Say Anything Blog

That’s pretty much the summary of North Dakota Governor John Hoeven urging Delta to keep an unprofitable regular flight scheduled into my hometown of Minot for the sake of state tourism.

Bismarck, N.D. - Gov. John Hoeven today urged Delta Air Lines officials to reinstate a scheduled flight to Minot that was temporarily discontinued until Oct. 1. In a conversation with company officials, Hoeven said the flight was necessary to accommodate the large influx of visitors, entertainers and exhibitors coming to the city for the Norsk Hostfest, which will be held from Sept. 29 through Oct. 3 this year. The flights need to resume in September at the latest, according to Hoeven. The call followed conversations Hoeven had with Norsk Hostfest officials.

“Airline officials have assured us that they are aware of the situation and will monitor passenger traffic as the date for the festival approaches,” Hoeven said. “If necessary, options include adding a flight or providing larger aircraft with additional seating to existing flights to accommodate travelers.”

Delta decided last week to drop Minot’s 12:47 p.m. arrival and 1:15 p.m. departure for the month of September. Hoeven is urging Delta to continue the flight no later than one week earlier than planned to serve not only the Norsk Hostfest, but the state’s growing economy and the opening weekends of several of North Dakota’s hunting seasons in late September and early October.

Why in the world should the operators of a private airline transportation company be getting heat from a politician - a governor no less - to fly flights that are clearly unprofitable for them?  What an awkward position that puts this private company in.  On one hand, they have a duty to operate in the black.  On the other hand, if they make the politicians angry they risk adverse and hostile regulatory/legal action.

Is that fair?  Of course it isn’t.  This isn’t how things are supposed to work in a free country.

But it is the natural result too much government in the private sector.  For far too long big-government types like Governor Hoeven have felt that it’s their job to manage the economy.  They’ve poured billions into economic development schemes which have small, unelected boards of public and private individuals deciding which businesses will get tax breaks and special regulatory treatment and which won’t.  They don’t believe in free markets, they believe in managed markets.

And the governor trying to dictate to a private airline the number of flights it will schedule into a particular city is just a natural extension of that.

The question here isn’t whether or not this would be good for Minot and its civic events.  The question is should the governor be trying to bully a private company like this?