Select Committee on Air Transportation Minutes for Meeting June 13, 2007

Committee Meeting Information

June 13, 2007

Cody Town Hall

Cody, Wyoming

Committee Members Present

Representative Pete Illoway, Chairman

Senator Henry “Hank” Coe

Senator Bruce Burns

Representative Dave Edwards

Committee Members Absent

Representative Floyd Esquibel

Legislative Service Office Staff

Matthew D. Obrecht, Staff Attorney

Others Present at Meeting

Please refer to Appendix 1 to review the Committee Sign-in Sheet
for a list of other individuals who attended the meeting.

Call To Order

Chairman Illoway called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. The Committee unanimously reelected Rep. Illoway Chairman. The following sections summarize the Committee proceedings by topic. Please refer to Appendix 2 to review the Committee Meeting Agenda.

Camp Guernsey Airport

Major General Ed Wright spoke to the Committee concerning the proposed expansion of the Guernsey Airfield. General Wright distributed a document titled "Brief to Select Committee on Air Transportation: WY Military Department Guernsey Airfield" (Appendix 3). General Wright stated that the purpose of the expansion was to accommodate C-17s and other tactical aircraft that large military units now travel aboard. The Guard is requesting $9.6 million in state funds for expansion and improvements to the airfield. The plan calls for a 15 foot widening of the runway and taxiway, an expansion to the apron, the addition of a turnaround at the north end of the runway and the installation of an All Weather Operating System (AWOS). The Guard will request an additional $14 million in federal funds for the airfield as well. General Wright told the Committee the improvements to the Guernsey Airfield will allow large military units to train at Camp Guernsey year-round and will encourage additional economic development in that area of the state.

Committee members asked General Wright about Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) funding for the runway, the actual ownership of the airfield between the Guard and the town of Guernsey and the use of RED HORSE (Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers) units to assist in the construction phase of the airfield improvements. General Wright responded that Army Airfields are not eligible to receive FAA funds, that the Guard owns the land on which the airfield is located and the town of Guernsey has a 99 year lease on 16 acres of the airfield, and finally, RED HORSE units would have been used for construction during peace time, but those units are busy overseas.

Chairman Illoway asked General Wright to assemble a package of information on Guernsey Airfield so that Committee members could better present the information to the full Legislature. Chairman Illoway requested a detailed accounting of federal funding for the airfield as well as an economic impact and benefits analysis for the state.

Fly Wyoming Campaign

Amber Schlabs, Aviation Business and Marketing Program Manager, WyDoT Aeronautics Division, presented an update to the Committee on the Fly Wyoming Campaign. Ms. Schlabs stated the Campaign has had success in promoting the convenience of flying from a Wyoming airport as compared to driving to Denver, Billings or Salt Lake City through television commercials. Ms. Schlabs further noted that the capacity of flights in and out of Jackson Hole Regional Airport are increasing and that Natrona County International Airport (Casper) and Yellowstone Regional Airport (Cody) may see additional flights/capacity this year. The department is also promoting www.flywyoming.org as a one-stop website to compare flights from and into Wyoming airports and to link to sites to book those flights.

Great Lakes Airlines

Chuck Howell, Chief Operating Officer of Great Lakes Airlines spoke to the Committee concerning the status of Great Lakes Airline. Mr. Howell stated that Great Lakes serves 7 of Wyoming's 10 commercial airports (does not serve Casper, Jackson or Cody). Mr. Howell further mentioned that Great Lakes has begun selling advertising on the tail of its aircraft to local communities. The art work is done by the same firm that paints the animals on the tail of Frontier Airline planes and the City of Laramie has bought advertising on the tail of one Great Lakes plane.

Chairman Illoway stated that he had received complaints from constituents concerning delayed and cancelled flights due to the lack of pilots and available planes. Chairman Illoway asked Mr. Howell to explain why these flights were being cancelled. He furthered asked Mr. Howell if Great Lakes was having any success solving "the sum of two local tickets" problem ("sum of two local tickets" in airline lexicon means buying one ticket from a regional airport (such as any commercial Wyoming airport) to a hub airport (Denver International Airport, for example) and buying a separate ticket to the travelers destination as opposed to buying a roundtrip ticket (or even a one-way ticket) from the regional airport all the way to the traveler's destination) .

