Air Evac's operations to cease at Cape airport

Air Evac EMS Inc. will cease operations at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport beginning Dec. 1.

In a letter to the city from Air Evac board chairman William Chritton Jr., he said the company has "never been able to make the venture financially viable."

The operation in Cape Girardeau has offered flight training, chartered aircraft services and hangar rental at the airport, as well as providing maintenance and mechanical services.

They have also provided fueling service to all the private, military and commercial entities at the airport, including Trans World Express.

Airport manager Bruce Loy said Air Evac's decision to cut operations will not affect the company's helicopter service, which provides medical emergency transportation to St. Francis Medical Center. The helicopters have not been based at the Cape Girardeau airport for some time, he said, since all their maintainance is handled at a site in Kentucky.

As for other services, Loy said the airport has done advance work to make sure there are no interruptions.

"We're working on different ways and options to ensure as few interruptions as possible," Loy said. "I don't think it will really put us in a bind."

Loy said his first concern is the fueling and aircraft repair and maintenance.

"In the long term, we will look at another provider," he said. "Right now, we're looking at ways we can take care of it ourselves on a short-term basis."

Fuel trucks, for example, can be rented or leased, Loy said. There are also other providers, such as Midstate Aviation, which already provides some repair.

"There are others interested in doing this," Loy said.

Air Evac as been at the airport since September 1994, when the contract with the city went into effect.

Under the terms of the present lease agreement, Air Evac will have 120 days from Dec. 1 to finalize a plan with the city regarding its hangars.

Air Evac was incorporated in West Plains, Mo., in 1985 and began operations there at Ozarks Medical Center. Air Evac has operated bases in six states and is licensed as an air ambulance provider in Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Illinois, Kentucky and Iowa.