" Well, we reap what we sow.
It's been time to start looking at alternatives like rail for years now, and now that the crunch has come, maybe we can start working on real ideas for safe, reliable and sustainable transportation in this state. "

" When I rarely fly, I have flown out of Bert Mooney. But, on an upcoming trip the cost comparison is obvious. $360 from Belgrade RT to my destination, $620 from Butte. It all matters seat availability and destination. Sometimes it was actually less expensive from Butte, but not always. What would you do? "

" Disclamer,
Thanks so much for the clarification, but I was refering specifically to Aligient Air's $75 tickets.
It was previously reported that their Missoula flight to/from Vegas generally averages somewhere in the neighborhood of 30-40% of passengers from the Butte area.
Matta of fact, the only flights I have ever taken have been in/out of Butte. Sometimes while my companions have driven out of town and met me at the destination to save money.
Aligient has addes flights into Missoula, Great Falls, Billings, and I believe Bozo. The fact is, it cost as much to fly from LA to NY as it does from Butte to Salt Lake. "

" Look at all the MONEY they wasted on cute full page ads in the paper and tv ads on flying out of Butte to the tropics, they wasted $400,000 of FEDERAL grant money last year on ads, they could have used it to KEEP existing air business. Its like building curbs, gutters, sidewalks on vacant lots and planting trees but not watering them. "

" This is really dismal and the State should do everything in its political power to make sure Butte retains reliable air service because this is too important for economic development. Here are a few thoughts:

To make a clarification for Triplex, its clear he does not use the service because airfares from any major city to Bozeman, Missoula, or Helena are the same as to Butte, which raises the possibility of an additional passenger charge as one means of making the flights more profitable. I fly often and the 15 person average from Burt Mooney is about right. The flight then mostly fills up in Bozeman. Currently there is no savings to passengers by not flying out of Burt Mooney.

The State and the Governor thinks its doing Butte a favor by funding construction of a psychiatric crises center, which it does not need. Real help and commitment would be to step up to the plate and make air access to Butte a part of the State transportation system. After all, in Washington State the ferry system loses money, but is considered a vital extension of the state highway system. Montana could budget a small percentage to help offset air losses to guarantee uninterrupted service.

Curiously, I wonder what influence the pending Northwest/Delta had on Alaskas decision. Could be Horizon felt it wouldnt be able to sustain the same losses that the mega airline will be able to. But then again, I doubt NW/ Delta would even care if they too abandoned Butte.

Another reason to oust the Republicans from federal control is the wrath that their deregulation continues to bring. Less competition means less service and higher fares. How predictable! Its a safe to bet, McCain would continue Repug favoritism to big corporations with little regard to everyday peoples lives in places like Butte. At least there is more hope for federal support of programs to assist commercial access to small urban centers.

Finally, the Montana Standard needs to raise the bar in its reporting of such an important development. What were the factors? How much financial loss? What connecting transportation can be made available from Helena or Bozeman? What about seasonal schedules? "

" The loss of ANY air service to Butte is troubling, and each time the community has faced this situation there is a lot of hand wringing, then the drama fades and not much really happens to solve the problems.

Butte has two serious sets of problems as it relates to air service: 1) lack of competitively priced service to/from Butte, 2) lack of carrier class service of any type, as opposed to commuter service.

The real problem with Bert Mooney Airport is it is a county step child, which operates outside of the county management group. The airport has a manager who works tirelessly at everything from top level administrative duties, to having to be on duty, as an emergency rescue-fireman, during commercial flight operations.

It has been clear for many years, and certainly since our federal government deregulated air carriers that communities such as Butte were headed for trouble, in terms of passenger air service. The only reason communities like Butte, Helena, Missoula and the like had carrier-class air service for many years was airline regulation, which included airline route regulation. You see, as a regulated airline, the carrier had to request authority to fly its desired routes. In those days, part of the deal was the airline also had to fly some not-so-profitable routes in return. In many cases there were route subsidies, etc. Now understand, the entire process was more complex than I detailed above, but I think the reader can get the general picture from this writing.

Helena, the State capital, Missoula and Bozeman have all seen fairly regular growth to their populations, business and economies, during the years following airline deregulation. In addition, Helena and Missoula have had robust growth in state government and/or general aviation operations at their airports.

Butte on the other hand has had very limited growth in aviation operations, and both commercial aviation and business jet general aviation have seen negative growth in adjusted dollars of services purchased.

The Butte airport has never had a county sponsored growth policy and the county and the airport management teams have never really communicated and coordinated their activities very well.

