If current passenger expectations remain valid through the end of October, Horry County will pay WestJet over $500,000 pursuant to a guarantee to the airline county council approved in February 2013.
According to a source familiar with airport operations, the county is already in the hole to WestJet to the tune of $325,000 and expects the bottom line, after WestJet ends this year’s operations October 31st, to be approximately $510,000.
County council approved setting aside a contingency fund of up to $1 million that would be used to guarantee WestJet 60% occupancy, the break-even point for WestJet, on each flight to Myrtle Beach. The county would buy up empty seats on each flight so WestJet would not lose money.
WestJet won’t lose money, but the county did.
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