BEFORE THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C. Essential Air Service at: Muscle Shoals, Alabama Greenville, Mississippi LaurellHattiesburg, Mississippi Tupelo, Mississippi Under49 U.S.C. &4

I73I 

### etseq. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) DOT-OST-2000-7856 DOT-OST-2008-0209 DOT-OST-200 1-I0685 DOT-OST-2009-0305

NOTICE OF INTENT OF SILVER AIRWAYS CORP. TO TERMINATE SCHEDULED AIR SERVICE Communications with respect tothis document should be sentto: Travis Christ

. ChiefCommercial Officer SilverAirways Corp. 1100LeeWagener Blvd., Suite 201 Ft. Lauderdale, FL 333IS (954) 985-1500 (Telephone) (954) 359-2776 (Fax) travis.christ@si1verairways.com April 9, 2014BEFORE THE 

# u.s. DEPARTMENT OJ.? TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C. Essential Air Service at: Muscle Shoals, Alabama Greenville, Mississippi Laurel/Hattiesburg, Mississippi Tupelo, Mississippi Under 49 U.S.C. 941731 

### etseq. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) DOT-OST-2000-7856 DOT-OST-2008-0209 DOT-OST-2001-10685 DOT-OST-2009-0305

NOTICE OF INTENT OF SILVER AIRWAYS CORP. TO TERMINATE SCHEDULED AIR SERVICE
Silver Airways Corp. ("Silver Airways"), pursuant to Part 323 of the Department's regulations, hereby provides required 90-day notice of its intention to discontinue subsidized scheduled air service between Atlanta, Georgia ("ATL") and each of Muscle Shoals, Alabama ("MSL"), Greenville, Mississippi ("GLH"), Laurel/Hattiesburg, Mississippi ("PIB"), and Tupelo, Mississippi ("TUP"). SilverAirways intends to discontinue this service on July 8, 2014 or such earlier date as permitted by the Department in any final order terminating the eligibility of any of these communities under the essential air service ("EAS") program. By Order 2012-5-17 (May 22, 2012), the Department selected Silver Airways toprovide subsidized EAS, under atwo-year contract, atMSL, GLH, PIB, andTUP. Unfortunately, forthe
reasons set forth herein, Silver Airways is no longer able to provide subsidized service to these communities. First, the Federal Aviation Administration's ("FAA") new flight and duty limitation and rest rules have had a direct and sustained impact on Silver Airways' capability to maintain

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Notice ofintent toTerminate Scheduled Air Service service atthe communities which are the subject ofthis notice. IInparticular, the new pilot duty and rest requirements have increased pilot hiring needs among all carriers, contributing to an acute industrypilot shortage that has disproportionately impacted regional carriers. 2 Second, implementation ofnew FAA airtransport pilot ("ATP") I,500 hourrequirements for all new hire First Officers has prevented Part 121 carriers, especially regional airlines, from backfilling these shortages and addressing hiring requirements due to a scarcity ofqualified and current ATP certified pilots. Indeed, and as the Department is aware, one large regional carrier announced plans earlier this year to remove a significant number of its aircraft from revenue service due to the cascading effect of the pilot shortage. 3 Additionally, despite finding mixed evidence regarding how long the current pilot shortage will last, the Government Accountability Office ("GAO") recently reported: As airlines have recently started hiring, nearly all of the regional airlines that GAO interviewed reported difficulties finding sufficient numbers of qualified entry-level first officers. However, mainline airlines, because they hire from the ranks of experienced pilots, have not reported similar concerns, although some mainline airlines expressed concerns that entry-level hiring problems could affect their regional airline partners' ability toprovide service to some locations.4 Not surprisingly, SilverAirways has been impacted bythis rapidly changing industry landscape.

1 See U USA Today, "Cockpit Crisis: Regional Airlines Struggle to Hire Pilots," Feb. 28, 2014, available at http://www.usaloday.com/story/money/business/20 14/02/28/gao-pi 101-shortage-airlines-colgan-crash/5 894307/.
2 See U Susan Carey and Jack Nicas, "Airline-Pilot Shortage Hits Ahead of Schedule," Wall Street Journal, Feb. 4,2014 (reporting that regional operators "have so far been affected the most" by the industry pilot shortage) and "What Can New Pilots Make? Near Minimum Wage," Wall Street Journal, Feb. 11,2014 (reporting thatthe "pilot shortage is being aggravated by rising demand" and profiling efforts by Silver Airways to boost wages and provide bonuses in order to retain qualified pilots, in addition to reducing flighl schedules for Ihe first quarter of 2014).

, Dallas Morning News, "Republic Airways to Ground Some Regional Jets Because of Pilot Shortage," Feb. 11, 2014, available at hltp://www.dallasnews.comlbusiness/airline-industry/20140211-republic-airways-to-groundsome-regional-jets-because-of-pilot-shortage.ece.

4 GAO-14-232, Report to Congressional Reguesters, "Aviation Workforce: Current and Future Availability of Airline Pilots," Feb. 28, 2014, available athltp://www.gao.gov/assets/670/661243.pdf.

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Notice ofIntentto Terminate Scheduled Air Service


## , Third, traffic results for anumber ofEAS communities served from ATL-where Silver Airways' local and connecting traffic is limited duetothe absence ofacodeshare arrangement or
afrequent flyerpartnership with alargenetwork carrier-have fallen significantly short ofSilver Airways' original forecasts,S to the point where it is simply uneconomical for the carrier to continue toprovide such services. Furthermore, Silver Airways reasonably anticipates that, upon the Department's completed review of average enplanements and per-passenger subsidies for communities served under EAS subsidy contracts during the .fiscalyear ended September 30, 2013, certain of the cities which are the subject of this notice will no longer qualify under 49 U.S.C. 

