Schlemmer, Kevin (OST) 

From: 

Sent: 

To: 

Cc: 

Subject: 

Attachments: 

Schlemmer, Kevin (OST) 

Wednesday, April 04, 2012 3:58PM 

'Tom Cochran'; 'Rick Rock (rrock@flyckb.com)'; 'mclow@cityofmorgantown.org'; 'Mayor 

Emmett Pugh'; 'mrburds@hotmail.com'; 'ptrecost2@msn.com'; 'citycouncilward2 

@ cityofm organtown .org' 

Mosley, Bill H. (OST); Devany, Dennis (OST); mbowman@gosilver.com; 'preed@pncl.com'; 

Goldner, Bob (OST); 'steve.morrissey@united.com' 

Comments on the EAS proposal at Beckley, Clarksburg, and Morgantown, WV 

BKW CKB MGW EAS Bid - Silver Airways.pdf 

Please find the letter from Dennis DeVany, below, regarding comments on the EAS proposal for Beckley, Clarksburg, and 

Morgantown, WV. 

Regards, 

Kevin 

******************************************************* 

To whom it Concerns: 

I would like to update you on the Essential Air Service (EAS) situation at Beckley, Clarksburg/Fairmont ("Clarksburg"), 

and Morgantown, and give you an opportunity to submit any comments if you wish. As you know, by Order 2012-2-16, 

February 23, 2012, the Department solicited proposals from all interested air carriers to provide service at these three 

West Virginia communities, for a new two-year term beginning August 1, 2012. Subsequent to that Order, on March 8, 

Pinnacle Airlines Corp. ("Pinnacle"), the parent company of Colgan Air ("Colgan"), the incumbent, filed a 90-day 

termination notice with the Department. That notice stated Pinnacle's intention to end Colgan's service at all three 

communities, in addition to four other communities not discussed here, effective June 8. We then issued an Order, 

prohibiting the suspension of service and requesting proposals. Since the request for proposals was already issued for 

the three West Virginia communities, we did not set a new due date for proposals, leaving it April 3, as in Order 2012-2-

16. 

At this stage, we would normally ask for your preferences for various carrier and service options. However, in 

response to that order, Silver Airways ("Silver") was the only carrier to submit a proposal. Nonetheless, we want to give 

you an opportunity to submit any final comments for the record that you may have. A copy of Silver's proposal may be 

accessed online (within the next day or two) via the Federal Docket Management System at: 

http://www.regulations.gov/ by entering DOT-OST-1997-2761, DOT-OST-2005-20735, or DOT-OST-2005-20736. It is also 

attached to this e-mail. 

For Morgantown and Clarksburg, Silver proposes 18 nonstop or one-stop round trips per week to Washington Dulles 

International Airport ("Dulles") for an annual combined subsidy of $3,456,250. Flights would stop in either Morgantown 

or Clarksburg en route to or from Dulles. For Beckley, Silver proposes 13 round trips per week (7 nonstops and 6 onestops at an intermediate point to be determined at a later date) to Dulles for an annual subsidy of $2,664,565. The 

service proposed is one additional round trip per week more than what the Department requested for Beckley. As 

result, in its proposal, Silver "would be amenable" to providing 12 round trips at a prorata subsidy adjustment. All 

service to the three communities would be operated with 34-passenger Saab 340B+ aircraft. Silver states that it is 

proposing to operate flights under its existing codeshare with United Airlines, however, a definitive agreement had not 

been reached at the time of filing and, therefore, the proposal is contingent upon that agreement being finalized. We 

are currently reviewing Silver's compensation requirement. 

Please note that the average passenger fares shown in the proposal do not necessarily reflect the average local fare 

Morgantown passengers would actually pay, but, rather, reflect a prorated portion of the total ticket price, e.g., the 

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Morgantown- Dulles of a Morgantown- Dulles- San Francisco ticket that the subsidized carrier would realize. In 

addition, the fare shown is net of certain charges such as Federal transportation security fees, excise or ticket taxes, and 

Passenger Facility Charges. Of course, carriers have the discretion to charge fares they deem appropriate, and the 

passenger fares presented in their proposals have been developed for subsidy rate computation purposes only. Based 

on the cost elements incorporated in the carrier's computation summaries, Silver would have to realize passenger fares 

comparable to the averages shown in their proposals in order to achieve break-even or profitable operations without 

subsidy. 

You should also note that the schedule that the carrier has submitted is illustrative only, and that they may make 

schedule changes to reflect changing conditions, e.g., to better meet shifting connecting bank times at the hub. The 

Department expects subsidized air carriers to maintain well-timed and well-spaced flights in order to ensure full 

compensation. 

On April1, Pinnacle filed for Chapter 11 reorganization and the company has "asked the DOT to establish an 

accelerated process to identify replacement carriers for the EAS markets it serves." In order to expedite the selection 

process here, we ask that you submit any comments in an abbreviated comment period, no later than April19, 2012. 

We will carefully consider your comments before we submit a recommendation to the Assistant Secretary for a 

decision. Should you have any questions or need additional time to draft your comments, please let us know. 

Please send your comments via e-mail to EAS@dot.gov or by fax to 202-366-7638. If you have any questions, please 

feel free to contact Kevin Schlemmer of my staff at kevin.schlemmer@dot.gov or 202-366-3176. 

Sincerely, 

Dennis J. DeVany 

Chief, Essential Air Service Division, X-53 

Office of Aviation Analysis 

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