Rick Griffith, the Bert Mooney airport manager has for many years been a one-man song and dance man trying to do his best with the resources at hand. The airport manager reports to a "commission" (board of commissioners). This commission has traditionally been made up of Butte area business men, and its membership has typically remained unchanged for many-many years, as is currently the case.

While the airport management business is unique to say the least, in many ways it is not unlike other quasi-governmental entities in terms of the need for a cohesive management group, which includes senior county-governmental officials. I am afraid one of the more serious problems Butte's airport has faced is the lack of adequate financial tools for working with air carriers and a weak operating relationship between airport management and county officials.

Clearly, the current structure of what ever the airport has to offer is not working, and clearly both the county and airport management are going to have to make significant changes to the going forward strategy, or the community is not going to have any commercial air service in 12 months. Jet fuel prices, over-the-top security provisioning and related costs and all of the other costs mandated by our federal government are going to make it impossible for any airline to serve hundreds of smaller cities like Butte, unless those cities step up to the plate and come up with a way to offset the operating losses to serve these communities, and that includes Butte.

This is not a Paul Babb caused problem or a Rick Griffith caused problem, the airline business has changed and jet fuel is not likely to get much cheaper in the next days and weeks. Bottom-line, the economics of the business have changed and Butte needs redefine its strategy going forward, including perhaps, redefining our commercial aviation needs. If we want a stable commercial carrier operating in Butte, we may have to dump both Horizons and Delta and work in a financial partnership with a different carrier, who is really interested in serving Butte. If Rick Griffith did not know Horizons was terminating before they made their announcement that is very telling in terms of our true relationships with these carriers and their true interest in serving Butte. Don't count on Delta-Northwest even giving us advance notice of their termination; they will probably send an e-mail at the time the final flight is due to leave Butte.

Finally, this problem is bigger than an aviation task force; it is great the Chamber of Commerce and BLDC are trying their best to help, but they don't have the tools, resources or expertise to solve this problem; instead the county is going to have to step up to the plate and get directly involved. And as the last word on this issue, Bert Mooney Airport needs to stop spending money on the worthless ads they have been running for years promoting select Butte businesses, and instead that money needs to be spent on getting our act together or on supporting a new airport-carrier relationship. The ad campaign of the last years has been a total waste and has unfairly promoted a small handful of businesses, as if they are the only businesses using the Butte airport.

I would hope to see additional comments posted online. "

" Time for a change in leadership. "

" the local airport is a Joke, look at all the ads on tv and paper they had to increase business, what a waste! they should have used it to subsidize flights out of Butte. Meanwhile, Frontier is now in Bozeman (a great airport) and they are adding 6 gates. this airport is endangered without subsidies, its to close to the beautiful airports in Helena, Missoula, and Bozeman! "

" [airport manager?] "Griffith, who was driving to Butte from Seattle Tuesday, said he didnt know the cut was coming."

How ironic. I'd hope that there was more to that than was reported.

Im recommending we try to go (visit Horizon at their Seattle headquarters) immediately..."

I recommend that you don't drive to Seattle.

As to the loss of the service to Butte, what is the overall change to Bozeman/Billings?

Horizon/Billings adds a flight to Helena (does that make two available services in jumper flights from Logan or has one service also discontinued?)

Does Bozeman (being the supposed "tech" area) have any direct flights from the East Coast?

Why does Horizon cutting flights to Seattle affect east coast direct travel?

Butte still has two daily flights through Salt Lake. Would the reporter care to research the connections available through Salt Lake? Or, the transportation available without the layover times involved if bus/rental car other service is used/available?

Travel from anywhere (not just from the east coast is a full day affair by the way).

For the time that I've spent waiting for a connecting(s) or jumper flight, going through security, I could have rented a car, driven in less time and for less money. Or, for business, been met and be driven to a meeting while seeing some wonderful scenery (even at night). Add in some weather and the TSA for 'fun'. Not the same for everyone though, of course.

So, it ain't easy getting here. Make it worth their while to do so and part of the lure. Anyone can get to a major city. Not everyone can get to Butte. "

" Stop thinking that this company gave up on Butte and bailed. They were pushed out of Butte. Everyone that's ever driver to Missoula or Bozeman or elsewhere to catch a flight that they could have taken out of Butte if they were willing to pay the price - they all helped push. Get used to it, not only are the small flight companies going to continue to bail on the smaller markets in Montana, but the larger ones will cut flights until every plane that comes and goes will be not only full, but probably oversold. "

" Get rid of all planes and bring back the railroads. The air travel industry consumes far too much fuel per passenger to be competitive in the post petrol world. For domestic travel, rail is the answer. "

" I certainly hope the last company to pull out of BUTTE, in our economic development, will 'PLEASE" turn off the lights! "