Lewistown Municipal Airport 

From: fjvalach@midrivers.com Sent: 

To: 

Subject: 

Friday, April13, 2012 11:06 AM 

lwt@midrivers.com 

Passenger boardings 

Lewistown Airport Board 

P.O. Box 343 

Lewistown, Montana 59457 

lwt@midrivers.com 

Commissioner - Carl Seilstad 

Lewistown Representative - Bret Carpenter 

Dear members of the Airport Committee, 

In am writing to give my opinion regarding the March 14, 2012 "Lewistown News Argus" 

article on Essential Air Service asking "What can be done to encourage people to fly from 

the Lewistown Airport instead of driving to Billings or Great Falls." 

My response is simple -

change our Lewistown air service from Billings to Denver. 

The problem is that Lewistown is too close to Billings and Great Falls. 

I often fly in/out of Lewistown to Dallas, Texas. Prior to that I frequently flew in/out 

of Lewistown to New York City. When Lewistown had direct service to Denver, I could fly almost anywhere with only one-stop through Denver. 

Due to current Lewistown service I have to fly to Billings, then Denver and then 

ultimately my final destination. 

I am truly a committed advocate for Lewistown air service. Therefore I do my best to use 

it whenever possible. However my last trip from Da1las to Lewistown would have required a 

4-hour layover in Billings. Instead it was much easier to hitch a ride to Lewistown rather 

than wait and fly on Gulf/Silver Airlines. 

Statistics from the Montana Department of Transportation show passengers boarding at the 

Lewistown Airport dropped dramatically when the Denver flights were discontinued. Big Sky 

Airlines did not have the passengers out of Lewistown to Billings and now Silver Airlines 

does not either. Only 18 passengers boarded in Lewistown the entire month of February. I 

do not believe this low number is the fault of the economy but has more to do with 

inconvenience. 

Last summer my family held a Lewistown gathering which included many out-of-state 

visitors. 

All who traveled via air flew in/out of Billings and traveled to Lewistown via rented 

cars. Many of them traveled to Billings through Denver. I believe that if a Denver to 

Lewistown flight had been available most would have opted for that. 

When Great Lakes Aviation initiated flights from Lewistown to Denver ridership increased 

in/out of Lewistown. 

It took time for people to become aware of the Denver/Lewistown flights but records show 

numbers did rise. 

However in 2011 when Great Lakes changed to Billings only service, ridership immediately dropped. 

Similarly statistics show that Miles City (who kept Denver flights for a longer 

period) continued to show increased ridership until their flights were changed to Billings only. 

Since then Miles City passenger boarding numbers are almost as low as Lewistown's. 

Is it possible to have a direct flight again to Denver? 

Could Lewistown join with Miles City to initiate service to Denver again? 

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Butte also has EAS. 

Recently they were able to choose between Gulf/Silver Air and SkyWest and they selected 

SkyWest. 

I assume this was because Gulf/Silver would not provide service to Denver. 

It appears that individual EAS communities can choose a different service rather than 

going with the group. 

There are additional problems/issues regarding flying on Silver Air to Lewistown. 

One is the difficulty of purchasing tickets. 

A passenger must use two different websites trying to match and make convenient 

connections. 

Great Lakes was a partner with United Airlines and Frontier Airlines therefore you could 

book a ticket to/from Lewistown on their websites. 

Now not only must you deplane and re-board in Billings (each way) you must check in with 

two separate tickets issued. 

Another problematic issue is checking luggage from a major destination like Dallas. 

A passenger cannot check in automatically at a kiosk but must go to a ticket agent and 

explain that the luggage needs to be checked beyond Billings to Lewistown. 

This requires extra effort on the agent's part and often they resist or refuse to transfer 

the luggage to it's LWT destination. 

If you forget to use the agent (as I did once) your luggage ends up in Billings and not 

Lewistown creating a great hardship. 

Scheduling is another problem with Silver Air. 

There is no plane into Lewistown on Saturday nor out of Lewistown on Sundays. 

This makes a weekend visit virtually impossible. 

In November a family member tried to fly in/out of Lewistownfor my Mother's birthday. 

No Saturday flight meant they had to forgo my Mother's birthday AND therefore spending any 

money in Lewistown. 

I've written previously regarding this matter and was told it would be forwarded to Silver 

Airlines for a response. To this day I have heard nothing from them. 

I am sure Billings is extremely pleased to have Silver Airways in their town. I imagine 

key Billings influencers had something to do with Gulf Stream getting the contract. 

Billings now is the home base for all of the pilots, mechanics etc. In addition it funnels 

thousands of passenger through the Billings airport increasing their boarding numbers and 

increasing their visibility in Montana. 

I think Lewistown needs to think bigger. 

Forty years ago Bozeman was not much bigger than Lewistown. Look at it today. 

Those people, like the people of Billings, don't think small. 

Bozeman just secured a $950,000.00 grant to be used with $725,000.00 of public and private 

funds to secure non-stop flights to/from New York City. 

They know the importance of having non-stop service! 

Lewistown needs to think out-of-the box about air service. 

Only then will investors and travelers seriously consider Lewistown as a viable 

destination. 

Sincerely, 

Frank John Valach 

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