Brainerd is letting Minnesota’s members of Congress know of its displeasure at Delta Air Lines’ decision to pull flight service out of the Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport.
Delta last week announced it was looking to drop money-losing flights in 24 small cities in the country, including Brainerd. On Monday the city received a 90-day cancellation notice from the airline.
The Brainerd City Council on Monday passed a resolution of its objections to Delta’s plans to be sent to Rep. Chip Cravaack, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Sen. Al Franken. The vote was unanimous. Council member Bob Olson was absent.
“I think at a minimum we should send a letter of concern,” council President Mary Koep said. “Even if we don’t get anywhere it shows we have that concern for the community. There should be some kind of response that goes back.”
Mayor James Wallin said he’s been in contact with Klobuchar and Cravaack, both of whom he said are working on the issue.
Wallin said Delta has made up its mind to leave but should work to ensure another carrier provides the city service.
Council member Kevin Goedker, who also serves as council liaison on the airport commission, said it was suspected a couple years ago that Delta might leave since the company was eliminating its turbo prop airplanes. He said one reason the commission pursued improvements such as an extended runway and a jet bridge was to be attractive to other airlines.
“I think we’re in a fairly good position to be proactive in getting another carrier,” Goedker said. He noted despite the poor economy and disarray at the airport, boardings are up this year.
Council member Lucy Nesheim said if former U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar was in office the city wouldn’t have this problem. Council member Bonnie Cumberland asked that the tone of the resolution to the members of Congress should focus on what a great facility the city and county have instead of what she called whining about losing Delta.
“I think we should have some pride in what we have, use that as a basis in communication to these folks,” Cumberland said. Koep replied she didn’t think the tone of the resolution was “whiny.”
In other action, the council:
Approved hiring Jacobson Excavating and Landscaping at a cost of $180 per hour to abate nuisances in the city. Letters were sent out to about 150 property owners in the city regarding nuisance violation, with property owners having 14 days to abate them.
City Engineer Jeff Hulsether said that 14-day period ends Thursday. On Friday city crews will check the properties and abatement will start Monday. Koep voted against hiring Jacobson because it bothered her that having a crew on private property amounted to an unreasonable search. Mike Murphy and George Burton, speaking during the public forum portion of the meeting, both said such abatements were unconstitutional. Burton also said the city sent a picture of a friend’s violation but added that the city apparently had the wrong house.
Heard a brief presentation from Kevin Thesing of Lakes Printing and Shawn Sundquist of Range Printing about the seven printing businesses in the city. The printing industry in Brainerd spans 130 years and employs more than 400 people. The other companies include Bang Printing, the Brainerd Dispatch, First Impressions Printing, Intsy Prints and Minuteman Press.
Approved $5,539 to replace a malfunctioning security system at the Brainerd Police Department.
Approved waiving sewer accessibility fees for a resident at 1608 Southeast 13th Avenue who had paid sewer charges for 20 years without being hooked up to the city’s sewer system. It’s the third such incident, and Goedker said he’s in favor of waiving the fee because the council did so at its last meeting for another resident and it is believed no other such problems exist. Council member Kelly Bevans voted against.
MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.
Comments (35)
Add commentLucy Nesheim Has It Correct RE: Mr. James Oberstar
OUR former district 8 Congessman would have most likely never let Legacy carrier air service slip away from all of Northern Minnesota. Only option for district 8 voters is to get out in 2012 and make YOUR VOICE HEARD. Chip Craavack was put into office by 4,000 votes , 2000 of which came from Cass County . Guess Cass County residents dont fly...or maybe its all those mystery job providers somebody wants to protect , who dont fly ? Think our only hope now is if N MN can get Amy Klobuchar or Al F. on board to address many resident concerns over this situation.
