Order 20 13

- 10

- 12

Served: October 22 , 20 13



### UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

on the 22 nd day of October , 20 13

ORDER REQUESTING PROPOSALS

Summary By this O rder, the Department is requesting proposals from ca rriers interested in providing

E ssential A ir S ervice (EAS) at Jonesboro, Arkansas , for a new contract period, beginning

March 1, 20 1 4

, with subsidy support if necessary

. (See Appendix A for a map). Carriers should file their proposals no later than November 26

, 20 13

.

Background
By Order 2011

- 12

- 14 (December 22, 2011), the Department selected Multi

- Aero, Inc. d/b/a

Air Choice One (A ir Choice One) to provide three round trips each weekday and weekend ( 18 weekly) from Jonesboro to Lambert

- St. Louis International Airport (STL) using 9

- passenger Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft , for a one year period beginning when the carrier inaugurated

s ervice through the end of the 12th month thereafter, at an annual subsidy rate of $1,717,781. Air Choice One inaugurated service at Jonesboro on February 13, 2012, thus making the expiration date February 28, 2013.

Subsequently, b y Order 201 3

- 2

- 24 ( Febru ary 25, 2013 ), the Department extended the service period of Air Choice One by a one

- year period, from March 1, 201 3

, through February 28, 201 4

. Under that O rder, Air Choice One continues to provide the same level of

service at the same annual subsidy lev el. 1

1 See Order 2011

- 12

- 14 and 2013

- 2

- 24 for a complete discussion of Jonesboro’ s eligibility in the EAS program over the past several years. Because Jonesboro’s eligibility in the EAS Program was in flux at the time of the

carrier

- selection Order in December 2011, and because Air Choice One and the community significantly increased passenger usage, Air Choice One’s rate was extended until February 28, 2014.

Essential Air Service at

JONESBORO, ARKANSAS

Under 49 U.S.C. 41731 et seq

. Docket DOT

- OST

- 1997

- 2935- 2

-

Request for Proposals

As the end of the current contract approaches, the Department is requesting proposals from carriers interested in providing EAS at Jonesboro

, with subsidy support if necessary , for a new contract period beginning March 1, 20 1 4

. Carriers should file their proposals no later than

November 26

, 20 13

. Staff will the n docket the proposals, thereby making them public

. Shortly afterwards, we will provide a summary of the proposals to the communit y and ask

them to submit their fina l comments. We will give full consideration to all proposals that are timely filed. 2

Interested carriers should prepare their proposals with every expectation that their initial proposals will represent their final and only proposals. However, we retain the discretion to negotiate proposals with carriers when we deem it desirable; in such cases, of course, we will give all applicants the same opportunity. We also retain the discretion to reject outright all unreasonable or unrealistic proposals and re

- s olicit a new round of proposals. However, negotiation and rejection are only occasional exceptions to the rule.

We are here providing interested carriers with some basic information to serve as guidance when they prepare their proposals, but we will not prescribe a precise format for their proposals. We expect proposals to adequately describe the service being proposed and the annual amount of subsidy being requested. The applicants can make their own judgments as to the level of detail they wish to pre sent; however, we recommend they include information concerning proposed schedules and projected block hours . In addition, applicants are encouraged to provide financial data supporting their subsidy requests, including information on their projected expe nses and revenues. We strongly encourage clear, well

- documented proposals that will facilitate their evaluation by the affected communit ies and the Department. 3

The Department expects proposals that are co ns istent with what the community currently

receiv e s
, with service to a suitable hub airport that provides numerous connecting opportunities to the national air transportation system. We encourage proposals that meet these guidelines in an effi cient manner. Carriers are also welcome to propose more than one

2 Carriers should not expect the Department to accept late fillings. In cases where a carrier proposes to pr ovide

EAS without subsidy and we determine that basic EAS, as required by 49 U.S.C. § 41732, can be reliably provided without such compensation, we typically will not proceed with the carrier

- selection case. Instead, we simply rely on that carrier’s subsi dy

- free service as proposed.

3 In selecting a carrier to provide subsidized EAS for an eligible place not in Alaska , 49 U.S.C. § 41733(c) (1) directs us to consider five factors: (a) service reliability; (b) contractual and marketing arrangements with a

la rger carrier at the hub; (c) interline arrangements with a larger carrier at the hub; (d) community views, giving substantial weight to the views of the elected officials representing the users; and (e) whether the carrier has included a plan in its propos al to market its service to the community. In addition, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012, Public Law No. 112

- 55, and continued by the Full

- Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013, Public Law No. 113

- 6

, and the Continuing A ppropriations A ct, 2014, Public Law No.

