost for the flight. SkyWest informed the City of Twin Falls and Twin Falls County that due to accelerated attrition of pilots, coupled with large salary increases to their pilot groups, the result will be higher operating costs and thus a higher MRG than the current 2022 contract. Moreover, SkyWest is planning for one roundtrip Delta daily flight to Salt Lake in 2023.
Of the $400,000 MRG for the single daily flight in 2022, only $25,000 has been paid to SkyWest for the first quarter of the year. The second and third quarters have been profitable at $170,990 and $127,183 through August reporting. The current agreement with SkyWest was amended to include a second daily flight, excepting Saturdays, for November and December. Profit and loss for the quarter will be calculated at the end of the year.