Delta Service
My wife and I recently flew from the east coast into Brainerd International Conflict of Interest Airport after having been "serviced" by Delta to the tune of $400.00 for changing our flight times.Good ridance to delta and O'Berstarma. Welcome Wal Mart Airlines
"at a cost of $180 per hour
"at a cost of $180 per hour to abate nuisances in the city."
$180 an hour? What are they going to do? Have a Lawyer stand in the front yard?
They should hire me. I can
They should hire me. I can put together a crew to do it for $100 an hour. We can even sweep the grass clippings from the sidewalk and street!
stevebusch is right ...
At over $400 per roundtrip to MSP, Delta wasn't doing us ANY favors !! Y'all quit whining and either drive or take Lakes Express to the cities.
"Y'all quit whining and
"Y'all quit whining and either drive or take Lakes Express to the cities."
You do it. I'll fly.
I just checked prices for a
I just checked prices for a trip I am planning for January.
BRD - BKK and MSP - BKK are the same price.
wolf
Where is BKK?
Bangkok.
Bangkok.
But I also checked about 2
But I also checked about 2 weeks ago on a price to San Antonio for September, and it was the same also.
captron and Nesheim
That is a pretty stupid statement. This is something that has been going on for a while. To put the blame solely on one person who just came into office is ignorant at best. Why is the blame not directed at Franken or Klobuchar. I also find it interesting that Olson, who went to great lengths to jerk the airport commision around, happened to be absent!!
wolf, thanks
I am not sure but maybe flying international may have something to do with it, because when ever I fly to the South, leaving Brainerd always costs me at least $400-$500 extra.
pdnet, You need to continue
pdnet,
You need to continue on Delta, or a partner airline. Otherwise, I suppose they charge you the normal fare?
I hate to break it to some
I hate to break it to some folks but Oberstar was not some sort of obergruppenfuhrer who could demand airlines provides service at a loss.
pdnett15 , Pay attention you may actually learn something
Its true again ,as in most cases ignorance is bliss. Our former long time District 8 Representative in Congress was elected to look after the interests of all of greater Northern MN, was also the former Chairman of the House Transportation Committee .
BRD - MSP link prices per distance of total flight
It was true with Northwest too: for a long-haul flight out of MSP, to fly from BRD to MSP to catch it was always about $50 more. But to fly locally, or not very far throughout the Midwest by starting in BRD with either NWA or Delta was ruinous. Likely other airlines in other states do same thing.
It has always been silly of the airlines, because if they made some local deals whereby we could fly to MSP say to shop, or go to doctor, or visit, or go to a concert, for, say , $100 r/t, their planes would be packed all the time as they would beat (glad we have them, mind you!) Lakes Express price for same.
An incoming smart commuter airline will offer such, especially as there will no longer be the cheap link down for long-haul flights.
kc
So Captron, I guess that
So Captron, I guess that meant he could legislate an airline to lose money?
Really now...
So Captron, I guess that
Sorry about the double post
I must be dumb ...
Delta is going to stop doing business that is losing them money, and it's Mr. Craavacks fault? Did Oberstar personally use that airport so much that it made it profitable? Or are we suggesting that we need to throw taxpayer money at it?
Delta
Come on now, everyone. Don't you remember when Oberstar was in office nothing bad ever happened. Everything now is Chips fault! Delta is losing money on the route, but the resident Socialists don't feel a business should have the right to cut their losses. That was an ignorant comment from Lucy. Don't forget, all you who feel Oberstar was some sort of transportation god, that when Jim was in office Northwest was sold and Mn lost a Fortune 500 company. Jim didn't stop that from going down. Oh, wait. That was Tims fault.
If there is any profit to be made another airline will come in. United or American with service to OHare would be the logical choice. But if they can't make money it won't happen. Period. In spite of the wanna be Socialists who feel a company shouldn't have the right to make money.
How many of the complainers, including the City Council members harping about lost service, have ever flown from BRD? And if so, how many times? I'm thinking not many..
really?
Are the democrats fanboys serious on this one?
1) Jim Oberstar was in office; Brainerd was not a federally subsidized route.
