WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The Marathon County Board of Supervisors has approved setting aside up to $195,000 in contingency funds to help the Central Wisconsin Airport in Mosinee lock in a deal to bring non-stop flights to up to three vacation destinations to the area via Sun Country airlines.
“[We are going after] three specific destinations,” said Grefe to the board on Tuesday. “Southwest Flordia, Orlando (our #1 requested destination,) and Phoenix, Arizona.”
Grefe says those destinations are three of the top five vacation destinations in a study of where residents in the area go when they travel. He says they also align well with Sun Country’s business model.
Supervisors approved the motion unanimously. Grefe explained that due to the regulations on airport financing, they can’t use certain funds to help SunCountry with their startup costs. “These are direct payments to airlines. [How we are regulated] prohibits us from making money; so we make money off the airlines. Essetally if we used airport funds we would be using Delta and American money to pay [Sun Country] which wouldn’t sit very well with them.”
Additionally due to grant funding dollars made by the airport have to stay with the airport, and paying an airline does not qualify as an airport expense.
He also described the process of bringing in a carrier like SunCountry as a “pay to play” formula; adding that if their initial costs come in at under what was estimated, then the county’s portion of the funding would also go down.
Similar funding is being kicked in through Portage County as well since they also own a stake in the airport. He added that Sun Country has written a letter of support to allow the facility to pursue other grant funding for the start-up costs, but that doesn’t guarantee that they will be able to close the deal.
Grefe has been working diligently to bring more airlines into the facility since United announced they would discontinue flights from CWA at the end of January. He feels that bringing in a low-cost carrier with flights to vacation destinations is the best move because all three major airlines are operating in tight conditions due to staffing shortages and other issues.
Sun Country is based out of Minnesota and operates flights to both small and large airports including international destinations in the Caribbean and Central America. Grefe told the board the airline has found success operating in markets similar to Wausau such as Rochester, Duluth, and St. Cloud, Minnesota. Other markets in Wisconsin that carry Sun Country flights include Milwaukee, Madison, La Crosse, and Eau Claire.
