Order 2010

- 3

- 24 Served: March 17 , 2010 

### UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, D.C. Issued by the Department of Transportation on the 17 t h day of March , 2010
Essential air service at OXNARD/VENTURA , CA LIFORNIA under 49 U.S.C. 41731 et seq. Docket DOT
- OST
- 2010
- 0041

ORDER ALLOWING SUSPENSION OF SERVICE
Summary By this order, the Department is allowing SkyWest Airlines d/b/a United Express (SkyWest), to suspend its scheduled air service s at Ox nard/Ventura , California, as of June 8 , 2010

. Background On February 22 , 2010 , SkyWest filed a 90

- day notice of intent to suspend its scheduled service at Oxnard /Ventura , California, as of June 8, 2010 . SkyWest is the only carrier providing scheduled ser vice at Oxnard/Ventura , where it operates three daily nonstop round trips to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) with 30

- seat Embraer EMB

- 120 Brasilia aircraft. Oxnard / Ventura is an essential air s ervice (EAS) community by virtue of its being li sted on a certificated carrier’s certificate on October 24, 1978, the date of enactment of the Airline Deregulation Act. If Oxnard /Ventura were not an EAS community, SkyWest could have simply suspended service without filing any notice. While Oxnard /Ventura technically remains an EAS community, to ensure that the funds are spent prudently, Congress has established eligibil ity criteria. Under Public Law 106

- 69, the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 20 00, the Department is precluded from compensating a carrier for serving a community that is within 70 driving miles of the nearest large or medium hub. 1

1 Congress first established these eligibility standards under Public Law 101

- 164 for fiscal year 1990, and re

- established them in fiscal years 1994

- 1999. Subsequently, the standards were made permanent by Publi c Law 106

- 69.- 2

-

Decision W e will allow SkyWest to discontinue its service at Oxnard/Ventura , as of June 8, 2010 , as it requested

. We are sta tutorily prohibited from paying subsidy to support essential air service at communities that do not meet certain eligibility criteria, including commu nities located within 70 driving miles of a large or medium hub. Oxnard/Ventura is 61 miles from Los A ngeles International Airport , a large hub, and 57 miles from Burbank Bob Hope Airport, a medium hub. 2 Since we are prohibited from paying subsidy for SkyWest’s service, we simply have no authority to require the carrier to continue beyond the end of the 9 0

- day notice period. Before SkyWest suspends its service s , we expect it to contact all travelers holding reservations for travel after its suspension date ; to notify them of its suspension and the alternative service s available from other carriers ; and to assist them in arranging alternate transportation or to provide them with a refund of their ticket price, without penalty, if requested. This order is issued under authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.56a(f). ACCORDINGLY, 1

. We allow SkyWest Airlines , d/b /a United Express , to suspend its scheduled air service s at Oxnard/Ventura , California , as of June 8, 2010 ; 2. This docket will remain open until further order of the Department; and
3 . We will serve copies of this order on the mayor s of Oxnard and Ven tura , California , the airport manager of Oxnard Airport, and SkyWest Airlines

. By:

SUSAN L. KURLAND Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs (SEAL) An electronic version of this document is available at www.regulations.gov

2 When calculating driving miles for a hyphenated community like Oxnard/Ventura, we sum the distance from the city center of each community to the nearest medium and/or large hub airport, then divide by two to get an average distance. That m ethodology yields the average distance between both Oxnard and Ventura to Los Angel es International Airport (LAX) a s 61 miles, and to Burbank’s Bob Hope Airport a s 57 miles.