Mr. Freeman,

The Dash 8-400 is NOT required to meet any STOL criteria to operate at the Island because as Mr. Iler pointed out previously on this blog - "...the Dash 8 was added to the Tripartite Agreement as a permitted aircraft (for “general aviation” purposes) in 1985." The notion of what type of aircraft was envisioned when adding the Dash 8 to the "permitted" list is obviously NOT a valid consideration as tens of thousands of Porter flights should attest to. When the Dash 8 was added to the list, was there a simple assumption that technological advancements would just bypass this aircraft and it would never change from its original iteration? That is a very shortsighted argument to make I'm afraid. Also, why isn't CAIR insisting that only the latest aircraft with reduced noise and pollution figures be allowed to operate at the airport? Why does CAIR insist on living in 1983? Should we bring back cars with leaded gas as well? This is a very hypocritical stance that CAIR sticks to and IF there was any foundation to this weak argument, the Porter operation would have never gotten off the ground.

In the early 80s, STOL was cutting edge and allowed larger aircraft to access smaller airports. Today, this designation is hardly required or even advertised as it has lost it's relevance.

The Tripartite agreement does not specifically restrict aircraft based on size. Furthermore, although the Dash 8-400 is almost double the size / weight of the original Dash 8, other technological advancements have made it safe and possible for this aircraft to utilize the Island airport. The size and weight of the aircraft are irrelevant - the only consideration that matters is - "can this aircraft safely utilize the runways available at this airport?" At the end of the day, the Dash8-400 has proven (thousands of times) that it can be safely operated at the Island airport.

The Tri-Partite agreement should be updated to reflect a current and relevant list of aircraft that can use the airport and put this non-issue to rest. Secondly, averaging the noise profiles of the Dash8-400 shows a reduction of over 3 decibels compared to older models - thus bringing it into conformity with requirements in the agreement. (I posted the chart + link on a previous blog entry explaining the increase in slots to approx 200).

Take Care!
Joe