113

- 46, provides that wh en selecting a carrier to provide EAS, the Department may consider the relative subsidy requirements

, thus codifying a factor that we have considered sinc e the inception of the program

. Inte rested carriers should also be aware that our general provisions governing Essential Air Service will be included in the selection Order as part of our authorization of subsidy for the selected service. Appendix C of this Order contains those general provi sions.- 3

-

service option, if they choose. T hey also need not limit themselves to the se requirements if they envision other, potentially more attractive service possibilities

-- different hubs or length of contract, for example

-- with subsidy requirements that remain competitive.

Filing Procedures Carrier proposals should be submitted to the Department with all materials merged into a single document. In addition, because the document will be published on Regulations.gov, each page should be formatted to be v iewed online.

Service and Traffic History We have provided some historic traffic data for the community in Appendix B. Traffic has increased significantly since Air Choice One began serving the route in 20 12 , growing from 2,217 annual passengers in 2011 to 10,340 in the most recent 12

- month period or about 16.5 enplanements per day

.

Other Carrier Requirements The Department is responsible for implementing various Federal statutes governing lobbying activities, drug

- free workplaces, and nondiscriminatio n. 4 Consequently, all carriers receiving Federal subsidy for EAS must certify that they are in compliance with Department regulations regarding drug

- free workplaces and nondiscrimination, and those carriers whose subsidies exceed $100,000 over the life of the contract must also certify that they are in compliance with the regulations governing lobbying activities. Because the Department is prohibited from paying subsidy to carriers that do not submit these documents, all carriers that plan to submit

propo sals involving subsidy should be aware that the selected carrier will be required to complete the required certifications. Interested carriers requiring more detailed information regarding these requirements should contact the Offic e of Aviation Analysis at (202) 366

- 5903. 5

Community Comments

The communit y is welcome to submit comments at any time. We encourage prospective appl icants to contact the community before they submit their proposals so that they can tailor

them to the communit y ’ s needs, as they will not be able to amend them after the due date. As noted earlier, we will provide a summary of the proposals to the civic parties shortly after the deadline for carrier proposals, and ask them to submit their final comments.

4 The regulations applicable to these areas are: (1) 49 CFR Part 20

-- New Restrictions on Lobbying; (2) 49 CFR Part 21

-- Nondiscrimination in Federally

- Assisted Programs of the Department of Transportation

-- Effectuation of Title VI of the Civi l Rights Act of 1964; (3) 49 CFR Part 27

-- Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Programs and Activities Receiving or Benefiting from Federal Financial Assistance; (4)

14 CFR Part 382

-- Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Air Travel ; and (5) 49 CFR Part 29

-- Government

- Wide Debarment and Suspension (Non

- Procurement) and Government

- Wide Requirements for Drug

- Free Workplace (Grants).

5 The certifications are also available on the web at http://www.dot.gov/policy/aviation

- policy/small

- community

rural

- air

- service/essential

- air

- service

.- 4

-

This Order is issued unde r authority delegated in 49 CFR Part 1.25a(b) and re

- delegated to the Director, Office of Aviation Analysis.

ACCORDINGLY, 1. We request that carriers interested in providing Essential Air Service at Jonesboro, Arkansas

, submit their proposals, with subsi dy support if necessary , no later than

November 26

, 20 13 . The proposals should be e

- mailed to: EAS@dot.gov with the title “Proposal to Provide E AS at Jonesboro, A rkansas ”; 6

2. Th is docket will remai n open until furth er O rder of the Department; and

3 . We will serve copies of this O rder on the mayor of Jonesboro, A rkansas

, the airport manager of the Jonesboro Municipal Airport , and the service list for this docket.

Persons entitled to petition the Department for rev iew of this Order under the Department’s Regulations, 14 CFR Part 385.31(a), must file such petitions within seven (7) days after the

date of service of this Order.

This Order will be effective immediately, and the filing of a petition for review shall no t preclude its effectiveness.

By:

TODD M. HOMAN

Director Office of Aviation Analysis (SEAL) An electronic version of this document is available

o nline at http://www.regulations.gov

.

