The U.S. Department of Transportation announced this week that Mesa Airlines had been picked to supplant SkyWest as the city's essential air service provider.

SkyWest had provided flights between Cedar City and Salt Lake City. Mesa Airlines' proposal calls for nonstop flights to Las Vegas and Phoenix. Utah's capital city is the final destination for 51 percent of travelers from Cedar City, according to research done last year by SkyWest.

St. George-based SkyWest sought a $1,602,912 annual subsidy, while Mesa sought $897,535.

''We want to do a good job and we want people in Cedar City to be happy,'' said George "Peter" Murnane, executive vice president and chief financial officer for Mesa Air Group.

''If there's something we need to do differently, we will try to do that,'' Murnane added.

What Mesa needs to do is add daily flights to Salt Lake City, said Steve Farmer, manager of Cedar City Regional Airport.

''We want to do what's best for the community. If they want service to Salt Lake City, we're more than willing to work with them to make that happen,'' said Mickey Bowman, Mesa's director of planning. ''With our aircraft and our financial structure, we can probably make it work."

"We're going to put pen to paper and see what we come up with. If that's two flights to Salt Lake City and one to Las Vegas [each day], maybe that's what we end up doing.''

Mesa plans to serve Cedar City with 19-seat Beechcraft 1900D turboprop airplanes, smaller than the 30-seat Embraer-120 turboprops used by SkyWest.

While the airport's Farmer, Mayor Gerald R. Sherratt and Southern Utah University President Steven Bennion decried the selection of Mesa, Cedar City resident Karen Meltzer celebrated the news.

''If you want to get on an airplane in Cedar City, you have no choice. You have to go to Salt Lake City,'' Meltzer said. ''That's not always the best thing for everybody.''

SkyWest officials have said they will protest the federal decision.

About Mesa Air Group

* Besides its namesake Mesa Airlines, Mesa Air Group runs America West Express, Delta Connection, US Airways Express and United Express under contracts with America West, Delta Air Lines, US Airways and United Airlines.

* Founded in Phoenix in 1980, the company was recently named 2005 Regional Airline of the Year by Air Transport World Magazine.

* Publicly traded on the Nasdaq exchange (MESA)