ALBANY COUNTY·~ PROSECUTING ATTORNEY'S OFFICE 

525 Grand Ave., Suite 100" WY 

.. Fax 307-721"2554 

July.2, 2012 

Michael··Martin 

Transportation Industry Analy8t 

Office of Aviation Analysis 

US Department of Transportation 

400 Seventh Street, S.W. 

Washington, D.C .. 20590 

RB: US DOT Essential Air Service Bids ibr Laramie, Wyoming 

Dear Mr. Martin., 

J> 

I was very plea$ed and exCited tq recently learn that Albany County has attother option to 

provide Essential Air Service (EAS) to our area as an alternative to th;eat Lakes Airlines.·. 

I am in my third term. as Albany County Attorney, and have considerable experience 

flying out of the Laramie Airp()rt, both in my oftici~l capacity and for personal ~vet I 

have reviewed the EAS proposals ofboth SkyWest and Great Lakes Airlines and t am 

quite familiar with the woefully inadequate pa$! service proyided by Great Lakes 

Airlines, I strongly ilrge you to award the new EAS contractto SkyWest Airlines. 

As a result of the conthluing decline in the qu8lity of service provided by Great tllkes 

Airlines over the years, I have been for~ to drive thousands of miles, often in inclement 

weather and with poor road conditions, to Denver lnternatipnal Ail'J)ort toutili:ze air 

transportation. I have had to drive other family members to DIA as well for the same 

r~on. · This is not a Choice Qf co~venienc~ ~s the drive is ~.and·~ ho~ on a good.day 

wtth no traffic, then one has to pay for additionally for parking~ negotiate shuttle buses, 

etc., just to reach the gate. On the other hand, it has simply become a losing propdsitton 

to book a flight out QfLaramie with Gre~t Lakes Airlines if one has to connect to any,. 

other flights in Denver. · · 

My most recent experiences were, mote ojten titan not,· that my connections were missed· 

due to the inability of Great Lakes to deliver as promised. I ¢ann9t even estimate the 

thousands of dollars I have lost because I had purchased .a {very expensive) ticket t9 fly 

out ofLaramie to Denver for aoonnection, only to arrive at the Lar~ie Airport and be 

told the Great Lakes flight Wa$ delayed or can~;:elled and nwonly chance to make my trip 

was to leave immediately and drlveto DIA; Not once have lever been offered a refund 

on my ticket or even a voucher for a differeti~ flight. Because of this dismal situation l 

resolved over: a year ago to never fly on Great Lakes. Airlines f.\gain. 

As a taxpayer, lhave been disgusted at the number ofovertimebours paid to tbeTSA 

personnel that spend long idle hours waiting for Great Lal<es ·Airlines to get their act 

together produce planes for regularly scheduled flights that never occur or happen hours 

l* . 

Smder' s e-.ml!illi!dress 

roooling@oo.albany. wy.us 

~---'--:..__ _______ .......... ______ 1•• 
Michael Martin 

US Department of Transportation 

July2,2012. 

Page2of2 

As an elected official, I have often struggled With the fact that economic development of 

our local region Will always be stymied by the current situation as any company · 

exploring relocation to the Laramie area will quickly change its mind ifhas a need for 

employees to travel by air. I personally know at least 6 weekly ~r travelers who used to 

fly out of Laramie but now drive to Denvettoinitiate their domestic or international air 

travel. Great Lakes Airlines hav~ an obsolete fleet ofair¢taft, tnany ofwhich are missing 

interior parts that ate no longer available and appear onthe brink of failure. "the fleet.of 

available planes is not adequate to support the number of routes they have acquired~ · contributing to the degradation in service and constant diversion of scheduleQ, craft to 

other routes. The local agents at the ~amie Airport ftequentlyhave no idea what the 

true status of their scheduled flights really is. The situation truly resembles Hooterville 

Station of the long·ago Green Acres television show to any potential business recruit, 

with the result being they quickly look elsewhere. 

The dramatic declinein the nw:nber of peopl~ flying out ofLar¥e cannot be blamed on 

the economy, the fault lies directly:with t4e currerit BAS serviceiprovider andthe 

situation must be rectified with this oppOrtunityifprospects for reversing this trend are to 

have any chance. · · 

Thank you in advance for your consideration of rn:y .comments. 

'chard C. Bohling 

Albany County & Prosecuting Attorney 

RB/ej 

Copies to: Laramie Regional Airport Board 

Albany County Conunissioners 

Sender's e-mail addfll!i1< 

t'bolillng@co.all:lru\y .. wy.us 

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