The U.S. Postal Service said it shifted the majority of mail in Montana that was going through air to ground transport several months ago, but the chief executive of the air transport company said the federal agency relied on bad data to do so.
Alpine Air CEO Michael Dancy said this week he doesn’t believe the Postal Service will be able to meet its own standards for one- or two-day mail either despite its pledges to do so.
“I think they’ve just decided that it’s OK to fail delivery standards in the state of Montana,” Dancy said.
Alpine Air has worked with the Postal Service in Montana for some 35 years.
A spokesperson for the Postal Service said again that it isn’t changing Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express in Montana.
“The contract move was simply to transition to more reliable surface transportation,” said spokesperson Kim Frum in an email.
Last month, the Postal Service abruptly stopped air service in Montana and then went silent in the midst of air cargo negotiations with Alpine Air despite the company’s offer to reduce its contract by $3 million.