Maine’s congressional delegation is seeking answers from Postmaster General David Steiner about why the U.S. Postal Service is nearly $350,000 in arrears to a small regional air service that delivers mail and packages to island communities.
Penobscot Island Air resumed carrying postal shipments to Vinalhaven, North Haven and Matinicus islands on Wednesday after the Postal Service agreed to start paying overdue bills stretching back to 2023 in response to a one-day work stoppage.
“We urge you to immediately resolve the outstanding back payments and provide clarification on how these payment lapses occurred, as well as how delays can be prevented in the future,” Maine’s two House members and senators said in an April 23 letter to the postal chief. The lawmakers, including Sen. Susan Collins, urged the USPS to fully and quickly compensate the carrier.
“Penobscot Island Air is one of many contractors in the state that deliver mail to island communities by air and sea. These contractors are part of the lifeblood of Maine’s rural communities. This incident raises concerns over whether the USPS is faithfully fulfilling the terms of all these contracts,” the lawmakers wrote. “While it is promising to hear that the USPS has reached a partial payment agreement to pay Penobscot Island Air … we need greater assurance from the USPS that Maine island contractors will receive fair and prompt compensation for the services they provide.”
The air carrier, which maintains a fleet of four single-engine Cessna 206 and 207 turboprop planes, said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that the Postal Service owed it $388,000 — about 20% of its annual revenue — and that it had been paid for a single delivery in 2026. The last payment received was on March 13. A company representative told FreightWaves that the Facebook post overstated the delinquent amount and that the carrier is owed $349,000.
In a post the following day, Penobscot Island Air said the USPS promised to pay about 25% of its outstanding balance on Friday. It’s unclear how, or when, the Postal Service intends to pay the remainder of its bill. Federal contracting rules generally require the government to pay interest on late payments for properly invoiced services.
In its message, Penobscot Island Air asked residents to call the regional postal office and let officials know how the cutoff would impact them. The pressure campaign picked up steam when local media outlets began covering the news.
“While our mission is to support the islands, PIA employees need a paycheck. We can’t operate as a business if almost a fifth of our yearly revenue is tied up in the bureaucracy of the United States government,” the company said in explaining why it originally suspended mail service. “It’s been 75 days this year alone that we have dutifully loaded up USPS mail and ferried or flown it out to the islands. It’s no secret that winter is our slow period, and without prompt payments, cash flow is bleak.”
The air carrier said it repeatedly met with the Postal Service’s financial department and the regional office in Rockport, Maine, to get necessary paperwork completed to resolve the matter. Stopping service was a last resort designed to get the Postal Service’s attention, the company said on Facebook.
“We know you rely on the mail for critical packages such as medications. We have no intention of dragging this out and will go back to work without payment if we must. What’s happening isn’t normal or okay. We’ve just run out of other avenues to show the USPS we can’t continue operating this way,” it said.
Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat, roasted the Postal Service for the delinquent payments during a House Appropriations Committee session on Wednesday.
“What the hell is going on over there? What is going wrong? And why do we have to hear these complaints so often? Why should they have to put up a Facebook page?” she said, adding she’s heard for years from USPS employees and constituents about insufficient staffing, mail not being picked up or delivered for a week at a time in rural areas.
This is “yet one more institution under this administration that’s being poorly managed, poorly run, not delivering the mail, not fulfilling the requirement they have to make sure that whatever community you live in, your mail arrives,” Pingree said.
The Postal Service said it has moved to correct the problem.
“Postal Service transportation officials have been in contact with the air contractor and are finalizing a prompt resolution of the payment issue. We regret any inconvenience resulting from this unfortunate error, and we have taken steps to ensure future payments are issued timely,” the agency said in a statement to FreightWaves.
Penobscot Island Air also provides parcel delivery service for FedEx and UPS.
Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.
Contact: ekulisch@freightwaves.com.
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