Selection of airline carrier was a huge setback

Dear Editor,

Great Lakes Aviation is a totally unreliable company, as we in Moab have experienced previously. When Great Lakes Aviation held the contract for service prior to SkyWest, it canceled flights periodically and in the end just dropped service altogether. Not providing flights to Salt Lake City, a huge hub within the state, is also a lack of service.

Now, due to its own poor treatment of its pilots, making it nearly impossible for it to hire needed pilots, Moab is again without service and at risk for losing TSA status, a huge setback for this area.

Great Lakes was not the only company to bid on service. Red Tail Aviation, which does service Salt Lake City and is an existing local company, also bid. Not only would it have been good to support our local company, but we would currently have air service. As it is, local jobs have been placed on hold or lost, local companies associated with air service are losing money, we may lose TSA status and we have no commercial flights in and out of Moab.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has issued four separate orders since April 16 requiring former Essential Air Service carrier SkyWest Airlines to continue its flights to Canyonlands Field Airport until Great Lakes Aviation is ready to begin local service. SkyWest, which says it no longer has the capability to serve Canyonlands Field, has not complied with the “orders extending service obligation.”