LEWISBURG (WVDN) – On Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 1, Contour Airlines lifted off on its inaugural flight from the Greenbrier Valley Airport.
Contour Airlines CEO Matt Chaifetz was on hand at the event along with airport authority members and local elected officials. All were excited to welcome the new airline to the valley.
Regional coordinator for U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, Ben Spurlock, was at the event and read aloud a letter from the U.S. Senator.
“Contour will help ensure that LWB remains a major player in the transportation systems of our great state, which ensures future opportunities in the Greenbrier Valley. As a pilot myself, I am always so proud to see our West Virginia airports and flight programs expand,” Manchin’s letter said.
Following Spurlock, airport manager Brian Belcher welcomed the new airline to Greenbrier Valley Airport stating, “In March, (former carrier SkyWest) announced that they were going to leave 31 cities; we were one of them. We had four airlines bid (including) Contour that you see here today. That’s when I met Matt Chaifetz. And he really came after this community. He was very supportive; he wanted to serve this community. And as our board did their due diligence and studied all the applications that were out there to serve this market, Contour was the far and above the best choice out there,” Belcher said.
Chaifetz spoke next, stating, “We’ve been serving West Virginia since 2018 in both Parkersburg and Beckley. I can’t tell you how gratifying it is to be standing here four years later, a month away from serving more communities in West Virginia than any other airline when we begin service to Clarksburg in December.
“I think folks here are going to absolutely love flying with Contour,” he continued. “Our relationship with American will provide for seamless connections in Charlotte; you’ll check in here and get your onward boarding passes and have your bag checked to the final destination,” he said.
Contour will offer daily flights to Charlotte, N.C., a return to a southern route welcomed by Greater Greenbrier Chamber of Commerce President Greg Furlong. “Tourism is incredibly important to this region,” Furlong said. “When we’ve had southern routes in the past, those flights have been incredibly successful.”
According to Chaifetz, daily flights to Charlotte will cost $59 each way with seamless transfers to all American Airlines flights from there. Passengers can book the first leg on www.contour.airlines.com and the second, American Airlines leg from www.aa.com.
Last March, Greenbrier Valley Airport carrier SkyWest announced it was pulling out of 29 smaller airports across the country; Greenbrier Valley Airport was on that list. Due to the airport’s participation in the Essential Air Service program, SkyWest was prevented from pulling out of the airport until the U.S. Department of Transportation put the airport route out to bid and the airport authority selected a new provider.
The Essential Air Service (EAS) program was put into place by the U.S. Department of Transportation to guarantee that small communities served by certificated air carriers maintain a minimal level of scheduled air service.
SkyWest was ordered to maintain service to and from Greenbrier Valley Airport until another airline service could be secured, and now Contour Airlines will be connecting the community to the world one flight at a time.
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| Contour Airlines CEO Matt Chaifetz addresses the crowd with the Contour jet in the background. Sarah Mansheim photo |
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| Greenbrier Valley Airport Authority members Mike Rose (l to r), Greg Furlong, Tammy Tincher, chairperson Debbie Phillips and Jerry Cook join Contour Airlines CEO Matt Chaifetz (second from left) in welcoming the new airline. Sarah Mansheim photo |
