Lake Leadership + Air Choice One

Photo taken from @ClearlakeArea twitter

We had our first full day of Lake Leadership last Wednesday. It was a lot of sitting (we didn't get airplane rides...) but very informative.

In the morning, we took a tour of the airport, and Shane Storz, the CEO of Air Choice One, the new airline carrier coming to Mason City, spent some time talking to us about his airline and what they will do for Mason City. His marketing representative, Cassie, was there as well, and gave everyone vouchers for a free roundtrip ticket to Chicago (hello cheap weekend trip to the Windy City!).

Here's what I got out of their talk: 1. Air Choice One is a family owned business. They are really a small carrier compared to the big guys like Delta.

2. They have 8 passenger planes (that look really fancy and like first class conditions) that will fly to Chicago...for a low fare ($49 or $69 refundable).

3. They also fly to Ironwood, MI, Burlington, IA, St. Louis, Decatur, IL, and Jonesboro, AR. But the flights out of Mason only go to Chicago.

Photo from Air Choice One brochure.

4. You don't "check" your bags, they just go in the belly of the plane and when you get to Chicago, you take them with you. So if you are getting on a connecting flight in Chicago, you take your large "checked" bag to the desk and have them put it underneath (you know how they always ask if anyone wants to put their carry-ons below?) and most of the time (not guaranteed) its free of charge.

5. I'm not completely aware of what happened with the last carrier, but to me this seems like a step in the right direction for the Mason City Airport.

6. And probably most importantly, they don't have a real "bathroom" on the plane, just an emergency potty...so make sure you use the toilet before boarding the 2 hour flight to Chicago. ;)

I do hope you'll check out Air Choice One and check out the flight schedule out of Mason. If we don't use the service, we'll lose it!