Great Lakes struggles with aircraft shortage in Montana.

The Montana Department of Transportation has granted the emergency motion of Big Sky Airlines to authorize moving up the Essential Airline Service subsidy increase planned for March 2008 to take effect immediately.

According to the United Transportation Union Web site, the subsidy for providing flights to EAS cities will increase from $600,000 per month to $735,000 per month.

The DOT order said the increase would help ensure that Big Sky can continue flying routes to Glasgow, Glendive, Havre, Lewistown, Miles City, Sidney, and Wolf Point until Wyoming-based carrier Great Lakes Aviation can take over. The decision to change the rate of compensation was unusual, but the DOT order said it was warranted, “to promote the chances of a smooth transition from Big Sky to Great Lakes at the seven communities without a service hiatus.”

Chuck Howell, Chief Executive Officer of Great Lakes Aviation, said the company is working closely with Big Sky, but is still struggling to acquire sufficient planes to fly the seven Montana routes. “It all hinges on aircraft at this point,” Howell said. “Patience would probably be the buzzword of the day,” he added. Howell said Great Lakes was aggressively hiring pilots and did not anticipate staffing shortages to be a serious problem once it has enough aircraft.

Currently Great Lakes flies 29 EAS routes, making it the largest EAS provider in the country. Howell said Great Lakes is not yet flying three routes for which it has been awarded the contracts, two in California and one in Nevada. In addition to those three routes and the seven Montana routes in transition, the Wyoming airline has submitted a bid for three routes in Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee.

Howell said there are no consequences to Great Lakes if it is are unable to provide service to a site where it has been awarded the contract. At worst, he said the DOT could put the contracts out for re-bid. In many cases, however, there is no other airline interested in the EAS routes.

Howell said the difficulty Great Lakes is having in taking over the Montana routes is part of a much larger issue. Big Sky is not the only small airline closing its doors. Tennessee’s RegionsAir shut down operations in March 2007, and liquidation is also planned for Air Midwest, a unit of Mesa Air Group based in Kansas. EAS contracts formerly held by RegionsAir for flights from Cincinnati to Jackson, Tenn.; Cape Girardeau, Mo.; and Owensboro, Ky. were taken over by Big Sky in 2007 and have now been bid by Great Lakes. The EAS contracts for Vernal, Moab and Cedar City, Utah held by Air Midwest were taken over by Great Lakes, as were flights from St. Louis to Marion, Quincy, and Decatur, Ill., Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. and Burlington, Iowa.

Big Sky closed its East Coast operations in December, citing losses due to bad weather shutdowns, high fuel costs and a lack of customers. Flights east of the Mississippi River and service to Sheridan, Wyo., and Denver ended on Jan. 7. According to the UTU, about 140 workers were laid off at that time, and the airline’s remaining 150 Montana employees will work through March 8.

As to whether the Wyoming airline will be ready to take over after Big Sky’s final day on March 8, Howell said, “I personally wouldn’t hold your breath on that point.” Howell did, however, stress Great Lakes’ commitment to providing service on the Montana routes. “Yes, we are coming, but we can’t say when,” he stated.

According to Howell, once Great Lakes has taken over the Montana routes, any advance tickets purchased from Big Sky Airlines will be honored. In the event that there is an interruption of service, Big Sky should refund the cost of purchased tickets, he said.

By Amanda Breitbach
Ranger-Review Staff Writer

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