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US.DtpartrTWntOf l 200 New Jersey Avenufe, SE 

Transportatio n • •'!•- : Washington, OC 2059 0 

Office of the Secretary 

ofTfansportation ' ' i ' ij ^-' \ QS 

Mayor Eric Bookmeyer April 14, 2011 

10 First Street, NW 

Mason City, lA 50401 

Dear Mayor Bookmeyer: 

This letter is regarding essential air service (EAS) at Mason City. My purpose in writing is to 

inform you of the results of the earners' service and subsidy proposals before we submit a 

recommendation on the carrier-selection issue to the Assistant Secretary for Aviation and 

International Affairs for decision. A similar letter is being sent to Fori Dodge. 

As you know. Order 2011-1-12, January 14. 2011, requested proposals at Fon Dodge and Mason 

City, with proposal due March 1. By Notice dated February 11, 2011, we extended the deadline 

for proposals to April 5, 2011. 

In response to our request for proposals, we received proposals from Multi-Aero. Inc., d/b/a Air 

Choice One; M^saba Aviation, Inc., d/b/a Delta Connection, and SeaPoit Airlines. We emailed 

those proposals to the parties, and they can be viewed at the Federal Docket Management 

System. hap://www.t-eiruhuions.£ov under DOT-OST-2001 -10684, so I will only brietly 

summarize them here. You may also view a summary of each proposal in the attached 

Appendix A. 

Multi-Aero 

All of Multi-Aero's proposals are for either a two-year or four-year period, with a four-year 

contract requiring slightly less annual subsidy. All of the proposals contemplate 30-seat aircraft, 

though they do not specify the exact aircraft type - presumably Embraer Brasilia or Saab 340. 

Multi-Aero does not currently have the requisite authority from either the Federal Aviation 

Administration or the Department to operate 30-seat aircraft in scheduled service. 

Option 1: Multi Aero proposes 19 nonstop rotmd trips per week to Chicago O'Hare. 

The carrier requests $2,789,224 annual subsidy for a two-year contract, and $2,733,439 

annual subsidy for a four-year contract. 

Option 2: Multi Aero proposes 14 nonstop round trips per week to Chicago. The 

carrier requests $2,642,194 annual subsidy for a two-year contract, and $2,589,350 

annual subsidy for a four-year contract. 

Option 3: Multi Aero proposes 19 nonstop round trips per week to Minneapolis. The 

carrier requests $2,686,177 annual subsidy for a two-year contract, and $2,632,453 

annual subsidy for a four-year contract. 

Option 4: This option is part of an inseparable package with Mason City in which Fort 

Dodge would receive 14 nonstop round trips per week to Chicago and Mason City 

would receive 19 nonstop round trips per week for a combined annual subsidy of 

$5,456,099 for two years or $5,346,977 for four years. However, the level of service 

proposed for Mason City exceeds program guidelines and we would not select it, thus 

leaving this option moot for Fort Dodge as well as Mason City. 
SeaPort Airlines 

Seaport proposes 28 nonstop round trips per week to Minneapolis with 9-seat Piiatus PC-12 

aircraft, a single-engine turboprop aircraft. The carrier requests $957,764 subsidy the first year 

and $1,003,306 subsidy the second year. Because Mason City is guaranteed service with twinengine, 15-seat aircraft, SeaPort's subsidized.proposal could not be selected unless the 

community waived its right to those standards. 

Mesaba Aviation, Inc. 

Mesaba proposes only a five-month option, from June 1 through October 31, and would continue 

to operate 14 nonstop round trips per week to Minneapolis with 34-seat Saab 340 aircraft. The 

carrier requests $1,017,545 annual subsidy for this level of service, which it revised downward 

from its initial proposal after discussions with the staff. Mesaba would operate as Delta 

Connection. 

Please note that the average passenger fares in the carriers' proposals shown in the docket do not 

necessarily reflect the average local fares passengers would pay, but, rather, reflect the prorated 

portion of the total ticket price, e.g., the Mason City -Minneapolis portion of a Mason Cityto 

Minneapolis to New York ticket. Also, the fare shown is net of certain charges such as federal 

transportation security fees, excise or ticket taxes, and passenger facility charges. Of course, 

carriers have the discretion to charge fares they deem appropriate, and the passenger fares 

presented in their proposals have been developed for subsidy rate computation purposes only. 

