BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Essential Air Service at 

MACON, GEORGIA 

Under 49 U.S.C. §41731 et seq. 

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) 

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) DOT OST-2007-28671 

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SILVER AIRWAYS PROPOSAL TO 

PROVIDE SUBSIDIZED AIR SERICE AT 

MACON, GEORGIA 

Correspondence with regard to this document should be addressed to: 

Mickey Bowman 

Vice President Essential Air Service 

Silver Airways 

1100 Lee Wagener Blvd, Suite 201 

Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33315 

Telephone: 954-302-5929 

Fax: 270-689-2180 

E-Mail: mbowman(a)gosilver.com 

Silver Airways cordially submits its proposal to provide subsidized air service to Macon, Georgia. Silver Airways 

hereby offers one option for service. 

Silver Airways proposes to operate tlights as an independent carrier, to the hub airports of both Atlanta, Georgia and 

Orlando, Florida. Silver Airways, as an independent airline, maintains interline baggage and ticketing agreements 

with most legacy carriers. Silver Airways proposes to distribute these flights via its own reservation system 

allowing sale through both a web based booking engine and through other Global Distribution Systems. As an 

independent airline, Silver Airways will be in full control of its scheduling and pricing and will maintain the low 

local fares that are the basis for the noted traffic stimulation of this bid. Customers with destinations beyond Atlanta 

or Orlando will find that these low local fares will pair nicely with the low fares already offered by both low cost 

carriers as well as the legacy caniers serving these large hubs 

Silver Airways intends to focus on these two destinations to retain traffic that has historically leaked. Key in this 

offer is the assumption oflow local fares. Low fares drive traffic, pm1icularly to destinations such as Atlanta and 

Orlando. We believe these low local fares will drive both Origin/Destination passengers and flow traffic over these 

hubs. The Macon market will have a chance to return to its historic enplanement levels. given the ability of 

passengers to connect to both ''low cost" and legacy airlines. Our service will feature a single roundtrip each service 

day to Atlanta and a single roundtrip each service day to Orlando. 

Atlanta's Hartsfield airport is the nation's busiest with over 1,200 daily departures to over 200 cities worldwide. 

Silver Airways has maintained interline ticketing and baggage agreements with most legacy caniers and will 

schedule its tlights to allow multiple connecting opportunities. In October of20 12 Silver Airways launched service 
from Atlanta to six other Essential Air Service points. This service is marketed under a codeshare relationship with 

Island Air of Hawaii. This relationship allows Silver Airways flights to be sold via all major global distribution 

systems, just as Silver Airways existing essential air service in Montana is marketed today. Silver Airways 

maintains its own web based booking site as well as a reservation call center. On June 7th Silver Airways will 

further enhance its independent product as we move onto a dedicated Sabre Reservation Platform. This state-of -the 

art Reservation system will allow Silver increased connectivity and market presence as it will allow Silver Airways 

flights to be distributed distinctly under the Silver Airways (3M) brand. Silver intends to further attract Atlanta 

traffic with a low $50 one way fare and marketing touting the fact that parking in Macon is free. 

In Atlanta Silver Airways is participating in what has been called a "close Interline Relationship" with Delta 

Airlines. Similar to the agreement recently reached between Great Lakes Airlines and Delta Airlines in the 

Minneapolis hub, this ''close Interline" relationship allows connecting itineraries involving Silver Airways and Delta 

Airlines to appears on the Delta.com website. Additionally, Silver Airways is negotiating to potentially participate 

in the Delta SkyMiles Program as well. Silver Airways will endeavor to add Macon to this program. 

From Macon Silver Airways will also serve Orlando International Airport. Orlando is the 13th largest domestic US 

airport with service to some 91 domestic and 35 international destinations. Orlando service has the added benefit of 

linking Robbins Air Force Base to nearby Patrick Air Force Base and the 45t\ Space Wing to say nothing of the 

tremendous draw of attractions like Disney World, Sea World and Universal Orlando. The MSA population of 

Macon is in excess of220,000 residents. We firmly believe the fare levels and service patterns we are proposing 

will capture lost traffic. Additionally, Silver proposes to set its Macon- Orlando fares at the same levels being 

offered by the discount and legacy carriers from Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport. Local Macon passengers 

will be able to take advantage of these discounted fares AND enjoy the ability to park for free and avoid the often 

times arduous drive to and from Atlanta. The unique ability of Orlando service to generate ridership is evidenced in 

the success of Allegiant Airlines. In a much smaller, Owensboro, KY, over a short 4 year period annual ridership 

has increased from roughly 500 to over 30,000 this past year. The bulk ofthat success is directly attributable to 

Orlando ridership on a twice weekly service pattern at reasonable fares. 

