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### Swanson , Bria n (OST) From : Swanson , Bria n (OST ) Sent : Monday , Decembe r19 , 201 1 3:1 3 P M To : 'Maniste e Airport' ; 'Jo e 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 : 'Grea t Lakes , Chuc k

Howell';'shane@airchoiceone.com ' M i:.;,' ; Subject : Solicitin g Communit yComments : Essentia l Ai rService a t a t a t ^ Ironwood , Michigan/Ashland , Wisconsin , Manistee/Ludington , ^ , -T^Q S Michigan , an d Rhinelander , Wisconsi n - Du e Januar y17 , 201 2 " ^
All : I woul dlik e t o updat e yo u o n th e Essentia l Ai r Servic e (EAS ) situatio n a t Ironwood , Michigan/Ashland , Wisconsi n (Ironwood) , an dRhinelander , Wisconsi n (Rhinelander) , an dgiv e yo u a

n opportunit y t o submi t

comment s if

yo u wish

. A t

Manistee/Ludington , Michiga n (Manistee) , Ai r Choic e On e Airline s wa s th e onl y applican t an dth e community ha s rejecte di t

becaus e i t

doe s not mee t th e two-engin e requirement

. In respons e t o Chautauqua' s 90-da y notic e t o suspen dit s subsidy-fre e servic e a t Rhinelande r

an dit s 80-day notic e o f

it s intentio n t o discontinu e operation s at Ironwoo d an dManistee , th e Departmen t issue dOrde r

2011-10-15 o n Octobe r

20 , 2011 , prohibitin g th e carrie r

fro msuspendin g servic e a t Rhinelande r

an dsolicitm g proposal s fro mal l intereste dai r

carrier s t o provid e EA S at Ironwood , Maniste e and/o r Rhinelander , for

a ne w two-year

term
. I n respons e t o tha t order

. Great

Lake s Aviation , Ltd

. (Great Lakes) an dAi r Choic e On e Airline s submitte dproposals

. Copie s o f th e proposa l ma y b e accesse donlin e throug h th e Federa l Docke t Managemen t Syste mat : http://www.regulations.gov , b y doin g akeywor do r I D searc h o n Docket s DOT-OST-1996-126 6 (konwood ) o r DOT-OST-2011-010 9 (Rhinelander)

. Fo r you r convenience , Great

Lakes ' proposa l i s briefl y summarize dbelow

. Great Lake s submitte d"stand-alone " servic e option s t o provid e EA S a t Ironwoo dan d Rhinelande r

with 19-passenge r

Beec h 1900 D aircraft

. Great Lake s woul dprovid e 1 2 nonsto p roun dtrip s awee k fro mIronwoo dt o Minneapolis/St

. Pau l for an annua l subsid y requhemen t

o f $1,747,326

. A t

Rhinelander , th e carrie r

propose dt o provid e 1 8 nonsto p roim dtrip s awee k

t o Minneapolis/St

. Pau l for an aimual subsid y rat e o f $1,410,250

. W e not e that Great Lakes ' schedule s sho w thre e roun dtrip s daily ; although , th e subsid y calculation s ar e premise do n 1 8 roim dtrip s aweek , th e mor e typica l EA S patter n with reduce dservic e o n weekends

. However , base do n historica l traffi c level s at Rhinelande r an dth e servic e level s requeste di n Orde r 2011-10-15 , w e anticipat e negotiatin g with Great Lake s t o provid e 2 4 nonsto p roun dtrip s awee k a t apro-rate dannua l subsidy

. 1 C 3Pleas e not e that

th e averag e passenge r

fare s show n i n th e proposa l d o not necessaril y reflec t th e average loca l fare passenger s woul dactuall y pay , but , rather , reflec t aprorate d portio n o f th e tota l ticke t

pric e (e.g. , th e EA S communit y - O'Har e Internationa l Airport portio n o f an EA S communit y - O'Har e Internationa l Airport - Washingto n D.C

. ticket ) that th e subsidize dcarrie r

woul drealize

. Also , th e fare show n i s ne t o f certai n charge s suc h a s Federa l transportatio n security fees , excis e o r ticke t taxes , an dPassenge r

Facilit y Charges

. O f

course , carrier s hav e th e discretio n t o charg e fare s the y dee mappropriate , an dth e passenge r

fare s presente di n thei r

proposal s hav e bee n develope dfor subsid y rat e computatio n purpose s only

. Base do n th e cos t elements incorporate di n th e carriers ' computatio n summaries , th e carrier s woul dhav e t o realiz e passenge r fare s comparabl e t o th e average s show n i n thei r proposal s i n orde r

t o achiev e break-eve n o r profitabl e operation s withou t

subsidy

. Yo u shoul dals o not e tha t th e carrier' s schedul e may chang e t o reflec t changin g condition s (e.g. , t o bette r

mee t shiftin g connectin g ban k time s at th e hub)

. Th e Departmen t

doe s expec t

subsidize dai r

carrier s t o maintai n well-time dan dwell-space d flight s i n orde r

t o ensur e ful l compensation

. W e reques t

that yo u submi t

an y comment s yo u may hav e a s soo n a s possible , but i n an y cas e n o late r

tha n January 17 , 2012

. Pleas e sen dyou r comment s b y fa

x t o 202-366-763 8 o r b y emai l t o both mailto:dennis.devanv@dot.go v an dbrian.swanson@dot.gov

. Ou r rule s requir e tha t

yo u sen dyou r

comment s t o th e applican t a s well

. I

f yo u hav e an y questions , o r

nee dmor e tim e t o reply , pleas e fee l fre e t o contac t Brian Swanso n o f

my staf f a t 202-366-5392

. Sincerely ,
Denni s J

. DeVan y Chief , Essentia l Ai r

Servic e Division , X-5 3 Offic e o f Aviatio n Analysi s