Order 2012-7-20

Served: July 17, 2012

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

on the 17th day of July, 2012

ORDER PROHIBITING SUSPENSION OF SERVICE AND

REQUESTING PROPOSALS

Summary

By this Order, the Department is prohibiting Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (Great Lakes)

from suspending service at Clovis and Silver City/Hurley/Deming (Silver City), 

New Mexico, and requesting proposals from carriers interested in providing Essential Air 

Service (EAS) at either or both communities for a new contract period, with or without 

subsidy. (See Appendix A for a service area map). Carriers should file their proposals 

no later than August 15, 2012.

Background

By Order 2011-4-19, April 22, 2011, the Department re-selected Great Lakes to provide 

subsidized EAS with 19-passenger Beechcraft B-1900D aircraft at Clovis and Silver 

City/Hurley/Deming for the period from May 1, 2011, to May 31, 2013, at a combined 

annual subsidy rate of $3,186,249. Currently, Great Lakes provides 12 nonstop round 

trips per week between Clovis and Albuquerque at an annual subsidy of $1,592,157. At 

Silver City, the carrier provides 12 nonstop round trips per week to Albuquerque at an 

annual subsidy of $1,594,092.

On June 4, 2012, Great Lakes filed a 90-day notice of its intention to terminate scheduled 

air service at both communities, effective September 3, 2012. A copy of the Great 

Lakes’ filing may be accessed online through the Federal Docket Management 

System (FDMS) at http://www.regulations.gov, by entering “DOT-OST-1996-1902” 

(Clovis) or “DOT-OST-1996-1903” (Silver City) in the “SEARCH for: Rules, 

Comments, Adjudications or Supporting Documents:” field.

Essential Air Service at

CLOVIS, NEW MEXICO

SILVER CITY/HURLEY/DEMING, NEW MEXICO

Under 49 U.S.C. 41731 et seq.

Docket DOT-OST-1996-

1902

Docket DOT-OST-1996-

1903
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Hold-In

Great Lakes’ proposed termination of service would leave the two communities with no 

scheduled service. Thus, the Department must prohibit the carrier from terminating such 

service for 30 days beyond the end of its 90-day notice period, i.e., October 3, 2012, and 

require it to maintain the current level of service at each community as described above. 

We will require Great Lakes to continue to maintain its current level of service at the 

communities for successive 30-day periods until we have completed processing the

carrier-replacement case and the selected carrier has actually started full EAS.

Request for Proposals

Carriers interested in providing service at Clovis and/or Silver City, with or without 

subsidy, should file their proposals no later than August 15, 2012. Staff will then docket 

proposals, thereby making them public, and shortly afterwards will provide a summary of 

the proposals to the community and ask them for their final comments. We will give full 

consideration to all proposals filed in a timely manner.1

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. We also retain the 

discretion to reject outright all unreasonable or unrealistic proposals and re-solicit 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 present; however, they might want to 

include proposed schedules as well as supporting data for their subsidy requests, such as 

projected block hours, revenues and expenses. We strongly encourage clear, welldocumented proposals that will facilitate their evaluation by the affected community and 

the Department.2

Specifically, for service with 19-seat or larger aircraft, we expect proposals for two round 

trips a day (12 a week) to Albuquerque, or any other large or medium hub airport offering 

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

provide essential air service without subsidy and we determine that service can be reliably provided without 

such compensation, we typically do not proceed with the carrier-selection case. Instead, we simply rely on 

that carrier’s subsidy-free service as proposed.

2 In selecting a carrier to provide subsidized essential air service, 49 U.S.C. 41733(c) (1) directs us to to 

consider four factors: (a) scheduled service reliability; (b) contractual and marketing arrangements with a 

larger carrier to ensure service beyond the hub; (c) interline arrangements that the applicant has made with 

a larger carrier at the hub; and (d) community views, giving substantial weight to the views of the elected 

officials representing the users. In addition, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, Public Law 110-

161, provides that when selecting a carrier to provide EAS, the Department may consider the relative 

subsidy requirements, thus codifying a factor that we have considered since the inception of the program.
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numerous connections to the national air transportation system. If 8/9-seat aircraft are 

proposed, we would expect three round trips a day (18 a week).3

The communities and air carriers are encouraged to work together in advance of the due 

date for proposals to craft a service pattern that is desirable to the communities and meets 

the operational needs of the airline interested in submitting a proposal. In addition, 

carriers should be very clear as to whether a specific community’s proposal is on a standalone basis, or whether it is part of a larger, inseparable package with other communities.

