St. Cloud, Minn. (AP)–Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton and St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis are searching for ways to preserve that region’s daily flights to Chicago.

The St. Cloud Times reported Wednesday that the leaders planned a conference call with United Airlines local operator, SkyWest Airlines, about how to keep the route viable.

Since they started in May, the twice daily roundtrip flights have been subsidized by $1.75 million in federal and local dollars. Kleis says the money was used to make up for light loads, but the available funds are slated to run out soon.

He hopes SkyWest will absorb some cost. Ridership has gone from about 19 per flight early on to about 31 in August. The planes hold 50 passengers.

A decision on the routes is expected by April.