Order 20 10

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- 8

Served: J u ne 10 , 2010



### UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, D. C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

on the 7 th day of J u ne , 20 10

ORDER APPROVING AN ALTERNATE SERVICE PATTERN

Background By Order 200 7

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, December 21

, 2008

, the Department selected Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. , Inc. (Great Lakes) to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS)

between seven Montana communities, including Glendive

, utilizing 19

- seat Beech

1900D aircraft, for a two

- year p eriod a t annual subsidy rate of $ 8,20 1, 992 for all seven

communities

. Great Lakes’ original proposal offered the prospect of later changing the communities' hub from Billings to Denver if such a change could be agreed upon with the

communities.

Great Lak e s ’ Proposal On May 19 , 20 10 , Great Lakes infor med the Department of its desire to alter its service pattern at Glendive

. Specifically, Great Lakes ’ service would constitute the same frequency level as detailed in Order 2007

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, rather than pr oviding all

service (12 round trips a week ) to Billings, the carrier propose s to provide 6 round trips a

week to Denver and 6 to Billings.

Community Comments In a May 20, 2010

, letter, the Dawson County Commission confirmed their support for

Great Lakes ’ alternate service pattern noting that the other Montana communities that have been receiving service to Denver hav e seen their ridership increase

. Essential Air Service at

GLENDIVE , MONTANA

Under 49 U.S.C. 41731 et seq

. Docket DOT

- OST

- 199 7

- 2605- 2

-

Decision We will approve Great Lake s ’ request, which meets the three conditions necessary for approval und er authority assigned under 14 CFR 395.12(k)(3) of the Department ’s Regulations: (1) the alternate service pattern is equal to or greater than that determined to be essential; (2) the communit y do es not object to the alternate service pattern; and (3)

the alternate service pattern will not increase Great Lake s ’ subsidy.

Because we are simply allowing the alternate service pattern and no requiring it Great

Lakes may revert to its originally prop osed pattern described in Order 200 7

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time

. As alw ays, we encourage communities and carriers to continue to work together to optimize the service patterns

. The weekly compensation ceiling and subsidy rate per flight remain the same as issued in Order 2007

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This order is issued under authority assi gned in 14 CFR 385.12(k)(3).

ACCORDINGLY,

1. We approve the alternate service pattern requested by Glendive , Montana , as de tail ed in Appendix A ;

2. Th i s docket will remain open until further order of the Department; and

3. We will serve a copy of thi s order on the parties listed in Appendix B

.

Persons entitled to petition the Department for review of this order under the Department’s Regulations, 14 CFR 385.30, must file such petitions within ten days after

the date of service of this order.

This or der will be effective immediately, and the filing of a petition for review shall not preclude its effectiveness.

By:

TODD M. HOMAN

Director Office of Aviation Analysis

( An electronic version of this document is available i n the Federal Docket Managemen t System (FDMS) at http://www.regulations.govAppendix A

Great Lakes Aviation

, Ltd

. Provision of Essential Air Service at Glendive , Montana Alternate Service Pattern Summary

Effective Period Immediately, and running t hrough the end of the current contract on April 30, 2011. :

Scheduled Service 6 nonstop or one

- stop round trips to Denver each week ; and : 6 nonstop or one

- stop round trips to Billings each week. No service to any oth er point s are contemplated under the terms of the carrier’s proposal; accordingly, no such service may be provided on subsidized flights without prior Department approval. Intermediate Stops and upline service:

Aircraft type: Beech 1900D (19 passenger seats). Timing of flights: Flights mu st be well

- timed and well

- spaced in order to ensure full compensation. Subsidy Rate per Arrival/Departure : $865.34 1

Weekly Compensation Ceiling par Community: $ 20,768.16 2

1 Annual compensation of $2,112,304 at two communities (Glendive and Miles City) divided by 2,441 annual arrivals and departures at 97.5 percent completion factor, calculated as follows: 4 departures (at each community) x 313 service days x .975 = 2,441.

2 Subsidy rate per arrival/departure of $865.34 multiplies by 24 subsidy

- eligible arrivals and departures each week.Appendix B

SERVICE LIST

Mr. Elmer Egli 1918 Wyoming Avenue Glendive, Montana 59330

Mr. Chuck Howell

Mr. Michael O. Matthews Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. 1022 Airport Parkway Cheyenne, Wyoming 82001

Mr. John Rabenberg

Chairman

Essential Air Service Task Force

643 Remuda Creek Road Fort Peck, Montana 59223

The Honorable Jim Skillestad

Count y of Dawson Office of County Commissioners

207 W. Bell Glen Dive, Montana 59330