We encourage proposals that meet those requirements in an efficient manner. Carriers 

are also welcome to propose more than one service option, if they choose; they need not 

limit themselves to those requirements if they envision other, potentially more attractive 

service possibilities -- different hubs, or length of contract, for example -- with subsidy 

requirements that remain competitive.

New Filing Procedures

Carrier proposals should be submitted to the Department with all materials compiled into 

a single document. In addition, because the document will be published on 

http://www.regulations.gov/, each page should be formatted to be viewed online and for 

easy printing.

Service and Traffic History

In order to assist carriers in making their passenger and revenue forecasts, we have 

provided historical passenger traffic in Appendix B. During the year ended 

September 30, 2011, Clovis averaged 7.0 enplanements a service day, which has been 

steadily increasing. Silver City averaged 4.9 enplanements a service day, a decrease 

when contrasted with the previous two fiscal years.

Other Carrier Requirements

The Department is responsible for implementing various Federal statutes governing 

lobbying activities, drug-free workplaces, and nondiscrimination.4 Consequently, all 

carriers receiving Federal subsidy for essential air service 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 rate-term must also certify that they are in compliance with the regulations governing 

lobbying activities. Because the Department is prohibited from paying subsidy to carriers 

 3 Previously, most EAS communities were entitled to service with 15-seat or larger aircraft. However, for 

FY 2012, Congress repealed the minimum requirement that basic EAS include service with at least 15-seat 

or larger aircraft. See Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, P.L. 112-55, 

November 18, 2011. Communities are still entitled to service with twin-engine aircraft.

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 Civil Rights Act of 1964; 49 CFR Part 27 --

Nondiscrimination on the basis of disability in programs and activities receiving or benefiting from Federal 

financial assistance; and 14 CFR Part 382 -- Nondiscrimination on the basis of disability in air travel; and 

(3) 49 CFR Part 29 -- Government-wide debarment and suspension (non-procurement) and governmentwide requirements for drug-free workplace (grants).
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that do not submit these documents, all carriers that plan to submit proposals 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 Office of Aviation Analysis at (202) 366-5903.5

Community and State Comments

The communities and State are welcome to submit comments at any time. We encourage 

prospective applicants to contact each community before they submit their proposals so 

that they can tailor them to the communities’ 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 and ask them to submit their final comments shortly after August 15, the 

deadline for carrier proposals.

This order is issued under authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.56a(f).

ACCORDINGLY,

1. The Department prohibits Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. from suspending service at 

Clovis and Silver City/Hurley/Deming, New Mexico, at the end of its 90-day notice 

period and requires it to maintain at least 12 nonstop round trips per week between each 

community and Albuquerque, New Mexico, as subsidy rates specified in Order 2011-4-

19, with 19-seat Beechcraft 1900D aircraft through October 3, 2012, or until a carrier 

capable of providing reliable air service begins full service, whichever comes first;6

2. We request that carriers interested in providing Essential Air Service at Clovis and/or

Silver City/Hurley/Deming, New Mexico submit their proposals, with or without subsidy 

requests, no later than August 15, 2012. The proposals should be e-mailed to: 

EAS@dot.gov with the title “Proposal to Provide Essential Air Service at Clovis and/or 

Silver City/Hurley/Deming, New Mexico,” with the docket numbers corresponding to the 

communities as shown on the first page of this Order;7

3. The Department directs Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. to retain all books, records, and 

other source and summary documentation to support claims for payment, and to 

preserve and maintain such documentation in a manner that readily permits its 

audit and examination by representatives of the Department. Such 

documentation shall be retained for seven years from the date of this Order or 

until the Department indicates that the records may be destroyed, whichever 

comes first. Copies of flight logs for aircraft sold or disposed of must be retained. 

The carrier may forfeit its compensation for any claim that is not supported 

under the terms of this order;

 5 The certifications are also available on the web at http://ostpxweb.dot.gov/aviation/index.html.

6 In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 41734(c), we will extend Great Lakes’ service obligation for successive 30-

day periods as necessary until full replacement service is provided.

7 Questions regarding filings in response to this order may be directed to Brian Swanson at (202) 366-5392 

or brian.swanson@dot.gov.
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4. These dockets will remain open until further order of the Department; and

5. We will serve copies of this order on the community and the parties listed in 

Appendix D.