First, Mr. Howell stated that plane delays are due to an industry wide lack of certified pilots, due partially to flight schools shutting down after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and mandatory retirement age of pilots at 60. Mr. Howell said that Great Lakes would now station spare planes at DIA for situations that require an extra flight and was investigating the possibility of purchasing 50 seat jets in the future. Finally, Mr. Howell stated that Great Lakes was working with its partners, United and Frontier Airlines, to make "the sum of two local tickets" eligible for frequent flyer miles on the Great Lakes portion of the trip.

Airport Needs and Predictable Long Term Funding Needs

Jerry Delano, Chairman, Wyoming Aeronautics Commission related to the Committee the need for predictable, long term funding to meet statewide airport needs. Mr. Delano said airports felt like they were competing with highways in the state for funding.

Christy Yaffa, Planning and Budget Program Manager, WyDoT Aeronautics Division gave a presentation to the Committee titled "Airport Development Funding" (Appendix 4). Ms. Yaffa stated that construction costs for airports have risen by 100% since 1998. Statewide enplanements have increased by 37% from 2002 to 2006 while federal funding has remained stagnant and may decrease significantly in the near future. Ms. Yaffa discussed the existing funding levels for airports in Wyoming and said there will be $99 million funding shortfall for airport improvement projects in the next 5 years, while the Wyoming Aviation Capital Improvement Program (WACIP) shows almost $200 million in unfunded needs across the entire Wyoming aviation system. Ms. Yaffa stressed the need for predictable, long term funding due to the length of time required to conduct an environmental impact process, acquire land and coordinate with contractors.

Talbot Hauffe, Aviation Planner, WyDoT Aeronautics Division, gave the Committee a presentation on the Wyoming Aeronautics Commission Loan Program (Appendix 5). Mr. Hauffe's presentation, covered the loan application procedure, current loans granted under the program and proposed changes to the Commission's rules governing the loan program.

Jay Lundell from Gillette/Campbell County Airport also reiterated the importance of a predictable, long term funding stream to his airport.

Shelly Reams, WyDoT Aeronautics Administrator, related to the Committee the difficulties some airports in the state are having finding contractors willing to work on airport construction projects under FAA regulations and that escalating costs are also a hindrance to completion of multi-year projects due to uncertain funding.

Sen. Burns asked why airports in towns located relatively close to another town, such as Worland and Thermopolis, were not consolidated into one airport and also wanted to know how supporting non-commercial airports benefited the average Wyoming citizen in that community. Ms. Reams, stated that the airports were owned by the local governments and the State, through the Aeronautics Commission and Division, was only providing matching funds and the Division did not have the authority to close down airports. Also, there is a need for safe places for planes to land in every county in Wyoming as well as locations to provide adequate radar coverage. Finally, Ms. Reams said that adequate and safe airports were an asset to the state and play a major role in economic expansion as well as increasing quality of life in remote communities.

WyDoT Aeronautics Division Flight Operations

Pete Gosar, Assistant Flight Operations Manager/Chief Pilot WyDoT Aeronautics Division gave the Committee a run-down of the State's aviation fleet, which totals 4 planes. Mr. Pete Gosar said the number of flight hours on the planes were low, but the cycles (number of retractions of landing gear), which may be a truer measure of wear and tear on a plane, were high for the actual age of the fleet. The high number of cycles was due to the large number of short intrastate flights. Mr. Pete Gosar stated that the Aeronautics Division is not involved in the flight operations of University of Wyoming aircraft. Mr. Pete Gosar gave the Committee a chart showing the cost of state aircraft use per mile as compared to state employees traveling by alternative methods of transportation, such as automobile or airlines (Appendix 6). Mr. Pete Gosar also gave the Committee a chart showing the saving to the State from the new fuel farm at the Aeronautics hangar on Airport Parkway in Cheyenne (Appendix 7).

Northwest Wyoming Helicopter Needs Analysis

Kevin Gosar, Chief Pilot, WyDoT Aeronautics Division gave the Committee a report titled "Northwest Wyoming Helicopter Needs Assessment" (Appendix 8). Mr. Kevin Gosar discussed the cost of contracting for a helicopter for use by Teton, Park, Sublette, Fremont and Lincoln Counties for 3-4 months and for 9-12 months. Mr. Kevin Gosar also presented flight operation cost estimates to the Committee for various types of helicopters.

