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Show Four Comers Subsidy Denied By Hampton for Air Service Chances of gaining a temporary temp-orary subsidy to retain airline service to southeast Utah dimmed late last week when Gov. Calvin L. Rampton made the decision not to request such funds from the Four Corners Regional Commission. Commiss-ion. Sun Valley Key Airlines, now serving Moab as a replacement re-placement carrier for Frontier Airlines, had stated previously that due to losses, they would be unable to continue service beyond October 31 of this year. The Four Corners Commission funds were being sought temporarily, until such time as the community could attempt to gain Civil Aeronautics Aeron-autics Board support for limited certification and sub sidy from the federal agency. Key has not yet announced what its next move would be relative to continuity of meetings meet-ings to work out a temporary solution. They are scheduled to meet next Wednesday, Oct. 1. in Salt Lake City with corporate officials of Key. and later on w ith the Board of Directors of Utah Agencies. Prior to that, they will meet with Walter Hall, owner and operator of Westair Aviation of Grand Junction, to explore the possibility of his firm taking over the runs in and out of Moab. The Governor's decision to deny the request for subsidy was based on a number of factors, he told Blaine J. Kay, Director of the Department of Transportation, in a letter last week. First, Governor Rampton Ramp-ton stated that it initially appeared that subsidy requirements require-ments might be in the neighborhood of $40 thousand for the next year. However, w hen Key turned in its official request for subsidy, it was in excess of $70 thousand. A likewise request for funds came from Sky West Aviation, which flies the western side of Utah, and that complicated the Moab situation. The Governor further stated that there are pending requests for many times the amount of money available from the Commission, Commiss-ion, and this was not one of sufficient priority to go on the list, he felt. Ray Branscom, a member of the Utah Agencies Board, and chairman of the Moab Committee, Com-mittee, stated Wednesday that although the news was discouraging, dis-couraging, it will in no way slow the committee's work to . retain air service. "We are. still working on a number of angles, and feel that we can fight a good fight to keep the airplanes coming to Moab," he said. |