Aero-News: Quote of the Day

ANN's Quote of the Day usually derives from current news, though we reserve the right to pick quotes out of history that have a bearing on the day's events and issues.

Sometimes, you'll find them timely and in keeping with the content of the day's news... and sometimes, they'll just be thought-provoking.

Reader suggestions and comments are welcome... and if particularly intriguing, timely, or poignant, may themselves become future Quotes of the Day.

Let us hear from you, folks!

Aero-News Quote of the Day

"That's probably going to cost us $3,200 a weekend to fly somebody up and back. Assuming that Great Lakes gets up and running by the end of July, it will cost us $3,200 just for ER travel for the next 19 weeks."

Source: Randy Holom, administrator at Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital in Glasgow, MT. Saturday morning marked the end of an era in Montana... and the beginning of a scramble for former customers of Big Sky Airlines. The airline's Essential Air Services (EAS) contract was pulled last year, when Big Sky could not afford to keep flying its 19-seat Beech twin turboprops on some subsidized routes it recently took over in the eastern US. Effective February 1, the $8.5 million annual contract for service to seven Montana cities was awarded to Great Lakes Aviation of Cheyenne, WY... but the airline is still lining up the planes needed to serve the routes, a process that could take months. Customers who relied on the service -- including the hospital -- are looking towards GA alternatives, but that's a pricey proposition.

FMI: www.bigskyair.com, www.greatlakesav.com/