New Mexico Airlines Cleared to Fly into Taos
By Patricia Chambers The Taos News

A ruling late last week from the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) should clear the way for New Mexico Airlines to bring commuter airline ser­vice to Taos and other small commu­nities in the country.

The FAA released a “CERTALERT,” or clarification on the question of whether Cessna 208B Caravans can land in an airport without Code of Federal Regulations Part 139 certification.

The expensive Part 139 proce­dures include full-time fire coverage at the airport plus daily and night­ly inspections of the airport, which requires additional staff, according to Taos Regional Airport Manager Mark Fratrick.

A fully operational fire station at an airport can cost $100,000 per year, said New Mexico Airlines CEO Greg Kahlstorf.

Kahlstorf said he is pleased with the ruling that will allow the Hawaii-based airline to fly its nine-passenger planes in Taos, as well as Artesia, N.M.

Artesia has been looking forward to local air service for access to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) located in the com­munity, Kahlstorf said. New Mexico Airlines, which is owned by Pacific Wings, has been operating between Carlsbad, Hobbs, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Alamagordo and Ruidoso. It is now serving El Paso, Texas.

The company had expected to inaugurate air service from Santa Fe to Taos before the ski season started, but was stopped by an FAA inspector.

The trouble started several months ago when New Mexico Airlines asked the FAA inspector at its home base in Hawaii to grant permission for the nine-passenger planes to fly into Taos. The inspector told the company it could not fly into an airport without Part 139 certification, which is usu­ally only necessary for 14-passenger planes and larger.

The CERTALERT released April 25 by the FAA clarified the rules and agreed that small communities do not have to upgrade their airports to the higher Code of Federal Regulations standard.

“This is what we expected. It just takes a while for the machinery to turn,” Kahlstorf said. “The good news for the communities is that they can save a six-figure expense because it’s not necessary.”

Kahlstorf said his network staff is examining the plan to bring air service between Santa Fe and Taos. When the company is ready to proceed, he plans to present the information to Town Council.

Town officials will not need to take any legal action to allow the air service in Taos, Kahlstorf said.

“We are a federally certified airline and we meet the federal requirements to fly into Taos,” he said.

pchambers@taosnews.com

This entry was posted on Monday, May 12th, 2008 at 4:42 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.