by Doug Wilson

Cape Air has secured a code share agreement with American Airlines and will have seamless connections out of St. Louis starting in early spring.

Michelle Haynes, director of communications for Cape Air, said the agreement was reached Thursday and includes the airline's flights from Quincy and Marion, Ill., as well as Cape Girardeau, Mo.

"We're thrilled. We have code share agreements with American Airlines" in the Caribbean and out of Boston, Haynes said.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., had counseled both Cape Air and American Airlines on the importance of a code share agreement.

"This is a long-awaited improvement and I congratulate American, Cape Air and the communities for their tireless efforts to make this happen," Durbin said.

Cape Air was awarded a two-year contract to operate flights between Quincy and St. Louis last week. The airline will receive $1.9 million a year to operate six round-trip flights on weekdays and three round-trip flights on Saturdays and Sundays.

The service will begin Nov. 8. In the months before the code share takes effect, Haynes said ticket and baggage handling agreements will keep flight connections smooth.

Travel agents in Quincy had cited the lack of a code share agreement as part of the problem that led Great Lakes Airlines to see falling passenger numbers. Only 74 passengers took flights in September.

"It makes all the difference when you can ride a ticket from Quincy to wherever you want to go," Mayor John Spring said.

Cape Air transported more than 650,000 passengers in the past year. The airline was founded in 1989.

It initially flew between Provincetown and Boston in Massachusetts, but added routes across southeastern New England in the early 1990s. Flights to Florida and the Caribbean were added in the late 1990s, and service in Micronesia commenced in 2004. In 1994, Cape Air and Nantucket Airlines merged and now offer hourly flights between Nantucket and Hyannis.

Quincy officials say the nine-seat aircraft used by Cape Air will allow the city to save up to $250,000 a year if firefighters are not stationed at the airport. Alderman Raymond & quot;Skip & quot; Vahlkamp said the Federal Aviation Administration does not require firefighters at the airport for commuter planes with fewer than 19 seats.