Honolulu-based Pacific Wings has received an endorsement from the Macon City Council to take over passenger service at Middle Georgia Regional Airport, according to a report in the local Macon newspaper.

The final decision will be made by the federal government, which had asked the city council to recommend one of three airlines vying for the contract, according to the report in The Telegraph. Pacific Wings was the choice of a private management company hired by the city last year to run the airport.

Pacific Wings would create a local airline called "Georgia Skies." Macon city officials had been looking for a company to take over passenger flights since last year when Atlantic Southeast Airlines announced it was pulling out. The U.S. Department of Transportation subsidizes flights from Macon as well as other underserved communities around the country through the Essential Air Service program.

Pacific Wings, which would receive an annual subsidy of about $1.39 million, would fly 26 round-trip flights to Atlanta each week using a nine-passenger Cessna Grand Caravan single-engine turboprop aircraft.