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Swanson, Brian (OST) 

From: Swanson, Brian (OST) 

Sent: Monday, December 19, 2011 3:13 PM 

To: 'Manistee Airport'; 'Joe Brauer'; 'iwdairplane@flyfromironwood.com'; 

'ckenny@manisteemi.gov'; 'mayor@ci.ludington.mi.us'; 

'mayor@rhinelandercityhall.org'; 'bwhalen@coawi.org'; C'l 

'corcoranl<@cityofironwood.org';'Matthew Brinker' 7" 

Co: 'Great Lakes, Chuck Howell';'shane@airchoiceone.com' M i:.;,'; 

Subject: Soliciting Community Comments: Essential Air Service at at at ^ 

Ironwood, Michigan/Ashland, Wisconsin, Manistee/Ludington, ^ , -T^QS 

Michigan, and Rhinelander, Wisconsin - Due January 17, 2012 "^ 

All: 

I would like to update you on the Essential Air Service (EAS) situation at Ironwood, 

Michigan/Ashland, Wisconsin (Ironwood), and Rhinelander, Wisconsin (Rhinelander), 

and give you an opportunity to submit comments if you wish. At Manistee/Ludington, 

Michigan (Manistee), Air Choice One Airlines was the only applicant and the community 

has rejected it because it does not meet the two-engine requirement. 

In response to Chautauqua's 90-day notice to suspend its subsidy-free service at 

Rhinelander and its 80-day notice of its intention to discontinue operations at Ironwood 

and Manistee, the Department issued Order 2011-10-15 on October 20, 2011, prohibiting 

the carrier from suspending service at Rhinelander and solicitmg proposals from all 

interested air carriers to provide EAS at Ironwood, Manistee and/or Rhinelander, for a 

new two-year term. In response to that order. Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (Great Lakes) 

and Air Choice One Airlines submitted proposals. 

Copies of the proposal may be accessed online through the Federal Docket Management 

System at: http://www.regulations.gov, by doing a keyword or ID search on Dockets 

DOT-OST-1996-1266 (konwood) or DOT-OST-2011-0109 (Rhinelander). For your 

convenience, Great Lakes' proposal is briefly summarized below. 

Great Lakes submitted "stand-alone" service options to provide EAS at Ironwood and 

Rhinelander with 19-passenger Beech 1900D aircraft. Great Lakes would provide 12 

nonstop round trips a week from Ironwood to Minneapolis/St. Paul for an annual subsidy 

requhement of $1,747,326. At Rhinelander, the carrier proposed to provide 18 nonstop 

roimd trips a week to Minneapolis/St. Paul for an aimual subsidy rate of $1,410,250. We 

note that Great Lakes' schedules show three round trips daily; although, the subsidy 

calculations are premised on 18 roimd trips a week, the more typical EAS pattern with 

reduced service on weekends. However, based on historical traffic levels at Rhinelander 

and the service levels requested in Order 2011-10-15, we anticipate negotiating with 

Great Lakes to provide 24 nonstop round trips a week at a pro-rated annual subsidy. 

1 

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Please note that the average passenger fares shown in the proposal do not necessarily 

reflect the average local fare passengers would actually pay, but, rather, reflect a prorated 

portion of the total ticket price (e.g., the EAS community - O'Hare International Airport 

portion of an EAS community - O'Hare International Airport - Washington D.C. ticket) 

that the subsidized carrier would realize. 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 without subsidy. 

You should also note that the carrier's schedule may change to reflect changing 

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

Department does expect subsidized air carriers to maintain well-timed and well-spaced 

flights in order to ensure full compensation. 

We request that you submit any comments you may have as soon as possible, but in any 

case no later than January 17, 2012. Please send your comments by fax to 202-366-7638 

or by email to both mailto:dennis.devanv@dot.gov and brian.swanson@dot.gov. Our 

rules require that you send your comments to the applicant as well. If you have any 

questions, or need more time to reply, please feel free to contact Brian Swanson of my 

staff at 202-366-5392. 

Sincerely, 

Dennis J. DeVany 

Chief, Essential Air Service Division, X-53 

Office of Aviation Analysis