Stephen G. Nawrocki

President

Chris Nicoll

Vice-President

PUEBL

OFFICE OF THE CITY COUNCIL

i:dward Brown

Sandy Daff

Chris K. Kaufman

Eva E. Montoya

Ami Nawrocki

October 15,2013

Mr. Kevin Schlemmer

Chief, Essential Air Service & Domestic Analysis Division

United States Department of Transportation

1200 New Jersey Ave SE

Washington, DC 20590

Dear Mr. Schlemmer;

»

Since 1999, Pueblo Memorial Airport has enjoyed the benefits of the Essential Air Service

Program with varying degrees of success,' primarily due to inconvenient schedules, inconsistent

reliability, and poor connectivity

Beginning in 2010, the City of Pueblo, State of Colorado, and USDoT (FAA AlP) committed to

improving Pueblo Memorial Airport with the investment of over $23m in airport airfield

improvements. These Include a new 50000 general aviation runway, airport NAVAID

modernization, taxiway realignment and resurfacing, and ramp improvements. In addition, our

capital improvement plan for 2014 includes a $2m airline ramp rehabilitation and terminal

renovation project. We feel these investments are in line with our philosophy of continuous

improvement in our products and services.

Early this year, the City of Pueblo established an Airport Advisory Committee Team to assist

City, County, and business leaders in reviewing the Essential Air Service proposals from the

respective carriers and personally meet with representatives of Great Lakes Airlines and

Skywest Airlines. The group evaluated each proposal based upon the criteria recommended by

the Department of Transportation as well as those items unique to success in the Pueblo

community.

An important component of our strategy is partnering with an Essential Air Service provider who

is committed to a premium customer service experience as well as continuous improvement of

our current service level and fu1uregrowth as passenger traffic dictates. Ultimately, our goal is

to grow the market to the point we no longer need to rely upon the Essential Air Service

Program.

Currently, over 90% of passengers connect to the dominant carrier at Denver International

Airport, United Airlines. The benefits of a seamless processing system which a dedicated

express carrier and reservation system provide are obvious, especially during irregular

operations. In addition, several foreign owned corporations have recently located or expanded

manufacturing operations in Pueblo including Pewag (Austria), Vestas (Denmark), and Evraz

(Russia). With these additions to the local economy, connectivity to International Flights has

become much more important to the travelling public. Although both proposers do code share,

exclusively operating on the primary hubbing canner(United Airlines) reservation system is a

significant advantage.
Given a large majority of our customers are connecting through Denver to distant destinations,

reliable connectivity becomes even more important. A review of airline system performance

indicates a 68% on time average for Great lakes Airlines versus a 77% on time average for

Skywest Airlines.

The Airport Advisory Committee marketing team feels they can effectively work with either

proposer's marketing staffs. Both proposals are very similar with an offer of personnel

assistance but limited or no additional funds. However, our experience recognizes the difficulty

overcoming the confusion associated with booking flights through a code share partner rather

than the mainline carrier. In fact, our website, Flypueblo.com, was modernized in an attempt to

overcome this customer confusion. Although somewhat successful, we feel marketing the more.

familiar mainline carrier name and product results in less passenger confusion and increased

enplanements.

lastly, aircraft type is an important factor in the success of the service. Many prospective

passengers have communicated a genuine concern of the size of the aircraft proposed.

Although not necessary for the number of boardings, the larger aircraft proposed by Skywest

have been positively received in focus group presentations. Obviously, we hope to grow the

market to 'be able to utilize the full seating capacity of the aircraft. The opinion is the larger

aircraft, with flight attendant and lavatory, will have a positive effect on the flying experience and

passenger enplanements.

The Cay of Pueblo, Pueblo County, Pueblo Chamber of Commerce, and Pueblo Economic

Development Corporation (PEDCO) have invested much time, effort, and local funds into

attracting employers to our community as well as improving the infrastructure and amenities our

citizens desire. Many of our citizens and corporate partners remind us of the importance of

reliable, timely, and seamless air service. Although, slightly more costly, we feel the

performance and product Skywest Airlines offers best fit our strategy for the present and future

of the City of Pueblo.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Nawrocki

President, Cay Council

Ms. Christine McCarthy

Pueblo West Metropolitan District

Ms. Liane McFadyen

Pueblo County Commissioner

Mr. Dave Cardinal

Pueblo Airport Advisory Committee

Pueblo Chamber of Commerce

200 South Main Street Pueblo, Colorado 81003 (719) 553-2655 FAX (719) 553-2698 www.pueblo.us