EDITOR:

Commissioner Moyle stated in commissioner comments at the June 6, 2023 county board of commissioners meeting that he visited the Delta County Airport on February 23, 2023 to see about getting larger jets and that he asked “Delta” what can we do? How can we show you that we like you? Except that commissioner Moyle did not meet with Delta. He met with the manager of a sub-contracted ground handling company called Unifi. The employees of Unifi are incredible and hardworking people who have a tough job, this is not to diminish what they do in any way. And they are often referred to as the “airline,” but they are not SkyWest Airlines employees, and they are not Delta Airlines employees. Though they execute many critical operational functions, this group does not handle strategic planning for the airlines, the airport manager works with different individuals for that. Oh, and the date of his visit according to airport camera feed was February 22, 2023.

Commissioner Moyle said he wanted to know “How could we get these larger jets like Iron Mountain and Houghton have got” except that Iron Mountain and Houghton do not have larger jets. As a matter of fact, we have been sharing the CRJ 200, our usual 50 seat jet with Iron Mountain since December.

As I stated in my comments at the same meeting, if Commissioner Moyle bothered to attend his airport board meetings he would have known these facts and he was still on the airport board when the change went into effect bringing about the shared jet. Additionally, he has two commissioners from the county board that serve on the airport board that would have been up to date on all of this information as well. He could easily have asked either Commissioner Petersen or Commissioner Viau and he could have called any other member of the airport board.

The chairman of the County Board of Commissioners had never taken a trip to the airport to speak with any personnel as far back as anyone there could recall, even though he served on the airport board for over a decade. Now the commissioner wants us to believe it is a coincidence he suddenly took an interest in the airport now that he is no longer on the airport board and at the same time heinous rumors of a massive security breach and mismanagement are being spread by his friend, all directly following the dismissal of Administrator DeSalvo.

And the most frustrating thing about all of this is he never once picked up a phone and spoke with me. Likewise, he never spoke with the airport board, and he never spoke with any other county airport employees.

Andrea Nummilien

Rock