### Williams, Renee (OST)

From: Sent: To: Subject: Leslie Myrbeck [Leslie.Myrbeck@capeair.com] Wednesday, August 25, 20105:06 PM Undisclosed recipients DOT-OST-2003-14822 letter of supportfor Cape Air

- Lebanon, NH

Iappreciatethe opportunityto forward toyou the below letterofsupportfor Cape Air airservice for Lebanon Airport.

Sincerely, Leslie Myrbeck Cape Air Ph.508862-9764

From: Afahy@unitedafa.org [mailto:afahy@unitedafa.org] 

### Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2010 12:16 PM To: Ed Larocque 

### Subject: Ed, 

### I hope this is the type of letteryou were looking for. 

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### ~~~ To whom it mayconcern, 

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### 92~ EAS, oressential air service, is only proven essential when it is actually used for transportation in aRd

### o~f the city or town it is intendedto aid with airtravel. The Cape Air service in Lebanon, NH, has proven thatis

## R6fonlyessential, but reliable, pleasant, convenient, and quite practical.

Iam an employeewith a majorairline, and Iam based in Boston, MA. I live 22 miles from the Burlington, VT, airport, and Iam writing this letter in praise ofthe servicethat Cape Air providestothe region of central VT, and NH. Itravel to Boston every single week, and for manyyears Iwas able to flyfrom Burlington to Boston on an assortment of carriers with multipleflight times. When 9/11 happened, it changed the structure or airline travel around the world, in both service, and choice. Burlington lost all serviceto Boston a few years ago, and Ithen began the tedious and lengthy drive back and forth between work and home. Options dwindled, choices depleted, notjustfor me obviously, but forthousands of travelers between Boston, the majortransportation hub of New England, and the VT, and NH regions as a whole.

Therewere other option for passengers, one of course being drive, which adds to congestion, hazards in weather, cost of time, and then the parking expense at ones destination. One option was bus, which was morecomfortable, but added time, and moneyoverthe cost of driving, and for some not a viable option. There was service from Lebanon, to La Guardia airport in New York, but having used this myself, it was often delayed or canceled due the heavyairtraffic on the New York City air corridor. However, the biggest drawbackwas that LaGuardia has limited runway length, and so flights overseas, and to paints farther than Denverwe impossible without changing planes once again in another hub airport, such as Atlanta, or Chicago, causing even more chance of a delay in reaching a desired destination. Then, in November, 2008 a wonderful thing occurred. Cape Air was awarded the service out of Lebanon, NH, to Boston, and manythings nicethings began to change,

1: Service. Cape Air being a one person operation atthe Lebanon Airport, you would expect rushed check in, rushed boarding, mis-placed bags, and surly attitude byan overworked customer service representative. Quitethe contrary, as a first hand witness Isee Cape Air empoyees in LEB great customers warmly, greet repeat customers, (of which there are a great number) by name. Slowlyand calmlyexplain things to uncertain travelers. Assist passengers on and off the small stairs tothe aircraft, load and unload bags, direct passengers through security, offercoffee to the early risers, and many other kind gestures all calmly, efficiently, courteously, and friendly, overand over and over again.

2 Flights. Cape Air in new England. utilizes an aircraftthat is a perfect size forthe markets it serves. The Cessna 402 is not the most roomy of planes, but is is morethan satisfactoryforflights of anywherefrom 20 minutes, tojust over an hour. The passengers, even the most nervous of people sit within feet of the pilots gaining an instant rapport with these
men and women that are friendly by nature, and all business while flying through some ofthe weather we can experience in New England in both summer and winter. The flights, in almost all instances for me at least, are punctual, within afew minutes, and more often than not, on time or ahead of schedule in arriving and leaving Boston and Lebanon. I have had a total of 4 flights that Iwas hoping to ride on cancel in the lasttwoyears of almostweekly ridership, and not a single flight
was dueto mechanical issue. It was always snow, orfog, and manyof the times it was foggy in Lebanon, Cape Air would attemptthe flight from Boston, and more often than not, be rewarded for persistence by having the airport clear enough to

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### land at arrival time. It is always a safe feeling being on one of these airplanes, and I recommend it always as a sight seeing tool to friends and family, especially in October.

3Tourism and Economy: Being a stand bytraveler, I have witnessed the flights between Boston and Lebanon become
more and morefull overtime. Halfthe time now Iam forced to drive because these flights are frequently full. Full of tourists, families, and people in business that bring their dollars and their business to the Lebanon area. These dollars turn into more tax revenue, more industry, and morejobs for the people of Vermont and New Hampshire. Now with new flights to White Plains, New York, with limo service to Manhattan, even more passengers, and more revenue are finding their way to this beautiful area because of the ease of travel between these cities. Living in Northern Vermont, I know many people that drive to LEB to flyto Boston, rather than all the wayto Boston. The parking fees alone make up the difference of the comfortably priced 45 minute flight to Boston. In a perfectworld the drive is near2 hours, but I have done it attimes of traffic and or bad weatherthat have taken me over 5 hours, not a nice thought after aTrans-Atlantic flight, or facing one to Asia.

4 Safety: If Cape Air were not run with safety at the forefront of everything they do, then people would notfly a 8 or 9 passenger aircraft. Period. People dofly because even the apprehensive ones feel safe, and they are safe, and theydo return because theyare comfortable and trustthis little New England Airline with their lives, as Ido every week without
even a second thought!

5Job: Cape Air in Lebanon gives employmentto 4 people that work on the ground, and a numberof pilots also living and paying taxes here that Iam not sure of, being a great positive the the business community of this region. They buyJet Fuel, which allows the LEB airport to employ more people, and TSAto hire more people, and so on.
Although I personallywould love to see more seats available to Boston, it is for purely selfish reasons, and Iam thrilled everytime Isee a Cape Air plane with 7 or 8 or 9 people going to and from LEB to BOS. Iam happyfor the areawhen I
see another plane load of passengers arriving from White Plains.It is even more gratifying when these people take local cabs, to local hotels, or rent cars from locallyowned car rental companies to drive to Stoweto rent local skis and buy lift tickets on local slopes attended to by local tax payers.
So, when the subsidy is up for renewal, Istronglyand emphatically recommend thatthis airport, and this region keep Cape Air as its' carrierto and from Boston. The options grow dailyfor single flight connection serviceto more and more airports around the world as Logan airport, and the airlines that serve it expand to destinations not reachable not stop from LaGuardia, Manchester, or even Montreal. Cape Airto me has proven to be a deserving carrierthat earns it right to remain here on a daily basis. I hopethatthe choices Cape Air giveto NH and VT remain, as the carrier retains EAS status again.

Should anyone have any questions, feel free to email or cali me. ThankYou. 

# Andrew Fahy

Association of Flight Attendants -CWA, AFL-CIO Council 27- BOS Vice President (617) 671-5912
AFahy@unitedafa.org

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