controversial when Boutique Air, who had submitted a rival bid, accused American Airlines, itself a partner of Cape Air's, of unfairly supporting Cape Air in the bidding process. Cape Air renewed its contract for an additional two years in 2022. In late 2022, the airport began a PFAS investigation after its energy company notified the airport it is liable for exceeding contamination levels found at a former landfill site. Facilities and aircraft Manistee County Blacker Airport covers an area of 290 acres (117 ha) at an elevation of 621 feet (189 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt paved runways: 10/28 is 5,501 by 100 feet (1,677 x 30 m) and 1/19 is 2,721 by 75 feet (829 x 23 m). For the 12-month period ending December 11, 2019, the airport had 5,315 aircraft operations, an average of 15 per day: 75% general aviation, 19% scheduled commercial, 5% air taxi and less than 1% military. In June 2021, there were 9 aircraft based at this airport: 8 single-engine and 1 multi-engine. Airlines and destinations The following airline offers passenger service: References Other sources Essential Air Service documents (Docket DOT-OST-1996-1711) from the U.S. Department of Transportation: Order 2005-5-14 (May 23, 2005): selecting Skyway Airlines, Inc., d/b/a Midwest Connect, to provide essential air service at Iron Mountain/Kingsford, Michigan, Ironwood, Michigan/Ashland, Wisconsin, and Manistee/Ludington, Michigan, for a two-year period at annual subsidy rates of $602,761, $409,242, and $776,051, respectively ($1,788,054 in total). Order 2007-3-21 (March 30, 2007): selecting Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. to provide subsidized essential air service at Iron Mountain/Kingsford, Michigan, Ironwood, Michigan/Ashland, Wisconsin, Manistee/Lundington, Michigan, and Escanaba, Michigan for the two-year period beginning when the carrier inaugurates full service. The annual subsidy rates will be set at: $797,885 for Iron Mountain/Kingsford, $799,779 for Ironwood/Ashland, $957,978 for Manistee/Ludington, and $617,415 for Escanaba. Order 2008-4-10 (April 7, 2008): selecting Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd., to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) at Ironwood, Michigan/Ashland, Wisconsin, and Manistee/Ludington, Michigan, utilizing 19-seat Beech 1900D aircraft at a combined annual subsidy rate of $3,292,260, for a new two-year term beginning when it inaugurates full service. Order 2011-1-16 (January 22, 2011): selecting Chautauqua Airlines, Inc. d/b/a Frontier Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings, Inc., to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) at Ironwood, Michigan/Ashland, Wisconsin (Ironwood), and Manistee/Ludington, Michigan (Manistee). Service will be provided with 37-seat Embraer 135 aircraft for a two-year period