MARTINSBURG — The Altoona-Blair County Airport Authority will advise the federal Department of Transportation that it wants to retain its current carrier, Southern Airways, to provide subsidized passenger flights through the Essential Air Service program.

The airport authority, while meeting Monday night, rendered a unanimous decision in Southern’s favor that will be detailed in a letter to be filed with the department by Friday’s deadline.

The department has three proposals to choose from when considering a two-year contract, effective in October, to provide subsidized flights at the Altoona-Blair County Airport.

Besides the Mississippi-based Southern, additional proposals were submitted by Boutique Air of San Francisco and Aviation Street Inc. of Minneapolis.

In supporting their decision, authority members acknowledged Southern’s ongoing efforts and anticipated efforts to attract more passengers.

The relationship between the airline and the authority has become a partnership, authority member Tom Hite said.

“We’re helping you and you’re helping us,” authority member Gary Orner told Southern Chief Commercial Officer Mark Cestari, who was at the authority’s

meeting.

Cestari said his company remains committed to reducing the airport’s current $304 per passenger subsidy to less than $200 per passenger. The government has been telling airports that their future in the EAS program is at risk if the subsidy remains higher than $200 per passenger.

Of the three options Southern outlined for the federal government to consider, the airport authority recommended one with 38 roundtrip flights a week, split between the Pittsburgh and the Baltimore-Washington airports, at an annual subsidy of $3.08 million.

Southern also offered two other options, one with 32 roundtrip flights at $2.8 million and 26 roundtrip flights at $2.3 million.

Altoona-Blair County Airport Manager Tracy Plessinger said Southern’s proposals were less expensive than Boutique’s options.

Another factor in Southern’s proposal, Plessinger said, is the ticket and baggage agreement the company recently set up with American Airlines. That’s more valuable than Boutique’s agreement with United Airlines, the manager explained, because the Altoona-Blair County passengers are flying to the Pittsburgh and Baltimore-Washington airports where they’re more likely connecting to American Airlines flights.

Southern put the same ticket and baggage agreement into effect at the John P. Murtha Cambria County Johnstown airport, but its airport authority is supporting Boutique as a replacement for Southern. In recent months, its members have complained about canceled flights and the time it was taking for Southern to get the promised ticket and baggage agreement in place.

If Boutique is assigned to the Johnstown airport, that could cause some of its passengers to look at the Altoona-Blair County Airport for favorable tickets and ticket prices through Southern’s agreement with American Airlines.

“For us, their decision could be a plus,” authority Chairman Drew Swope said.

Cestari said that Southern’s plan calls for retaining its current fee structure at the Altoona-Blair County Airport where one-way tickets are available at $29 when booked early.