Based on the cost elements incorporated in the carriers' computation summaries, the carriers' 

would have to realize passenger fares comparable to the averages shown in their proposals in 

order to achieve break-even or profitable operations even with subsidy. 

You should also note that the schedules that the carriers have submitted and that are shown in the 

docket are illustrative only, and that each carrier may make schedule changes to reflect changing 

conditions, e.g., to better meet shifting connecting bank limes at the hub(s). The Department 

expects subsidized air carriers to maintain well-timed and well-spaced flights in order to ensure 

full compensation. 

We know this matter is important to you and we will act as quickly as possible upon receipt of your 

letter. In order to expedite the case, please submit your comments by email to EASCg'dot.gov by 

May 3. If you have any questions or do not wish to submit formal comments, please contact 

Kevin Adams at (202) 366-1047. 

Sincerely, 

r / /£^-z^Ly'-'-^//-^ 

^Dennis J. DeVany 

Chief, Essential Air Service Division 

Office of Aviation Analysis 

cc: Mesaba, SeaPort, Multi-Aero, and Chautauqua 
Appentlix A 

Annual Subbidy Rales at Mason City. Iowa. Dockei 2001-10684 

Mulli-AtTo. d/b/a Air Choice One 3/ 

Effective Period 

Code Share 

Round Trips/Week 

Slops 

Hub 

Aircraft Type 

Passengers 

Departures 

Block Hours 

Passenger Revenue 

Tola! Revenue 

Total Directs 

Total InHirens 

Total Operating 

Profit 

Economic Cost 

Annual Subsidy Rate 

Mesaba 

1/ 

Delta 

14 

Nonstop 

MSP 

Saab 340 

27.228 

1.416 

1,290 

$1,574,350 

$1,825,065 

$1.5.15.854 

$I.I71.JQ4 

$2,707,248 

$1.15.362 

$2,842,610 

$1,017,545 

Seaport 2/ 

1st Year 

None 

2S 

Nonstop 

MSP 

PC-12 

22,000 

2.832 

I.S41 

:i^ 1.298.000 

$1,310,980 

$1.40.1,058 

$757,651 

$2,160,709 

$108,035 

.S2.268.744 

$957,764 

2nd Year 

None 

28 

Nonstop 

MSP 

PC-12 

22.000 

2.832 

1,841 

$1,298,000 

$1,310,980 

$1,431,222 

$772,860 

$2,204,082 

$110,204 

$2,314,286 

$1,001 ..106 

Option 1 

2 years 

None 

19 

Nonstop 

ORD 

10-Sealer 

29.000 

1.942 

2,.150 

$3,625,000 

$3,697,500 

$5,213,297 

$964,535 

$6,177,832 

$308,892 

$6,486,724 

$2,789,224 

Opiion 2 

2 years 

None 

14 

Nonstop 

ORD 

3l)-Seater 

24.500 

1.431 

1.731 

$2,401,000 

$2,449,020 

$3,970,185 

$878,590 

$4,848,775 

$242,419 

$5,091,214 

$2,642,194 

Option 3 

2 years 

None 

19 

N on Slop 

MSP 

30-Seaier 

28.000 

1,942 

1.845 

$1,080,000 

53,141.600 

S4,416.567 

$1,13.1,697 

$5,550,264 

$277,513 

$5,827,777 

$2,686,177 

Option 4 

2 years 

None 

19 

Nonsiop 

ORD 

30-Sealer 

$3,141.390 4/ 

1/ June I, 2011, ihrough October 31, 201 I, i,e.. 5 months. The numbers shown for Mesaba are annualized, 

2/ Seaport indicates service would be June 201 I though May 2013, We interpret this to mean a two-year period. 

since it is unlikely that a carrier transition couM he concluded by June I 

1/ Multt-Aero offers the opiion of a 4-year contract, in which case it would require less subsidy, as follows: 

Opiion I. $2,733,439; Opiion 2, $2,589,350; Opiion 3. $2,632,456: Option 4: $3,078,563. 

4/Option 3 is an inseparable package lor Mason City and Fort Dodge, with Mason City receiving 19 round trips a week and 

Fort Dodge 14 round trips per week. To allocate betv^een Fort Dodge and Mason City, we have arbiirarily 

applied a ratio of 19/33 to the iwo-city package.