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# Sid Napier-3460 Casino Creek

# Rd,tewii~-4~ijf;Mt. 59457

To: United States ofAmerica Department ofTransportation Office ofthe Secretary Washington, D.C. 

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I am writingthis letter as a private citizen, ofthe City of Lewistown, Montana. This Jetter is in regards tothe Docket Order giving noticeto termination of Essential Air Service, forthe Montana communities of Lewistown and Miles City. Iwould like to offer my objections and plea NOT to discontinuethis service. I will explain my initiativeto continue the EAS program.

Since January, of2010, I have worked, atthe Lewistown Airport, as a Security Screener. My company is the private contractor that supplies TSA required security screening ofpassengers and their baggage for all commercial flights out ofthe Lewistown Municipal Airport. While I have knowledge aboutthe passenger counts and the airline flights, I am still writingthis letter,
as a concerned private citizen and taxpayer.

Since I have worked here, for 3 years, I have worked manyflight schedules and have experienced the up and downs of maintaining a good passenger flow. There have been two different airlines, thatwere awarded the bid, to operate at the seven communities in Montana, that are underthe Essential Air Service program. Both airlines have made effortsto keep the passenger count above the allotted requirements. There have been several factors that have worked for or against maintaining an acceptable level. Some are controllable; some not!

Whatwas not in the airlines control is weather conditions. They operate with Beechcraft 1900 aircraftthat are NOT equipped with the proper instrumentation for landing in inclement weather when ceiling conditions fall near or at minimal standards. This is the nature ofsmaller Class 4 airports. This would cause delays and cancelations and loss ofpassenger revenue. This cannot be changed otherthan the 19 seat aircraft being equipped with LPV's allowingfortakeoffand landing's in lower ceiling requirements. Having the GPS orWide Area Augmentation System would help in allowing more flights to continue on schedule or not be canceled. I don't knowthe price ofequippingthe aircraft with this WAAS system, but itwould help in the one
area that the Airlines cannot control, and that is the weather!

There have been area's thatthe Airlines DOES have control over. Because ofthe weather conditions, that are a part ofbeing in the Northwest, the aircraft requires de-icing, when ice collects on the aircraft. The Airline then has to make sure their equipment can operate in the winter conditions. We had many flights where eitherthe de-icing equipment at our local airport orthe de-icing equipment at a connecting airport was notoperational. This would result in eitherfly-over's or canceled flights. This left passenger's leftto scramble to figure outhowthey were to gettotheir connecting flights in Billings, Montana. This resulted in driving on icy road conditions forthe 

### 2 and a halfhour 

### 130 miletrip from Lewistown to Billings. While most passengers understand about canceled flights due to weather conditions and havingsafe flights; they were not as tolerable to the malfunctioning ofsupport equipment, as in the**de~** icing machines.

The other area, Iwould like to address, thatwas in control ofthe Airlines, that played a big part
on ridership was flight destination's. When 

### Ifirst started working, at the airport, the Airline that was operating, atthattime, was offering direct flights to Denver. Denver, ofcourse, is a main hub for all ofthe western states. This was not atrue direct flight, as they did make a stop in Worland, Wyoming, before continuing on to Denver. But we had far more passengers on those flights for a couple ofreasons. Our ridership then, was in line with the revenue amounts that are required for keeping EAS funding. We had a lot ofour local business people frequent fly on these flights. Also, it made ita lot easier forthe community, in general, tofly out of Lewistown, to Denver and then make connecting flights to other parts ofthe country. There would be no long lay-over in Billings, because they got out of Lewistown early enough to bypass Billings, and allowed them to getto Denver and to make their otherconnections.

What destroyed this set-up and made it startto deteriorate was this: It seemed everytwo months, the airlines began changingtheir departure schedule, out of Lewistown. Having a later and later departure, until finally, they were not getting passengers to Denver, early enough to make their connections out of Denver. The changing ofschedule became a detrimentto maintaining a positive passenger count. While this became evident; I do not knowthe reasoning behind their decision to change schedule's so often.

I have heard the rumbling's about losing our EAS service. The people that use it, DO NOT want to lose itI And more and more people would use it, ifit became more reliable. We sit 130 miles from the next airportthatwould offer commercial flights. In bad weather, that is a dangerous drive when you have to getto other parts ofthe country. While we are Montanan's and we DO understand about severe weather conditions and flying, we do not accept what could be controlled bythe airlines. Control what's controllable and EAS will work in Lewistown.

I firmly believe, that ifthe direct Denverflights were offered again and the flight schedule reflected early morning arrivals in Denverthere would be a dramatic increase in ridership. Also, requiringthe contract Airlines to maintain equipmentthat does not breakdown on a regular basis would help eliminate more ofthe negativity and bolster more reliability in the Airlines. This in turn, would install more confidence from the community, into a service that is much needed here in Lewistown, Montana. 

### Iwould hope the DOT will reconsider their decision to terminate EAS here and give the community a chance to secure thetools to fix our situation! Ithankyou foryourtime!

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### 3460 Casino Creek Rd Lewistown, Montana. 59457