Non-payment is hurting other business at the airport, as well, he said.

"They haven't paid anybody, not even taxis for stranded passengers. It's real strange."

Clinton County is considering implementing a cash-on-delivery policy for Big Sky, County Administrator Michael Zurlo said.

DeLeeuw called Lake Clear's actions "bizarre."

"If they are not going to give us gas, then we just won't fly there anymore," deLeeuw said.

REPLACEMENT MANDATED

Big Sky's announcement to end service in Plattsburgh and Harrietstown also includes closing regional base operations in Watertown, Massena and Ogdensburg.

But under its Essential Air Service contract with the U.S. Department of Transportation, Big Sky cannot leave without a replacement deal in place, DeFuria said.

"Unless they fire all their employees and sell all their airplanes, they're going to have to come in here. They have a contract with DOT. They have to land and whether they land, empty or full, it doesn't matter. That's when they get paid."

Big Sky's purported withdrawal will leave the North Country in a commuter bind.

"If you take Allegiant Air (flights from Plattsburgh to Florida) out of the mix, enplanements have been higher at Harrietstown than in Plattsburgh. But Plattsburgh has had the same problem with Big Sky as we have," DeFuria said.

It won't shut the Lake Clear airport down, he said.

Big Sky is also the essential air service provider in Plattsburgh.

DONE JAN. 7