Big Sky loses supplemental federal funding

Airline can suspend service Sept. 1

MOSES LAKE — The U.S. Department of Transportation issued Thursday a final order terminating the area's eligibility for a federal subsidy for air service.

The Essential Air Service subsidy was in danger due to declining passenger numbers on flights out of Grant County Airport to Portland, Ore., and Boise, Idaho.

The order allows Big Sky Transportation Company, Inc., to suspend service to the Moses Lake and Ephrata communities Sept. 1, if it chooses.

"We need to confirm the absolutes of this, but to all indication, the community needs to know that there, at least temporarily, will be an interruption in air service starting Sept. 1," said port commissioner Larry Peterson. "We are still making last-ditch efforts to have that not happen, but the order reads to me to be pretty final, so I'm not optimistic about getting anything further with regards to Big Sky service."

Peterson stressed that it's his opinion from a quick read of the final order. The effort to bring in other air service is continuing, he added.

"We're extremely disappointed that this happened," board of commissioners President Delone Krueger said. "Certainly at this point, it's beyond our control."

Krueger said he was not aware of a plan to address the issue, which would be difficult now that the subsidy has been terminated. He added he is frustrated by that, and the fact there were enough issues that the public did not utilize the services.

"I understand some of those reasons; when people make plans, they like to be able to follow through with them," Krueger said, noting there was enough inconsistency in the service to make people go elsewhere. "We'll continue to look at other options and hopefully be able to provide services to citizens in Grant County."

Port of Moses Lake manager Craig Baldwin said he received the news in an e-mail Thursday, and the port has met with Congressman Doc Hasting's office and is meeting with Sen. Patty Murray's office.

"We will go ahead with a response back to the DOT as well as continuing negotiations for other air service," Baldwin said. "If we can find an air carrier, which could be Big Sky, that's willing to come back in with something below the $200 mark, we can go back to the DOT."

Baldwin said the airport is still operating, and the port will work to find air service to meet the community's needs.

According to the final order, Big Sky filed an objection June 28 to the community's request to extend the comment period, stating that it was losing "substantial money serving Ephrata/Moses Lake as a result of lower than projected traffic and significantly higher fuel expense."

The subsidy rate is reached by determining the total operational cost and also estimating the expected revenues, using the history of the number of passengers. The difference between the expected revenues and the cost to operate becomes the subsidy level to the airline contracting to provide the service.

The requirement is that the cost per passenger be less than $200.

The final order follows a package delivered Aug. 2 from the community giving reasons the subsidy should not be terminated. Objections included a discrepancy in passenger numbers reported to the community from Big Sky, and the argument that passengers flying from Portland to Boise and coming through Moses Lake should be counted.