6 Questions regarding filings in response to this O rder may be directed to A.J. Muldoon a t (202) 366

- 1058 or albert.muldoon@dot.gov

.Appendix A

AREA MAP

This ma p is provided by Sabre ® AirVision TM Profit Essentials and is being used with express permission of the copyright holder, Sabre Airline Solutions®.Appendix B

EAS Carrier Traffic at Jonesboro, AR (JBR) 1

Year Month Carrier Origin

Pax Destination Pax Total Pax

2011 1 SeaPort 30 43 73

2011 2 SeaPort 52 42 94

2011 3 SeaPort 78 64 142

2011 4 SeaPort 81 69 150

2011 5 SeaPort 133 101 234

2011 6 SeaPort 110 110 220

2011 7 SeaPort 132 107 239

2011 8 SeaPort 104 93 197

2011 9 SeaPort 80 89 169

2011 10 SeaPort 80 63 14 3

2011 11 SeaPort 234 247 481

2011 12 SeaPort 47 28 75

2012 1 SeaPort 25 34 59

2012 2 SeaPort 10 13 23

2012 2 Air Choice One 122 127 249

2012 3 Air Choice One 351 340 691

2012 4 Air Choice One 364 328 692

2012 5 Air Choice One 447 430 877

2012 6 A ir Choice One 465 398 863

2012 7 Air Choice One 560 522 1,082

2012 8 Air Choice One 543 487 1,030

2012 9 Air Choice One 420 349 769

2012 10 Air Choice One 468 476 944

2012 11 Air Choice One 473 430 903

2012 12 Air Choice One 480 445 925

2013 1 Air C hoice One 339 328 667

2013 2 Air Choice One 350 316 666

2013 3 Air Choice One 476 446 922

FY 2012 Average Daily Enplanements 2 11.2

YE

- March 31
, 2013 Average Daily Enplanements 2 16.5

Notes : 1. Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics T

- 100 Market

. 2. Annual enplanements divided by 313 annual service days (314 in leap years).Appendix C

Example of General Terms and Conditions for Essential Air Service

The carrier understands that it may forfeit its compensation for any flights that it does not operate in

confo rmance with the terms and stipulations of the rate Order, including the service plans outlined in the Order and any other significant elements of the required service, without prior approval. The

carrier understands that an aircraft take

- off and landing a t its scheduled destination constitutes a completed flight; absent an explanation supporting subsidy eligibility for a flight that has not been completed, such as certain weather cancellations, only completed flights are considered eligible for subsidy. I n addition, if the carrier does not schedule or operate its flights in full conformance with the Order for a significant period, it may jeopardize its entire subsidy claim for the period in question. If the carrier contemplates any such changes beyond the scope of the Order during the applicable period of these rates, it must first notify the Office of Aviation Analysis in writing and receive written approval from the Department to be ensured of full compensation. Should circumstances warrant, the Departm ent may locate and select a replacement carrier to provide service on these routes. The carrier must complete all flights that can be safely operated; flights that overfly points for lack of traffic will not be compensated. In determining whether subsidy payment for a deviating flight should be adjusted or disallowed, the Department will consider the extent to which the goals of the program are met and the extent of access to the national air transportation system provided to the community.

If the Depart ment unilaterally, either partially or complete, terminates or reduces payments for service or changes service requirements at a specific location provided for under this Order, then, at the end of the period for which the Department does make payments in the stipulated amounts or at the stipulated service levels, the carrier may cease to provide service to that specific location without regard to any requirement for notice of such cessation. Those adjustments in the levels of subsidy and/or service that a re mutually agreed to in writing by the Department and carrier do not constitute a total or partial reduction or cessation of payment.

Funds may not be available for performance under this Order beyond [DATE]. The Government’s obligation for performance under this Order beyond [DATE], is subject to the availability of funds from which payment for services can be made. No legal liability on the part of the Government for any payment may arise for performance under this Order beyond [DATE], until funds are made available to the Department for performance. If sufficient funds are not made available for performance beyond [DATE] , the Department will provide notice in writing to the carrier.

Subsidy contracts are subject to, and incorporate by reference, rel evant statutes and Department regulations, as they may be amended from time to time. However, any such statutes, regulations, or amendments thereto shall not operate to controvert the foregoing paragraph.

All claims for payment, including any amended cla ims, must be submitted within 80 days of the last day of the month for which compensation is being claimed. For example, claims for service provided in July must be filed by October 31 st ; August claims must be submitted by November 30 th , and so on.