In April, Central entered into a contract with IASCO Flight Training of Redding, California requiring the program to start training on September 15, splitting ties with Midstate Aviation over accreditation issues.

IASCO called in two weeks before it was slated to begin and said they would not be able to fulfill their contract, leaving a little more than 90 aviation program students unable to fly at Bowers Field and delaying their graduation plans by at least one quarter.

Ron Mitchell, president of Midstate Aviation, has now offered flight training to students and has submitted a statement to the Board of Trustees.

An article on how this has affected aviation students will be featured in the upcoming issue of The Observer.

September 30, 2014

Board of Trustees
Central Washington University

To Whom It May Concern,

For the first time in more than fifty years, the first day of Fall Quarter at Central Washington University began last Wednesday with no activity at the Ellensburg Airport involving flight training of CWU students. As the contractor tasked with providing flight training for CWU Aviation Department students for the last thirty three years, I am greatly concerned that the future of the CWU Aviation program at Ellensburg Airport is in jeopardy.

I sent a written notice to CWU’s administrators on June 13, 2013, informing them that I was not interested in continuing my relationship as contractor after August 31, 2014. I had concern that CWU was not adequately marketing the aviation program at Ellensburg, and in fact much of their efforts were focused on promoting the CWU aviation degree program at Big Bend Community College. I also voiced my concerns about leadership in the Department of Aviation, or more appropriately, the lack thereof. I was never confident that positive changes were forthcoming, so I chose to decline the remaining option years on my contract with CWU.

CWU issued a poorly written Request for Proposal (RFP 13-015) on December 18, 2013. Questions regarding the RFP were due January 3, 2014. There were no questions submitted by any vendors besides me. I decided against submitting a proposal because I was not willing to accept some of the contract language, and not willing to make the substantial capital investment necessary to acquire the late model aircraft required by CWU considering the short term of the contract.

There were only three entities who submitted proposals, which should itself have raised a red flag, since a properly written RFP should have generated numerous proposals. The three entities submitting proposals were:

1. Sim Flite Center, a simulator based training company who proposed to conduct the training at Thun Field in Puyallup, WA. The impracticality of this proposal is self-evident.

2. Big Bend Community College (BBCC) in Moses Lake, WA, proposed to conduct training at the Ellensburg Airport and utilize new airplanes they would acquire by leaseback, at an estimated average cost per student of $95,000.

3. IASCO Flight training (IFT), a California Corporation, which submitted a bid at an estimated cost per student of just over $52,000. Presumably because it was the lowest bid, by a substantial amount, CWU blindly accepted IFT’s proposal, apparently without giving due consideration as to why the bid was so low. And CWU is now paying for its oversight.

IFT did not contact anyone regarding operating at the Ellensburg Airport prior to submitting its bid. Even after being notified of their selection by CWU, IFT did not make any attempt to find out what the potential costs to operate a business at the Ellensburg Airport might be. With only two legitimate bidders, and the huge disparity in pricing, both bids should have been rejected and a new RFP submitted. There was every indication that the proposal submitted by IFT was not a legitimate bid. CWU chose to ignore the warning signs and entered into a five year contract with IFT to be the flight training provider for the Aviation Department. I personally communicated my concern on several occasions to Dean Lambert and President Gaudino that CWU was advertising and marketing a program cost that was not realistic or accurate, to no avail.

IFT’s failure to acquire the newer aircraft required by the CWU contract, IFT’s lack of interest in working out lease arrangements, and the lack of any infrastructure development by IFT at the Ellensburg Airport, should have been an obvious indication that IFT was not going to be able to fulfill its contract with CWU. In June of 2014, the CEO/President of IFT left the company, and the Chief Flight Instructor resigned. Those are pretty key positions within the “partnership” that CWU’s spokespersons touted, but even this did not seem to concern CWU’s administrators. Dean Lambert was asked at an Airport Advisory Board meeting, in early August, if she was confident that despite all of the indications to the contrary, IFT would be in Ellensburg on time and ready to go at the start of the contract period. Her answer was, “Yes.”

IFT notified CWU in late August they would not honor their contract with CWU. The Aviation Department faculty then notified students that the flight training operations would be suspended for the Fall Quarter. Prior to that, VA flight students (i.e., veterans receiving GI benefits), had been advised they would have to go somewhere else to receive their flight training. Evidently no one at CWU was aware in advance that IFT was not approved for VA training. Some of the incoming freshmen were encouraged to enroll at Big Bend Community College and have done so. Many of these students are gone forever. How many more mistakes can CWU make without totally destroying a program that has been recognized for years as a premiere flight training program, and one of the CWU “signature” programs?

Last month, Aviation Department Chair, Amy Hoover, suggested in an email to CWU administration that I am responsible for IFT’s unwillingness to fulfill their contractual obligations with CWU. Her rationale appears to be that my bringing attention to the Attorney General’s office of illegal changes CWU made to the contract in IFT’s favor, somehow was none of my business. She also stated I had personally worked to stall IFT’s operations at Ellensburg by withholding information regarding fuel availability and costs, and hangar space available to rent. The truth is that I responded to every request representatives of IFT made of me in a timely manner. IFT declined my offer to perform maintenance for them and rent office and classroom space at fair market value, and accepted my proposal for fuel pricing at a substantial discount in early May of this year. I have retained all my correspondence with IFT, including the acceptance of my offer to provide fuel, and a personal thank you from Anne Marie Guay, then CEO/President of IFT, for my quick response, and for being patient while waiting for a response from IFT. President Gaudino stated last week in a meeting that high fuel prices at Ellensburg Airport was a factor in IFT’s decision not to come to Ellensburg. President Gaudino was evidently unaware that the fuel pricing issue had been resolved in May. His suggestion that the State of Washington or Kittitas County should get involved in providing fuel to IFT at a discounted rate is an example of the lack of respect CWU has shown for the rights of private businesses in Ellensburg. Department Chair Hoover’s and President Gaudino’s failure to accept personal responsibility for the disastrous state of CWU’s Aviation Program, and their attempt to wrongfully shift the blame to others, reflects poorly on their leadership abilities and is damaging to CWU itself.

The contingency plans by the Aviation Department faculty, and the Dean’s and Provost’s offices, for the continuation of the CWU Aviation Program apparently do not involve operations at the Ellensburg Airport. The facts are obvious and cannot be refuted by CWU’s administrators: CWU wrote a faulty RFP, and then entered into a bad contract with a contractor who is incapable of fulfilling the contract the parties originally agreed to. As a result, CWU has failed in its obligations to its students. Trying to bury the facts at this time, by changing the terms of the contract with IFT, instead of restarting the entire RFP process, should not be an option. Although the CWU administration may believe it has the legal authority to move a program from the Ellensburg Airport, to the detriment of its students, exercising such authority is simply not the right thing to do. This will be more difficult, and create more problems for CWU, than relocating a few chimpanzees in the middle of the night.

My hope is that the Board of Trustees will realize the potential damage to CWU’s students, Kittitas County and the City of Ellensburg by the actions of CWU’s administration and intercede before more damage is done.

Respectfully,

Ron V. Mitchell, President
Midstate Aviation, Inc.