## S 41713 for continued participation in the EAS program, and EAS subsidies for those airports will beterminated. Thus, given the impact of new Federal regulatory requirements, the recent and acute nationwide regional pilot shortage, lower than required traffic at communities served fromATL, andthe expectation that some ofthese cities will no longerbe eligible forEAS subsidy contracts inthe future, itisno longer possible forSilverAirways to continue operating inthese markets. The arrival and departure times ofthe discontinued flights covered bythis notice ofintent toterminate scheduled services are as follows:

FROM TO DEP ARR FLT EQP FREQ STP FROM TO DEP ARR .FLT. EQP FREQ STP STA STA TIME TIME NUM STA STA TIME TIME NUM Atlanta. Greenville, MS ATL GLH 10:15 12:21 3619 SF3 X7 GLH ATL 06:00 09:45 3618 SF3 X7 ATL GLH 16:00 17:56 3621 SF3 X6 GLH ATL 12:50 16:31 3620 SF3 X6
Atlanta - Laurel IHattiesburg, MS ATL PIB 15:43 16:34 3617 SF3 X67 0 PIS ATL 05:45 08:29 3615 SF3 X67 0 ATL PIB 17:15 18:10 .3617 SF3 7 0 PIB ATL 10:00 12:43 3616 SF3 67 0 ATL PIB 19:55 20:46 3617 SF3 6 0 PIB ATL 16:54. 19:37 3617 SF3 X67 0 ATL PIS 21:35 22:28 3628 SF3 X67 0

5 Silver Airways' enplanements atATL have been 47% lower than its initial forecast.

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Notice ofIntent to Terminate Scheduled Air Service

Atlanta - Muscle Shoals. AL ATL MSL 09:38 09:58 3633 SF3 X67 0 MSL ATL 10:30 12:44 3625 SF3 X67 0 ATL MSL 13:15 13:32 3633 SF3 67 0 MSL ATL 13:54 16:10 3625 SF3 67 0 ATL MSL 16:53 17:16 3626 SF3 X67 0 MSL ATL 17:48 20:04 3627 SF3 X67 0
Atlanta

-Tupelo, MS ATL TUP 10:15 11:01 3619 SF3 X7 0 TUP ATL 07:20 09:45 3618 SF3 X7 0 ATL TUP 16:00 16:39 3621 SF3 X6 0 TUP ATL 14:04 16:31 3620 SF3 X6 0

The discontinuation of Silver Airways' scheduled air services at the communities noted above will reduce air transportation at each affected airport to a level below the EAS determination set forth in Order 2012-5-17 because, at present, none of the points which are covered by this notice of intent receive scheduled air service from any other certificated air carrier. Prior to ending its scheduled air services at these communities, Silver Airways will contact allpassengers holding reservations on discontinued flights to notify them ofthe schedule changes and assist them in arranging alternate transportation or provide them with a refund of their ticketprice, without penalty, ifrequested. Any objections to the notice provided herein must be filed within twenty (20) days from the date ofthis filing, in accordance with 14C.F.R. SS 323.9 and 323.10. Silver Airways will make allrequired notifications as outlined in 14C.F.R. S323.7.

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Notice ofIntentto Terminate Scheduled Air Service Respectfully submitted,'

Travis Christ ChiefCommercial Officer SilverAirways Corp. 1100Lee Wagener Blvd., Suite 201 Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33315 (954) 985-1500 (Telephone) (954) 359-2776 (Fax) travis.christ@silverairways.com Dated: April 9, 2014

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-Silver Airways Corp.

Notice ofIntent to Terminate Scheduled Air Service CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I,James Kogutek, hereby certify that Ihave this 9thdayofApril 2014, caused the foregoing Notice tobe served upon those persons listedbelow, inaccordance with 14C.F.R. 9323.4(a)(7). Dennis DeVany Kevin Schlemmer EAS Program u.S. Department ofTransportation 1200New Jersey Ave., S.E. Washington, D.C. 20590 dennis.devany@dot.gov kevin.schlemmer@dot.gov FAA Flight Standards District Office 1500Urban Center Drive Suite250 Vestavia Hills, AL 35242 FAA Flight Standards District Office 100West Cross Street Suite C Jackson, Mississippi 39208 John Eagerton, Chief Aeronautics Bureau Alabama Department ofTransportation 1409Coliseum Boulevard Montgomery, Alabama 361 10 Thomas M. Booth, Jr., Director Aeronautics Division Mississippi Department ofTransportation 40INorth West Street Jackson, MS 39201 MayorDavid H. Bradford CityHall 2010E.Avalon Avenue Muscle Shoals, Alabama 35661 MayorJohnny L. DuPree, Ph.D. 200Forrest St. Hattiesburg, MS 39401 Mayor John H. Cox, III CityofGreenville 340Main Street P.O. Box 897 Greenville, MS 38701 Mayor Johnny Magee CityHall 401 N. 5thAve Laurel, MS 39440 Mayor Jason Shelton 7I EastTroy St. Tupelo, MS 38804 Barry Griffith, A.A.E., Director Northwest Alabama Regional Airport 1729T. Ed Campbell Drive, SuiteA Muscle Shoals, AL 35661 Draylan Gant, Director Greenville Mid-Delta Airport 1665th St. Greenville, MS 38703 Joshua Abramson, Executive Director Tupelo Regional Airport 2704 WJackson St Tupelo, MS 38801 TomHeanue, Executive Director Hattiesburg

-Laurel Regional Airport 1002Terminal Dr. Moselle, MS 39459

James Kogutek