Although Boutique Air is seeking to provide Essential Air Service to the Del Norte County Regional Airport, local leaders are hoping the U.S. Department of Transportation chooses to re-up its contract with Contour Air come September.Both the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors and the Crescent City Council sent the DOT letters in support of Contour, as recommended by the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority.Mayor Pro Tem Heidi Kime, a member of the BCRAA’s Board of Commissioners, said at this week’s City Council meeting the letter in support of Contour was for a multitude of reasons.#placement_573654_0_i{width:100%;max-width:550px;margin:0 auto;}var rnd = window.rnd || Math.floor(Math.random()*10e6);var pid573654 = window.pid573654 || rnd;var plc573654 = window.plc573654 || 0;var abkw = window.abkw || '';var absrc = 'https://ads.empowerlocal.co/adserve/;ID=181918;size=0x0;setID=573654;type=js;sw='+screen.width+';sh='+screen.height+';spr='+window.devicePixelRatio+';kw='+abkw+';pid='+pid573654+';place='+(plc573654++)+';rnd='+rnd+';click=CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER';var _absrc = absrc.split("type=js"); absrc = _absrc[0] + 'type=js;referrer=' + encodeURIComponent(document.location.href) + _absrc[1];document.write('');“They’ve done a great job of reliable service at an affordable price with its service from Crescent City to Oakland,” Kime said. “The DOT are the ones who opened this up to different offers. So, we want to send a clear message we want Contour to continue.”Kime said among the reasons the BCRAA prefers Contour over Boutique are its planes are ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible, a majority in recent community survey wanted to continue flights to Oakland versus Boutique offering flights north to Portland, Ore., and Contour uses jets with 30 seats available, while Boutique has propeller planes that seat only 8 or 9.Appearing before the Board of Supervisors on April 14, Airport Director Randy Hooper reiterated the BCRAA’s issues with Boutique’s proposal and that its request to the DOT to reject Boutique’s bid had more to do with continuing its relationship with Contour.Hooper said the BCRAA also submitted similar requests for letters from the Curry County Board of Commissioners, Crescent City Council, Elk Valley Rancheria, Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation and the City of Brookings, which make up the joint powers authority.District 2 Supervisor Lori Cowan, the county’s representative on the BCRAA Board of Commissioners, wanted it said publicly what was left out of the letter to the DOT — handicap accessibility played a part in why Boutique was turned down before Contour and again now.Contour Airlines has provided non-stop service between Crescent City and Oakland since April 2018 through the Alternate EAS Program when its predecessor PenAir ceased its twice-daily flights between Crescent City and Portland in December 2017.Mayor Blake Inscore added he found some attractiveness in flying in a charter flight with a small group of people when he initially looked at Boutique’s proposal.“But you look at what Contour has been able to provide, like the Japanese delegations, no way would Boutique been able to handle that. The delegation would have had groups of people charter busses from Portland or San Francisco to get the rest of the way to Crescent City,” he said. “Boutique just can’t provide those things. That doesn’t mean they do a bad job, they just don’t meet the need of our community.”Inscore added the DOT has responded well to community outreach. He said while he was in Washington, D.C., he found them very receptive when hearing a combined voice and that’s what got the first approved alternate EAS with Contour. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('ad-1515727'); });