Monterey Regional Airport Awarded Grant For Direct Service To Chicago

MONTEREY, CA — County's only commercial airport, could help add non-stop service to Chicago.

The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the grant to the airport under the Small Community Air Service Development Program, which aims to improve connectivity and make travel easy and affordable for people in small communities.

"Understandably, record numbers of travelers continue to come to the Monterey Peninsula to experience the plentiful beauty and bounty of our region," said U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Monterey, in a statement. "This federal investment will help the Monterey Regional Airport in providing more options to the visitors as well as the locals who demand more ways to get to and from the central coast of California."

Panetta said this type of federal investment will help sustain the local economy and improve the quality of life for residents and visitors alike.

Michael La Pier, executive director of the Monterey Regional Airport, said Panetta was instrumental in getting the grant and thanked him for his leadership and assistance in securing it.

The grant will be used as a Minimum Revenue Guarantee — an agreement in which one party commits to generating a certain level of revenue for the other party — for the new service, with the airport investing $100,000 by waiving airport fees for the first two years of service.

"Air service development and attraction is highly competitive. Using these grant proceeds as a minimum revenue guarantee will help position Monterey Regional Airport and our partner agencies at See Monterey and Visit Carmel in a very positive light as we continue our discussions with airlines," La Pier said in a statement. "Our focus is Chicago, which will provide access to yet another gateway to the Midwest, East Coast and international destinations and improve access to our world class destination. Now it is time to roll up our sleeves and work to make this desired new service a reality."

The airport does not have service to Chicago at the moment, but according to their press release, American Airlines, which wrote a letter in support of the grant, will decide on the same.

The Department of Transportation received 48 applications and has awarded around $14.8 million in grants to 20 communities in 16 states under the program. The Small Community Program encourages and allows the communities to develop solutions to their air service problems according to their particular needs and circumstances.

According to the department, since the program's inception, it has tried to increase the number of participating communities, promote geographic diversity of the selections and support several solutions to the problems identified by applicants.

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