2) Jim Oberstar is not in office; Brainerd is not a federally subsidized route.
Ergo, if Jim Oberstar were in office Brainerd would be a federally subsidized route.
You can't beat that logic!
You're right, Tork
That was a very revealing comment from Lucy Nesheim, and a very clumsy one at that.
After all, aren't we preached to from the virtuous city council about the virtues of the city council being NON- PARTISAN?
What an old hack.
And Wallin, well, how very nice that Amy got back to him. Another old ideological hack pretending to be impartial.
Thin the herd, voters, thin the herd.
There has been way too much incest in this group for way too long.
Oberstar had CLOUT
Whether you like him or not (I could no longer vote for the DC lifer myself) Nesheim's comment has some merit.
He was one of the most powerful congressmen in the transportation area, and had the power to influence the spending of more money than Delta claims they were losing here.
wow !
wow-brainerd really took action on this airport thing! what a poor joke-how's the BLADEC job thing doing with tax money? any jobs yet? $ waste 7.5 million on a potown airport for what?
This is why the liberals
think that we need to raise the debt ceiling. Just take more money from the rich and throw it at something that is failing and going broke. What I find ironic is that good old Harry Reid is on record back in '06 stating that it would be morally wrong to raise the debt ceiling at that time. Obama did the same grandstanding about the debt ceiling too in his short 1 1/2 years in the Senate. He said that it would lead us into a economic failure. What has happened since then that he is now singing a different tune? Could it be that he and his liberal friends are now spending that money and he thinks that they can do it better?
Northwest cared about the Midwest, Delta does not
Delta's letter back to the city of Brainerd.
Dear Brainerd (if you really exist),
We don't make money flying to your airport. We don't care about your jetbridge, or the fact that you repaved your runway. We are from the south and we care about the south.....and New York. We also have a thing for Mormons and Utah. We don't even know where Brainerd is, and that's not a big deal, because as of 90 days from now, even our pilots won't have to find it on a map anymore. You mean nothing to us.
Sincerely,
Delta Air Lines
City nuisances
$180.00 per hour is highway robbery and the city gets it's money from where? (The taxpayer). Has the council given it any thought that maybe nuisances would be cleaned up maybe using a different approach? Maybe these people are hit hard economically and can't afford the cleanup. How about some low interest loans to help these people clean up stuff or some service organizations pitching in to help. I am a taxpayer and you do "not" have my permission to spend my money at the rate of @ $180.00 per hour. People need to speak up on this issue.
P.S. : Lucy, you need to apologize to the people who voted you in office and to Mr. Cravack. Oberstar was voted out for a reason!
eyolf
Really, where did you come up with that reply? As usual if a liberal cannot defend their position they head off on a rant that only makes sense to themselves. What I stated was that no more than 6 years ago and even less than that for Obama, the liberals said that this country could not afford to raise the debt ceiling because the government should not spend more money than was coming in. The so called fiscal conservatives at that time thought that spending more than they had would not harm anyone. I just find it very strange that now the tables are turned around and Obama and Ried find no harm in spending money that they do not have. If I remember right Ried was upset at the time that the debt was going to be raised to around 9 trillion dollars. Now he and Obama are trying to tell us that we need to raise the debt to somewhere north of 14 trillion dollars. That is something like around a 50% increase. The bottom line is that we cannot tax enough to keep up with the runaway spending.
Ohhhhh Boy!!
Oberstar being one of the biggest spending promoters in the House and we have some that want to bring him back so Brainerd might get air service? I wonder how people are going to react when important things get cut!
Delta's required to provide service until...
PLpilot, Delta is required to provide service until a new provider is on board…even if it extends beyond Oct 13th.
It appears the carrier will be Great Lakes Airlines out of MT.
Most likely different aircraft and schedules though.
This is what the Airport Manager reported to the Crow Wing County Board this morning.
Jeff Czeczok