South Dakota Municipalities - May 2017

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President's Report Trouble remains at 35,000 feet, but there may be a pathway to reduce the problem. A couple of months ago, I shared information about a nationwide commercial airline pilot shortage. While a shortage of commercial pilots certainly has national implications, the negative concerns are most profound in rural America. Here’s why. Rural America is serviced by regional jets. Those regional jets connect South Dakota’s airline passengers with major hubs like Denver and Minneapolis. Because the regional jets serve smaller communities, they serve less people. And when there aren’t enough pilots to go around, the airlines put the pilots where they can serve the most people. Which means, in commercial air hubs like Denver – not South Dakota. You might recall, Jack Dokken with the South Dakota Department of Transportation and I were asked to participate in a national working group to Improve Air Service to Small Communities. That working group is in

the process of finalizing recommendations. Once complete, those recommendations will be delivered to Congress with the hope that federal regulations will be adjusted to alleviate pilot shortage concerns. You can expect the working group recommendations to keep safety as a top priority. You can also expect that the working group will ask Congress to take another look at how it qualifies the number of flight hours a pilot must have before receiving certification and to consider providing some sort of financial support to students who are pursuing a pilot’s license. Right now, flight hours and the cost of achieving those flight hours are a major obstacle for would-be pilots. The goal is to lessen the time commitment and financial burden needed to achieve a commercial pilot’s license without jeopardizing safety. Although this issue might seem far from your concern, the pilot shortage problem is impacting travel at every commercial airport around the world –including airports in South Dakota. I hope to see positive momentum from Congress following the actions of the working group, and I hope that will lead to reliable and affordable commercial air service for all South Dakotans! Laurie Gill President

MAY 2017

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