DOT order will not prevent end of air service, Big Sky says

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced late Thursday afternoon that it will order Big Sky Airlines to continue commercial passenger service to Cape Girardeau and other airports until a replacement carrier can be found.

The department also said it was starting an emergency process to find a replacement carrier and set a Jan. 11 deadline for submitting bids to provide the service.

Despite the order, Big Sky will stop flying Jan. 7 as originally announced, airline president Fred de Leeuw said.

"No one can force a company to stay in business if they are losing money," de Leeuw said, calling the order a "technical formality."

"As of midnight Jan. 7, we stop flying," de Leeuw said.

Big Sky provides passenger service from Cape Girardeau under a contract with the Department of Transportation under the Essential Air Service program. The program subsidizes each flight in an effort to make sure smaller markets receive commercial passenger service.

The statement issued Thursday, despite de Leeuw's interpretation, seemed to indicate the department expects service to continue.

"The U.S. Department of Transportation just issued an emergency RFP (request for proposal) for bids for service to the affected communities and will use our statutory authority to require the carrier to keep operating until that replacement service begins," spokesman Bill Adams said in a prepared release. "Nevertheless, if Big Sky involuntarily ceases operations -- for example, because its aircraft are repossessed, or its pilots or mechanics leave their jobs -- then we will do everything in our power to speed up the process of getting replacement service."

Adams, who works in Washington, could not be reached for comment Thursday after de Leeuw said the airline would not continue flying past Jan. 7.

The Billings, Mont.-based airline began serving Cape Girardeau on Nov. 18 as a Delta Connection partner with flights to and from Cincinnati. The airline, the principal subsidiary of MAIR Holdings Inc., was unable to overcome disappointing ticket sales, bad weather and high fuel prices, Paul F. Foley, MAIR's president and CEO said in a new release.

The airline won a contract in March to serve Cape Girardeau and two other regional cities with service to Cincinnati under the taxpayer-subsidized Essential Air Service program.

"We have great people who have worked extraordinarily hard, but that factor could not overcome the challenges we faced, and we no longer believe that we can reach sustained profitability," de Leeuw said in a news release.

The decision to cease operations was mutually agreed to by Big Sky and Delta, according to the statement. Along with its eastern U.S. services, Big Sky serves 15 cities in the West, providing flights to small Western communities under Essential Air Service program.

De Leeuw said the end of service in the east also means the demise of the airline's western routes.

"We could be out of business in 60 days," he said. "This is a very sad day for Big Sky Airlines."

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