Montana
Alpine Air CEO questions Postal Service data for air service in Montana
The U.S. Postal Service said it shifted the majority of mail in Montana that was going through the air to ground transport several months ago, but the chief executive of the air transport company said the federal agency relied on bad data to do so.
Alpine Air CEO Michael Dancy said this week he doesn’t believe the Postal Service will be able to meet its own standards for one- or two-day mail either despite its pledges to do so, the Daily Montanan reports.
“I think they’ve just decided that it’s OK to fail delivery standards in the state of Montana,” Dancy said.
Alpine Air has worked with the Postal Service in Montana for some 35 years.
A spokesperson for the Postal Service said again that it isn’t changing Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express in Montana.
“The contract move was simply to transition to more reliable surface transportation,” said spokesperson Kim Frum in an email.
Last month, the Postal Service abruptly stopped air service in Montana and then went silent in the midst of air cargo negotiations with Alpine Air despite the company’s offer to reduce its contract by $3 million.
The Postal Service has been in financial trouble, and in 2021, it released a plan to get its budget on track and, it said, “forge a bold vision for transformation” and provide “service excellence.”
It had projected a loss of $160 billion during the course of 10 years. Its plan, which included reductions in air service and investments in ground transportation, estimated a net income of $0.2 billion instead.
But implementation in Montana has been fraught with controversy.
Both U.S. Sens. Jon Tester, a Democrat, and Steve Daines, a Republican, have urged the Postal Service to reverse course in the decision about air service and have been critical of other effects on Montana.
“Once again, it appears that the USPS is turning its back on rural America and attempting to solve its budget woes on the backs of our nation’s rural citizens,” said Tester in a July 18 letter to the Postmaster Louis DeJoy.
But the Postal Service stepped away from negotiations anyway, and Dancy said since then, he took a closer look at the federal agency’s plan, “Delivering for America.” And he said he found it lacking when it comes to information about air transport.
For one thing, he said, the data about air transport reflects information for all air carriers, not just postal carriers, and it doesn’t reflect Alpine Air’s record in Montana.
The report described air transport as “very unreliable,” and it said the following: “Air transport has major uncertainties and risks (weather, flight delays, etc.) that can drastically impede service performance.”
Before the pandemic, it said ground transportation met a 92% on-time performance rate, but air transportation had 89.4% on-time performance.
Dancy, however, said Alpine Air counts a 99% on-time rate, and it produced the same even during the pandemic when it was deemed an essential service.
The Postal Service’s plan, however, doesn’t make note of the 99% rate. The agency spokesperson said its plan “looks at the network as a whole and does not single out specific providers/states.”
Dancy also questioned the ability of ground transportation to deliver top service in the winter given Montana’s weather and roads, a factor Tester noted in his letter as well.
In its plan, the Postal Service said it will invest another $11 million in vehicles, but this week, the agency did not provide the Daily Montanan performance data for ground transportation related to Montana.
“Unfortunately, your request for ground data is not publicly available information,” Frum said. “However, what I can tell you is in keeping with the DFA plan, the majority of the mail for this contractor, much like others nationwide, was transitioned to existing ground transport several months ago.
“The remaining minimal volume wasn’t enough to justify continuing the service.”
The Postal Service did not directly address whether it can continue to meet delivery standards during the winter months or when mailing distances are on the longer side, such as across the country.
Last week, as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Tester secured provisions for rural postal service in the appropriations package. Those include language directing the Postal Service to provide a briefing regarding the end of air service contracts that affect priority and express mail in Montana and other rural states.
Dancy, for one, is skeptical one- or two-day service is still possible in a state the size of Montana.
“There’s just no way they can do that,” he said. “And they know there’s no way they can do that. But that’s what they’re representing.”
Daily Montanan is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Daily Montanan maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Darrell Ehrlick for questions: info@dailymontanan.com.
MISSOULA, Mont. — The Clark Fork River has long been a defining feature of Missoula, shaping the city’s culture, economy and outdoor lifestyle.
The river is so closely tied to the area that it helped inspire the well-known book and film “A River Runs Through It.” But local conservation advocates say its importance goes far beyond scenery.
“Without the Clark Fork River, Missoula would just be another town,” said Lisa Ronald, Northern Rockies associate conservation director for American Rivers. “We wouldn’t be the River City. I think we’re known in Montana as Missoula the River City, and it’s really because of the Clark Fork River and its central role in business, in economics, in recreation, that really makes Missoula the town that it is.”
Carmen Murill, a field organizer with Wild Montana, said the river is deeply woven into daily life for people who live in Missoula.
“A lot of us would wonder what to do on a beautiful or a rainy summer day,” Murill said. “I mean, it’s really a lifeforce of town. And I think it’s pretty unique that Missoula, as a community is living and breathing on both sides of the river. It’s really like two downtowns but connected by the Clark Fork.”
Conservation groups say protecting the river begins with community involvement.
Advocates encourage residents and visitors to spend time outdoors, whether on a trail, in the woods or along the river, and to learn how they can become better stewards of the environment.
MISSOULA — Sam Forstag edged out Ryan Busse to secure the Democratic nomination in Montana’s 1st Congressional District.
Busse conceded the race to Forstag on Wednesday morning. Forstag had trailed behind Busse Tuesday evening, but he made up ground as the votes were counted into the early hours of Wednesday morning. The other two candidates in the race, Russl Cleveland and Matt Rains, are sitting at third and fourth, respectively.
Forstag leads in close race for Montana’s 1st Congressional District
Forstag spent eight years as a wildland firefighter, including four as a smokejumper, and he’s been vice president of the local National Federation of Federal Employees union. Last week, U.S. House of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, held a rally in Missoula to support Forstag’s campaign.
He told MTN on Tuesday that his campaign has been for the working class.
“We got a whole lot of people here that have been working their tail off to finally get some working-class representation in Washington,” Forstag noted. “So proud of everything we’ve done and so grateful.”
Forstag further noted he wants Montanans to be able to afford groceries, have universal free childcare and restore and expand Affordable Health Care Act subsidies.
“Hearing people’s stories and struggles and commonalities in the ways that we’re all fighting in the system that does not serve us so often, and the government serves corporations and the richest people in this country more than working people. It has been frustrating and saddening, but it has also inspired so much hope in me, like the fixes we can actually make,” he told MTN.
The 1st Congressional District covers much of western Montana, including Kalispell, Missoula, Butte and Bozeman. It is currently held by Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, who chose not to seek reelection.
By securing the nomination, Forstag is slated tol face off against Libertarian candidate Nick Sheedy and Republican candidate Aaron Flint in November.
Brian Miller won the Democratic primary Tuesday for the U.S. House seat in Montana’s eastern district.
The Associated Press called the race for Miller, an attorney in Helena, who fended off a challenge from state Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, a longtime legislator from Box Elder, and Sam Lux, a farrier from Great Falls.
In the Republican and rural eastern district, any Democrat will be an underdog, and Miller will face off against incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Troy Downing, who was unopposed Tuesday.
Libertarian Patrick McCracken is also running.
In the primary, Miller took 58% of the vote. Lux took 27% and Windy Boy took 16%, according to the Montana Secretary of State’s website.
In April, Windy Boy paused his campaign amid “serious sexual abuse” allegations raised by the Montana Democratic Party — but Windy Boy restarted his campaign and later called the allegations “political attacks.”
Miller is representing the victim of the alleged abuse and her mother, although he said he didn’t take on the role until after Windy Boy initially suspended his campaign.
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