By:

SUSAN L. KURLAND

Assistant Secretary for Aviation

and International Affairs

(SEAL)

An electronic version of this document is available

at http://www.regulations.gov
Appendix A

AREA MAP

Airport Codes

ABQ: Albuquerque International Sunport

CNM: Clovis Municipal Airport

CVN: Cavern City Airport (Carlsbad)

DEN: Denver International Airport

PHX: Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

PUB: Pueblo Memorial Airport

SAF: Santa Fe Municipal Airport

SVC: Grant County Airport (Silver City)

This map is provided by Sabre® AirVisionTM Profit Essentials and is being used with express permission of the 

copyright holder, Sabre Airline Solutions®.
Appendix B

Page 1 of 2

Traffic History1

Clovis, New Mexico (CVN)

Year Month OutboundInbound Total Year Month Outbound Inbound Total

2008 10 170 192 362 2010 10 182 199 381

2008 11 177 175 352 2010 11 200 212 412

2008 12 181 204 385 2010 12 208 171 379

2009 1 163 133 296 2011 1 136 177 313

2009 2 162 161 323 2011 2 166 187 353

2009 3 173 177 350 2011 3 203 205 408

2009 4 152 150 302 2011 4 164 181 345

2009 5 146 156 302 2011 5 199 206 405

2009 6 222 186 408 2011 6 164 190 354

2009 7 217 208 425 2011 7 208 208 416

2009 8 176 170 346 2011 8 174 183 357

2009 9 159 162 321 2011 9 132 146 278

4,172 4,401

2009 10 183 173 356

2009 11 157 175 332

2009 12 173 177 350

2010 1 176 138 314

2010 2 174 154 328

2010 3 167 149 316

2010 4 172 193 365

2010 5 213 215 428

2010 6 154 137 291

2010 7 210 194 404

2010 8 218 215 433

2010 9 212 179 391

4,308

Average daily enplanements at Clovis (12-months ending 8/31/2010) – 7.02

 1 Source – T-100 Market Report, Passengers in Scheduled Passenger Service. Great Lakes Airlines service only.

2 Average daily enplanements= total traffic for the 12-month period from 10/1/2010 to 9/30/2011 (4,401 passengers) 

divided by 313 service days divided by 2.
Appendix B

Page 2 of 2

Silver City, New Mexico (SVC) 3

Year Month Outbound Inbound Total Year Month Outbound Inbound Total

2008 10 243 225 468 2010 10 117 118 235

2008 11 163 167 330 2010 11 125 116 241

2008 12 179 178 357 2010 12 94 111 205

2009 1 170 151 321 2011 1 59 82 141

2009 2 143 147 290 2011 2 109 105 214

2009 3 155 153 308 2011 3 134 127 261

2009 4 172 162 334 2011 4 152 154 306

2009 5 158 164 322 2011 5 149 166 315

2009 6 150 166 316 2011 6 152 141 293

2009 7 153 137 290 2011 7 150 159 309

2009 8 167 179 346 2011 8 147 159 306

2009 9 145 152 297 2011 9 109 132 241

3,979 3,067

2009 10 153 158 311

2009 11 115 118 233

2009 12 143 136 279

2010 1 124 120 244

2010 2 122 121 243

2010 3 113 104 217

2010 4 141 127 268

2010 5 152 149 301

2010 6 136 113 249

2010 7 148 163 311

2010 8 108 116 224

2010 9 146 138 284

3,164

Average daily enplanements at Silver City (12-months ending 9/30/2011) – 4.94

 3 Source – T-100 Market Report, Passengers in Scheduled Passenger Service. Great Lakes Airlines service only.

4 Average daily enplanements= total traffic for the 12-month period from 10/1/2010 to 9/30/2011 (3,067 passengers) 

divided by 313 service days divided by 2.
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 conformance 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 at 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. In 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 Department 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 Department unilaterally, either partially or completely, 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 are mutually agreed to in writing by the 

Department and carrier do not constitute a total or partial reduction or cessation of payment.

Subsidy contracts are subject to, and incorporate by reference, relevant 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.

Funds are not currently available for performance under this solicitation beyond [DATE]. The 

Department’s obligation for performance under this solicitation beyond [DATE] is contingent 

upon the availability of appropriated funds from which payment for services can be made. No 

legal liability on the part of the Department for any payment may arise for performance under 

this order beyond [DATE], until funds are made available to the Department for performance. If 

funds are not made available for performance beyond [DATE], the carrier will receive notice in 

writing by the Department.