Committee members expressed reluctance to fund a helicopter that served only 5 counties in the entire state and also questioned whether the state should be involved in owning a helicopter. Ms. Reams told the Committee the final report from the consultant would be finished by the first week of August and the representatives from the 5 requesting counties would attend the August 14^th meeting in Jackson where more information would be provided. The Committee asked that the entities requesting the helicopter come together to present a proposal to the Committee at the August meeting.

Statewide Aviation Conference, Pilot's Organizations and Aviation Education

Mr. Hauffe discussed the proposed aviation and pilot's organization conference in the planning stages for next year, to be modeled on Montana's conference. The conference will be contracted through the University of Wyoming, in a revolving location each year, probably sometime in the fall. The conference would offer continuing education credits to pilots, mechanics and instructors to help fulfill the legislative mandate to further aviation education in the State. Mr. Hauffe updated the Committee on the Aviation Education program at Casper College.

Chairman Illoway suggested the conference could be held at the community colleges throughout the state and asked Mr. Hauffe to provide the Committee with total costs and impact of the proposed conference. Mr. Hauffe agreed that community colleges could be a good location and would have a proposal in the future.

Wyoming Airport Operators Association

Glenn Januska, Manager Natrona County International Airport, provide the Committee with an update on the Wyoming Airport Operators Association (WAOA). Mr. Januska told the Committee that WAOA is looking for helpful and useful ways to fulfill its mandate of providing education on airports in Wyoming and he believes a legislative reference manual would be helpful. However, he believes WAOA needs to do a better job of telling the stories of what airport operations do to improve local economies and the quality of life in the state, while also providing greater information on completed projects financed at least in part by funds appropriated by the Legislature. In addition to the legislative reference manual, WAOA is exploring ideas such as improving their website, an aviation week and broader circulation of their press releases.

Chairman Illoway suggested WAOA could invite legislators to tour their airports and provide information on what benefits the airport provides to the community.

Public Comment

The Committee received public comment from John Cordner of Frannie, Wyoming. Mr. Cordner provided the Committee with a handout titled "Testimony of John R. Cordner, before the Select Committee on Air Transportation" (Appendix 9). Mr. Cordner expressed his views on ways to improve air transportation in Wyoming.

Other Business

The Committee tasked the Aeronautics Division with providing information on greater opportunities for intrastate travel and the status of the FAA Reauthorization Bill for future meetings.

The Committee set their next meeting for August 14^th in Jackson.

Meeting Adjournment

There being no further business, Chairman Illoway adjourned the meeting at 3:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Rep. Pete Illoway, Chairman

File Storage: F/AA/Com/SELCOM/Airtran/Minutes

Appendix	Appendix Topic	Appendix Description	Appendix Provider
1	Committee Sign-In Sheet	Lists meeting attendees	Legislative Service Office
2	Committee Meeting Agenda	Provides an outline of the topics the Committee planned to address at meeting	Legislative Service Office
3	Brief to Select Committee on Air Transportation: WY Military Department Guernsey Airfield	Describes proposed improvements to Guernsey Airfield	Wyoming Military Department/Wright
4	Airport Development Funding	Lists airport funding needs in Wyoming	WyDoT Aeronautics Division/Yaffa
5	Wyoming Aeronautics Commission Loan Program	Provides detailed accounting of loans under the program, the application process and changes to the program's rules	WyDoT Aeronautics Division/Hauffe
6	Fly v. Drive Scenarios	Compares the cost of state employees flying on state planes as compared to other forms of transportation	WyDoT Aeronautics Division/ P. Gosar
7	Fuel Farm Savings	Chart of the savings to the State from the new fuel farm at the Cheyenne hangar	WyDoT Aeronautics Division/ P. Gosar
8	Northwest Wyoming Helicopter Needs Assessment	Discusses the options for acquiring a helicopter for 5 counties in northwest Wyoming	WyDoT Aeronautics Division/ K. Gosar
9	Testimony of John R. Cordner, before the Select Committee on Air Transportation	Contains Mr. Cordner's views on improving air transportation in Wyoming	John R. Cordner