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Show Frontier Applies to Suspend Service to Eight Cities DENVER, COLO., September Septem-ber 10, 19G Suspension of air service to seven Montana Mon-tana cities and one in North Dakota was formally applied for today by Frontier Airlines Air-lines to the Civil Aeronautics Aeronaut-ics Board (CAB) in Washington, Washing-ton, D. C. Frontier requests the CAB to suspend the carrier's car-rier's service at the cities in Montana of Lewistown, Havre, Glasgow, Wolf Point, Sidney, Glendive and Miles City and Williston, North Dakota. This was announced announc-ed today by E. Paul Burke, president of Frontier Airlines. Air-lines. Severe operating losses which Frontier Airlines has experienced th? past two years in service to these cities is the basis for the carrier's suspension application. applica-tion. Frontier pointed out that subsidy needed to operate op-erate these services will amount am-ount to $853,000 for 1969. Subsidy Sub-sidy payments to Frontier, however, will total only $448, CCa in 1969. Frontier would have to supply the subsidy deficiency of $405,000. In spite of the carrier having hav-ing introduced faster and more passenger appealing jet - prop Convair 580 aircraft air-craft in 1967 and 1968 replacing replac-ing slower piston-powered DC-3 equipment, the carrier's car-rier's average passenger load over routes serving these cities was 9.21 in 1966 and has increased to only 11.84 passengers for the twelve months ending June 30, 1969 an increment of less than one passenger per year. In the first six months of 1969, traffic over these eastern Montana routes has declined 12.3 per cent where as Convair 580 operating cx penses have increased by 12. 0 per cent in the same period . In July ot this year, Mr. Burke, in a presentation to members of the CAB, outlined out-lined the serious economic and financial situation faced by Frontier in the operation of its daily services to smaller communities where the airline is little used. Ho explained that subsidy payments pay-ments to Frontier had decreased de-creased over a million dollars dol-lars this past year at a time when the carrier had experienced experi-enced a net loss of more than four million dollars in the first six months of 1969. At that time, Burke pointed out, "Frontier will continue to press for increased subsidy sub-sidy to support its present services. If such subsidy is not provided, the only alternate alter-nate is suspension of service ser-vice to some of " Frontier's cities and over certain route segments which create the greatest subsidy requirements." require-ments." Frontier's suspension application ap-plication pointed out that the routes in eastern Montana Mon-tana and into North Dakota are clearly unable to support sup-port Frontier's services. It appears there are a number cf commuter carriers ready and willing to replace Frontier's Fron-tier's services over these routes with reasonable prospects pro-spects of a profitable operation. |