All claims for payment must be submitted within 60 days of the last day of service provided 

under this order.
Appendix D

SERVICE LIST

Air Choice One Airlines, Shane Storz Delta Air Lines, Stephen A. Hedden Pacific Aviation Group, Craig Garrick

Air Greco/Wings Air Dorado Jets Pacific Aviation Group, Ron Rye

Air Sunshine, Inc. Dorado Jets, Mark McKenna Pacific Wings, Frank Ford

Air Sunshine, Mirmohammad Adili Era Aviation, Lori Goodman Pacific Wings, Greg Kahlstorf

Air West, Inc., John Raatz Executive Airlines, Kate Soled Penn Air, Danny Seybert

Air Wisconsin, Annette Daly ExpressJet, Jon Lindlief Penn Air, Scott Bloomquist

Air Wisconsin, Jim Rankin ExpressJet, Roger Weston Pinnacle Airlines, Jennifer Gammill

Airline Associates, Bill Mishk Frontier Airlines, Daniel Shurz Pinnacle Airlines, Megan Rosia

Alaska Airlines, Jeff Cole Frontier Flying, Bob Hajducovich Pinnacle Airlines, Phil Reed

Alaska Airlines, Sandy Sinick Frontline Aviation Planemasters, Inc., John Kessler

American Airlines, Carl Nelson Gem Air, Dan Schroeder Planemasters, Inc., Paul Berliner

American Eagle, Gary Foss Gem Air, JoAnn Wolters Planemasters, Inc., Todd DeSimone

American Eagle, Robert Emrich Great Lakes Airlines, Chuck Howell RAA, Faye Balck

American Eagle, Patrick Swift Great Lakes Airlines, Doug Voss Raytheon, Mike Schiedt 

Aviation Express, Brad Shriner Homeland Security, Bill Ragan Rectrix, Aviation, Scott LaForge

Aviation Technologies/Charter Air Transport, 

Jim Gallagher Homeland Security, David Bernier Saab Group, Polly Prelinger

Bemidji Aviation, Arlen Rinkenberger Horizon Air, Jennifer Thompson Scenic, Mary Schneider

Bemidji Aviation, Cori Rude Horizon Air, Mike McQeen Scenic, Mitzi Daines

Cape Air, Andrew Bonney Horizon Air, Jeff Cole Seaborne Airlines, Shawn Lewis

Cape Air, Dan Wolf ICEPR, Luis Irizarry SeaPort Airlines, EAS Mailbox

Cape Air, J. Flaherty Intrepid Internatl Air, Rick Eyk SeaPort Airlines. Rob McKinney

Capital Aviation, Mike Colgan Island Air Charters, Linda House Shuttle America, Jerry Balsano

Chautauqua, Josh Pascoe Jet Air, Daniel Wolford Silver Airways, Darrell Richardson

Classic Aviation, Tony Henderson Kenmore Air, Tim Brooks Silver Airways, Mickey Bowman

Colgan Air, Kevin Scott McCall Aviation, Dan Scott SkyWest, Brad Rawson

Colgan Air, Mike Colgan McCall Aviation, Michelle SkyWest, Eric Christensen

CommutAir, Andy Price Mesaba, John Spanjers SkyWest, Michael Thompson

CommutAir, Joel Raymond Mesaba, Max Shemesh Sovereign Air, Bob Karns

Consultant, Jeff Hartz Michigan DOT, Matt Brinker Tailwind International, Michele 

Wilkinson

Consultant, Mike Mooney Midstar Airlines, Jeffrey Fonner Tatonduk, Robert Everts

Consultant, Robert Silverberg Republic Air Line, Greg Aretakis Tatonduk, Robert Ragar

Consultant, Ron McNeil MN Aviation, Jose Maldonado Tradewind, Eric Zipkin

Continental, Bruce Keiner Multi Aero, Darnea Transport Azumah, Joel AnabilahAzumah

Continental, Dan Weiss Multi Aero, Shane Storz Trans States, Fred Oxley

Continental, Lorry Halloway Northern Air Cargo, David Karp Trans States, Gerry Wigmore

Delta Air Lines Anthony Canitano Northern Air Cargo, Eric Van Andel Trans States, Warren Crotty

Delta Air Lines, Dan Shuman NYDC, Henok Araya United, Alicia Gabriel

Delta Air Lines, Dana Debel OST, Brian Swanson United, James Starnes

Delta Air Lines, Jeff Davidman OST, Brooke Chapman US Airways, Benjamin Slocum

Delta Air Lines, Jeff Morgan OST, Dennis DeVany US Airways, Howard Kass

Delta Air Lines, Joe Esposito OST, Kevin Adams US Airways, Jason Reisinger

Delta Air Lines, Kristal Murphy OST, Kevin Schlemmer Warbelows Air Ventures, Art 

Warbelow

Delta Air Lines, Sally Veith OST, Michael Martin NM DOT, Jane Lucero

Delta Air Lines, Sascha Vanderbellen OST, Scott Faulk Grant County, Jon Saari

Clovis Municipal Airport, Gene 

Bieker