SkyWest to take over Essential Air Service flights at Kentucky's Owensboro airport

SkyWest is to begin United Express flying at Owensboro-Daviess County Regional Airport in Kentucky on Oct. 13, taking over the Essential Air Service route currently held by Contour Airlines. The airport's only carrier at present is Contour, which flies to Chicago O'Hare and Charlotte, North Carolina.

The U.S. Department of Transportation chose SkyWest for the EAS contract in June, with a service term running to July 31, 2030.

Under the arrangement, SkyWest will link Owensboro with O'Hare and Dulles, where United has a hub. The carrier sought and won a change to the service pattern at the airport to include Dulles flights. DOT filings show SkyWest has committed to 12 round trips a week on the O'Hare sector. Its Washington service is planned at two flights a day through Oct. 24, after which it drops to one a day.

Regulators said the handover will not leave a gap in service between Contour's last flights and SkyWest's first.

Owensboro sits in western Kentucky on the Ohio River, which marks the boundary with Indiana.