Williams, Renee (OST) 1> OT' bS T /^?^ ^ %l^ ^ 

From: Robert Hagemann [roberth@co.jefferson.ny.us] '-' 

Sent: Friday, August 20, 2010 11:44 AM •^;: >.:-: 

To: Devany, Dennis (OST); Williams, Renee (OST) <=^ ••--ic53^ 

Cc: Jim Lawrence; Barry Ormsby; Philip Reed •^ 

Subject: EAS Response for ART 

'D 

Renee & Dennis. 

CO 

I appreciate the outreach done earlier this morning regarding the submittal of comments on the three EAS proposals that 

you have on file for our region. In short order we will be forwarding our official correspondence to both of you and 

following that up with a hardcopy to be mailed out today as well. 

Prior to forwarding our recommendation to you, I wanted to contact our current commercial air service carrier to advise 

them personally of the request that we are making of your department. Unfortunately, I have not been able to link up 

directly with the appropriate officials. If a follow up call is not received within the hour, we will proceed with sending you 

the County's comments. Quite obviously, we will be requesting that you award this latest EAS bid to Gulfstream, 

However, I think it of equal importance that you be made fully aware of our review & rationale. 

Thank you for your guidance throughout this important process. We are actually quite excited to be now generating some 

serious competition for commercial air service coverage in our community. Hopefully, that also suggests even more 

activity in the future will avail itself. 

As you now deliberate on how to proceed, with two of three communities within our region supporting a particular carrier, 

please feel free to contact us for any additional input. Hopefully, between the two carriers receiving community support, 

they will be able to come to agreement on proceeding forward without necessitating another round of bidding. 

Again, I very much appreciate the assistance you have provided us over the past couple of years. 

Have a good day. 

Bob 
County of Jefferson 

Office of th e County Administrator 

Historic Courthouse 

195 Arsenal Street, 2TM* Floor 

Watertown, NY 13601-2567 

Phone: (315) 785-3075 Pax: (315) 785-5O70 

August 20, 2010 

Dennis J. DeVany, Chief 

Essential Air Service Division 

Office of Aviation Analysis 

U. S. Dept of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S. E. 

Washington, D. C. 20590 

RE: EAS Community Response 

Docket DOT-OST-1997-2842 

Dear Mr. DeVany: 

On behalf of the County Board of Legislators for Jefferson County, I want to thank you for offering 

us the opportunity to weigh in on the important deliberations regarding future commercial air sci-vicc 

at the Watertown International Airport which, of course, is made available through the U. S. DOT's 

essential air service (EAS) program. As you know, three proposals were filed under the docket 

referenced above and county officials responsible for the ownership, operations and oversight of this 

important air transportation facility have been engaged in a careful review of each of the submittals 

since that time. 

While each of the thi-ee airlines presents a unique opportunity worthy of consideration for the part 

of northern New York served directly by our commercial airport and two of the three are also 

prepared to provide quality daily service to our residents immediately, it is abundantly clear that only 

one air carrier is closely linked to the County's aggressive business plan for increasing commercial 

passenger loads to service a growing local customer base in the not too distant future. T am, 

therefore, very pleased to advise you that our organization has universally endorsed the commercial 

air ser\'ice proposal submitted to your office by Gulfstream hitemational Airlines as the carrier of 

choice for the Watertown hitemational Airport. 

I am sure that you will recall that a similar reconmiendation was made by Jefferson County during 

the RFP process two years ago because of the close linkage between our respective business plans 

for future growth of both the County's airport and commercial passenger traffic that only Gulfstream 

could supply. However, during this interim time period another airline was awarded the EAS 
contract. While that air service has been dependable, the organization reliable, pleasant to work with 

and usually quite responsive to any operational requests that we might have made, in point of fact, 

the enplanement numbers have fallen dramatically compared to the short temi stay of the prior 

commercial air earner. It is also veiy apparent that service to/fi'om a sub-hub in Albany, NY is 

simply not the airport of choice for local residents wishing to fly out of our aiiport, especially if they 

are looking to continue on to other destination points. Further, in our most recent discussions with 

that airline's representatives, it was also made quite clear that "the math" simply doesn't work in 

tenns of getting to our desired 10,000 enplanement level with the type of plane and suggested flight 

plans being offered under their EAS proposal for the next two years. While adding a new linkage 

from Albany to Boston is a new initiative very much appreciated, a competing airline is already 

offering a similar route plan, flying direct and in less time with a bigger plane. 

On the other hand, that airline, Gulfstream hitemational, has gained valuable operational experience 

in the intei-vening two years successfully sending several northern U. S. communities during the 

winter seasons. That aspect of the company's proposal two years ago was, admittedly, a valid point 

of potential concern. Also, two years ago, tlie recoimiiended hub was Cleveland which has 

subsequently somewhat downsized overall commercial flights from that airport; now, the destination 

point is Boston's Logan International Aiiport, which is exactly where our local travelers were 

previously demonstrating a desire to go as witnessed by the increased enplanement numbers with 

Big Sky Airline. During our meetings with Gulfstream, we were most impressed with the marketing 

plan that was being developed, the fact that total interlining agreements were in place, a specific gate 

& linkage with airlines in Boston had been established, Department of Defense certification for 

military travel was already in place, the convenience of customer web site access to secure tickets 

was available, the short term financial & regulatory issues were disclosed up front, a plan has been 

developed to address additional demands for air service if such arises and, most importantly, a very 

attractive ticket pricing program was identified that would clearly benefit our area travelers. 

It is Jefferson County's stated goal to provide quality commercial air service to its local customer 

base in northern NY. With Gulfstream International Airlines, we feel we have the best opportunity 

to expand air transportation service to the region and, in so doing, further enhance potential 

economic development opportimities as well, thus moving forward in a very positive way towards 

achieving our stated goal. Your endorsement of this particular commercial air carrier, through the 

awarding of a two year EAS contract to Gulfstream International Airline, is hereby requested. 

I would be happy to respond to any questions and/or comments that you might have regarding our 

recommendation. Thank you for your continuing support of the County's Watertown International 

Airport growth & development. I look forward to continuing to work closely with you and your staff 

on important initiatives similar to the one that we are currently addressing. 

<^. 

Robert F. Hagemann, III 

County Administrator 
G. Renee Williams, Transportation Analyst 

County Legislators 

Airport Manager