JetBlue will continue to be the sole passenger air carrier to Presque Isle International Airport for at least the next two years.
The U.S. Department of Transportation Friday evening announced it had awarded the airline a two-year contract worth $8.7 million annually. The sum is paid to the airline under the federal Essential Air Service program, which subsidizes commercial air service in rural communities where it otherwise would not be profitable.
Under the deal, JetBlue will maintain its current once-daily roundtrip flights to Boston on 140-seat AirBus A220s. The limited flight frequency requires a federal waiver because it tips below the program’s weekly flight minimum of 12.
“The selection of JetBlue as the Essential Air Service provider for Presque Isle marks an important milestone for our community and for all of Northern Maine,” Presque Isle City Manager Sonja Eyler said in a statement. “Reliable commercial air service is more than a convenience. It is essential infrastructure, every bit as important to a modern community as highways, rail and broadband.”
JetBlue’s current contract, which expires at the end of August, pays the company an average of $10.8 million each year. It is the single-most lucrative Essential Air Service contract in the country — out of a pool of 189 communities served by the program — by a margin of several million dollars.
The airline will lose that title when its new deal takes effect, usurped by contracts for airlines serving rural hubs in central California and Upstate New York.
The nearly $8.7 million sum is not what JetBlue had originally sought. The New York-Airline first bid with a preference for a four-year contract with an average annual value of $11.53 million. It majorly reduced its bid in late May, while also inflating its expected revenue and reducing expected expenses for the route.
JetBlue did not respond to questions about how its revenue and expense projections changed by millions of dollars in the span of three months.
The reduction brought the company’s bid much closer to that of American Airlines, the lone competing bidder for the contract. In March, American proposed an average annual subsidy of $8.25 million for two years.
American Airlines declined to change its proposal, with its director of regulatory affairs writing in a May email to the DOT official overseeing the bidding process that, “Please know we are disappointed that other bids are being considered.”
“The American proposal provides dual market access through Philadelphia and Boston, delivers enhanced connectivity for the community, and does so at a lower cost to the taxpayer,” Brent Alex, the American Airlines director, continued. “Accordingly, American does not intend to revise or resubmit its proposal.”
American, the country’s largest airline, had proposed 12 weekly roundtrip flights from Presque Isle with destinations split between Boston and Philadelphia on a 65-seat jet.
In the DOT order selecting JetBlue, Anthony Krawietz, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs, referenced that JetBlue’s bid cost more, but that statutory requirements direct staff to consider the “total compensation proposed.”
“In this case, given JetBlue’s overall alignment with the statutory selection factors, in particular the overwhelming community support that JetBlue received from both actual and potential users of the service and the elected officials representing the users, as well as the air carrier’s demonstrated reliability in providing EAS at PQI, the Department believes that it is in the community’s best interest to select JetBlue,” Krawietz wrote.
Presque Isle’s City Council — and most of the public that submitted written comments to the DOT and spoke at a council meeting in March — favored remaining with JetBlue
Many locals referenced the airline’s partnership with nonprofit Angel Flight New England, which organizes free flights for patients who need to travel for medical care. JetBlue has provided more than 1,200 free flights to Angel Flight patients out of Presque Isle since 2024, JetBlue and a city councilor said.
“This is beyond politics and money and destinations.” Caribou resident Buirrea Van Burkleo said in March, referencing several life-threatening diagnoses she had received. “They’re saving my life, among countless others that I have met.”
On the flip side, Aroostook County business leaders favored American Airlines’ proposal because of the increased flight volume and possible connections.
JetBlue is the fifth air carrier to offer commercial flights at Presque Isle International Airport this century, following CommutAir, Colgan Air, PenAir and United Airlines. Its new contract begins on Sept. 1.