The first item on the Savannah Airport Commission’s monthly agenda Monday was cause for celebration, as commissioners voted unanimously to approve an airline lease and operating agreement with JetBlue Airways Corp.
The popular low-cost carrier flies into Savannah on Thursday to begin daily nonstop service to New York’s JFK International and Boston’s Logan International, operating out of Gate 9 at Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport.
“This has been a long time coming,” said Airport Commission Chairman Sylvester Formey. “We’re certainly glad to have JetBlue here.”
The first flight from JFK is expected to arrive in Savannah shortly after 9:30 a.m. JetBlue, Savannah and Hilton Head Island officials will be on the flight — along with regular passengers — and expect to hold a press conference upon landing. The first JetBlue flight from Boston is scheduled to come in shortly after 1:30 p.m.
Incentives will pay for much of JetBlue’s first year of operation here. To help offset the start-up costs and fees that were waived, the airport applied for and won a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Small Community Air Service Development Program.
In other airport business, the commission:
• Approved Wells Fargo as its insurance agent of record for the next three years to handle property/casualty and employee benefits.
• Tabled a request by the Avis/Budget Group Inc. to add a new car rental agency.
• Denied a request by Hangar Partners LLC to adjust the land value of their lease parcel, reimburse them for the difference in payment since 2007 and allow for a phased-in payment schedule for the current increase.
• Ratified a memorandum of agreement to share costs of interim improvements to the Interstate 95 interchange at Airways Avenue with Gulfstream Aerospace and the Outlet Mall of Georgia LLC. The agreement includes a $200,000 contribution from the U.S. Transportation Department.
• Approved a contract offer from the state DOT to provide $71,892 for runway and safety area improvements, representing 5 percent of the total cost of the project. The federal share is 90 percent, with the state and airport sharing the remaining 10 percent.
• Approved a $26,000 lightning detection system for the airport.
Lenard Robinson, director of parking and mobility services at the airport, presented an updated report on the winter storm that disrupted flights across much of the eastern half of the country Jan. 28-30.
At the Savannah airport, a total of 41 departures were canceled — 10 on Tuesday, 23 on Wednesday and eight on Thursday. The canceled flights — outbound and incoming — represented 6,610 seats, affected between 4,000 and 4,600 passengers and resulted in lost landing revenue of $8,325.
Nationwide, 4,300 flights were canceled over the three-day period, Robinson said.