WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis submitted a letter to the Department of Transportation (DOT) on Tuesday requesting a response to SkyWest Charter’s (SWC) Commuter Air Carrier Authorization.
In the letter, Lummis calls upon DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg to acknowledge the application, which she says was submitted more than a year ago. She requests a reply by July 25.
“Approval of this application could provide much needed relief for air service in rural communities like those I represent in Wyoming,” Lummis writes. “Reliable and safe air transportation is critical to Wyoming’s economy for a variety of reasons, including to attract visitors and businesses. Reliable air service is also often needed to allow residents of remote areas to access necessary medical services.”
SWC is a subsidiary of SkyWest Airlines that operates small aircrafts connecting secondary flight markets to larger airports.
Lummis’ support of the application stands in opposition to a vocal portion of the aviation community, which criticizes SWC’s operating procedures under the FAA’s charter rules, Part 135.
According to Flight Global, 10 aviation unions joined forces to write a letter on May 5 addressed to the DOT, the Department of Labor, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Transportation Security Administration advising rejection of the application, arguing that SWC intends to “link small communities to the national airline network under a lesser standard of safety.”
These unions take issue with Part 135 charter rules, under which “operators can employ pilots with less than the standard 1,500 [hours] minimum total aviation experience time, and allows pilots over the usually-mandatory retirement age of 65 to continue flying.”
Lummis addresses these criticisms in her letter, writing that “SWC has committed to exceeding the baseline safety standards required to operate under Part 135,” before going on to suggest the stated criticisms are “delay tactics.”