A study of historic Macon traffic reveals the ability of the community to enplane far more passengers than we are 

forecasting. According to DOT T-1 00 statistics, for full year 2006, Macon enplaned 12,730 passengers while 

deplaning over 14,000. In :W05, those numbers were I 6,307 enplaned passengers with 17,417 deplaned. Obviously 

there is far greater potential for ridership that is currently being captured. Silver Airways believes in the potential of 

Macon. 

In compliance with Public Law I 00-223, Silver Airways proposes to operate these flights using Saab 340B+ 

turboprops that are pressurized and accommodate 34 passengers. The Saab 340 B+ features stand up headroom, a 

pressurized cabin, a Flight Attendant and an onboard lavatory. The aircraft has ample cargo capacity to 

accommodate even bulky military duffle bags. We believe that amenities such as these are critical to capture load 

ridership. 

ANNUAL ANNUAL ANNUAL 

ATL-MCN MCN-MCO EAS Total 

Stats & Assumptions 98% 98% 98% 

Aircraft Type SF3 SF3 SF3 

Departures 613 613 1,226 

Block Hours 460 945 lAOS 

Passengers 4,513 7,358 11,872 

Load Factor 22% 35% 28.5% 

Avg Fare $ 44.90 $ 116.67 $ 89.38 

Fuel Price 4.10 4.20 4.17 

A/C Miles 49,669 198,064 247,733 

RPMs {000) 366 2,377 2,742 

ASMs {000) 1,689 6,734 8A23 

Uti I - Bl k/Day 1.3 2.6 3.8 

Pax Ticket Revenue 202,641 858,480 1,061,121 

Oper. Expenses 

Fuel 275,677 570,825 846,502 

Crew 195A58 401,773 597,231 

Maintenance 238,382 490,006 728,387 

Station Turns 200,279 221,872 422,150 

Distribution 54,615 89,046 143,661 

A/C Ownership 33,318 132,862 166,180 

Promotion 5,000 5,000 10,000 

Fixed Overhead 

Total 1,002,728 1,911,383 2,914,111 

Operating Loss 800,087 1,052,903 1,852,990 

5% Profit Margin on Cost 50,136 95,569 145,706 

EAS Subsidy 850,223 1,148A73 1,998,696 

Subsidy I Pax 188 156 168 
Service Option 1 

24Weekly frequencies between Macon, Georgia and Atlanta, Georgia/Orlando, Florida 

Silver Airways proposes to operate these flights as an independent carrier. The timing of these flights would be 

optimized for connections at each airport as well as optimize local traffic. Silver Airways proposes to encourage 

connecting traffic by using a simplified local fee structure whereby passengers connecting to or from other airline 

flights would pay only the low, local fare in addition to the low fares already a feature at both Atlanta and Orlando. 

The basic service pattern would consist of one roundtrip each weekday to Atlanta and One roundtrip each weekday 

to Orlando. A single roundtrip to each hub would operate over the course of the weekend. 

Service Option 1 

FROM 

STA 

TO 

STA 

Silver Airways Airlines 

Sample Flight Schedule 

DEP ARR FLT EQUIP FREQUENCY 

TIME TIME NUM 

STOP 

Macon Orlando 1005am l140am 3631 SF3 Monday thru Saturday 0 

Macon Atlanta 615pm 700pm 3632 SF3 Sunday thru Friday 0 

FROM 

STA 

TO 

STA 

Atlanta Macon 

Orlando Macon 

DEP ARR FLT 

TIME TIME NUM 

900am 945am 3631 

415pm 555pm 3632 

EQUIP FREQUENCY STOP 

SF3 Monday thru Saturday 0 

SF3 Sunday thru Friday 0 

(Note: This Schedule is for illustrative purposes and may not reflect the final published product) 

In conclusion, Silver Airways believes that this proposal will provide the community of Macon, Georgia with 

superior air service .. We feel the community will benefit from retention of traffic that has historically been lost to 

the highway, the ability to seamlessly connect to and from both low cost and legacy carriers via both the Atlanta and 

Orlando hubs, and finally the integrity of service that has been a hallmark ofthe Silver Airways operation. 

Respectfully Submitted: January 31, 2013 

Mickey Bowman 

Vice President Essential Air Service 

Silver Airways