CONCERN MAKES A DIFFERENCE

This letter is written as an individual citizen and does not represent any chairmanship or board position that I hold with the City of Fayetteville or the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce.

First, at the request of another citizen, I want to make it clear that marketing plans for the future of Drake Field continue to include aviation industrial, cargo, corporate and general aviation, in addition to the marketing of current and replacement airline service. The current revision of the 20-year master plan also reflects these topics with emphasis on total/partial/no loss of airline service. Obviously, the later will not be a subject of discussion any longer.

I raised a concern and issue with the letter of agreement that was signed earlier this month between American Eagle and the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport Authority. In that agreement, certain terms and conditions are stated that are not clear and encroach upon terms of a noncompetitive nature that is deemed illegal by the Federal Aviation Administration.

In the agreement, the definition of the "region" is ambiguous. I believe a better definition of the "region" is needed in this agreement, thus a better understanding of what airport(s) the Authority wants to restrict American Eagle from flying in to or out of for the 59-month contract period.

In an article, published by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the Authority is quoted as saying that "We (the Authority) can not prevent an air carrier from using Fayetteville/Springdale/Rogers," yet the agreement states "Airline agrees that it shall, to the fullest extent commercially reasonable, utilize the (Authority) airport as the sole airport for the provision of scheduled commercial air transportation service to and from the region." This airline only offers passenger airline transportation service in our region. I would question who defines "commercially reasonable," the Airline or the Authority?

Further on in this same article, legal counsel for the Authority states that the agreement prevents the airline from leaving if they change their mind or on a whim and continues to state that the Authority's "airport needs such assurances so it can budget its revenues and plan for the future." A free market allows business to change their mind or act on a whim and does not offer any assurances of income to budget revenue due to a free competitive nature in business.

In 1994, the Authority accepted a resolution from Fayetteville and agreed to let the "free" market dictate which airport received or kept airline service currently at Drake Field. I am not being vindictive due to the decision that American Eagle has made in moving to the new airport. As a business, they have weighted out many factors and have come to a business decision, which is quite understandable.

Their decision was not unexpected, but disappointing, as they have served Fayetteville well and they did request the citizens of Fayetteville to help in lobbying for the Chicago slots to fly regional jets from Chicago to "Fayetteville". It looks like Fayetteville helped American Eagle lobby for something we are not going to receive.

I am trying to point out the authority needs to uphold its prior agreements with Fayetteville and not trod over the citizens who solely made it possible for them to achieve their funding from the FAA.

If you think I am making this a political battle, think again. This is the same Authority that publicly stated that it was going to build "a cargo maintenance facility that would not compete with Drake Field," that is until the FAA denied funding for that type of facility. That is when this entire project became political and the Authority began bashing Drake Field.

One of the next political moves was the authority delivering non-complete [sic] agreements to all of the authority entities for their agreement not to allow airline service at any other airport. This was deemed an illegal action by the FAA and was quashed.

Then a larger political move was made when Sun Country Charter contacted the Airport Manager at Drake Field to request apron space for regularly scheduled airline service on a three-day per week schedule. When questioned as to what cargo they would carry, the representative answered "War-Mart vendors." This was an unofficial threat to undercut the airline service in our region and apparently a large enough scare tactic to work, as within 45 days the American Eagle agreement was a done deal.

There is one other topic to consider. Our community has already suffered one casualty from driving on the roads to the Authority's airport. We all know how slow the Arkansas Highway Department can be in constructing, repairing and/or improving our state highways.

If you, as a local resident, want to see continued passenger airline service at Drake Field, I urge you to write to the remaining airline's executive offices and let them know that we want them to stay and serve our community. I recently read a quote that says, "The people who make a difference are not the ones with credentials, but the ones with a concern."

This letter originally appeared in the Northwest Arkansas Times, March 28, 1998