Order 2010-5-26

Served: May 24, 2010

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

on the 24th day of May, 2010

Essential Air Service at

HURON, SOUTH DAKOTA

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

DOCKET DOT-OST-2000-7138

ORDER REQUESTING PROPOSALS

Summary

By this order, the Department is requesting proposals, by June 28, from carriers interested in 

providing essential air service (EAS) at Huron, South Dakota, for a new two-year period

beginning October 1, 2010, with or without subsidy. (See Appendix A for map.)

Background

By Order 2008-7-34, July 31, 2008, the Department selected Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (Great 

Lakes), to continue providing EAS at Huron for the two-year period through September 30, 

2010. That order established an annual subsidy rate of $1,781,733 for service consisting of 12

nonstop or one-stop round trips per week to Denver with 19-seat Beech 1900D aircraft.

Request for Proposals

As the end of the current rate term approaches, in order to provide sufficient time to complete the 

carrier-selection process before the current contract expires, we are here requesting proposals 

from carriers interested in providing service at Huron, with or without subsidy support, for the 

two-year period beginning October 1, 2010. Carriers should file their proposals no later than 

June 28. After that date, our staff will docket proposals, thereby making them public, and direct 

each carrier to serve a copy of its proposal on the civic parties and other applicants. Shortly 

afterwards, we will provide a summary of the proposals to community officials and ask them to 
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submit 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 also be their final and only proposals. 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 solicit a new round of proposals.

We are here providing interested carriers with some basic information to serve as guidance, 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, 

well-documented proposals that will facilitate their evaluation by the affected community and the 

Department.2

Proposals should offer service with sufficient capacity to accommodate historical levels of 

traffic, i.e. two round trips per day (12 a week) and, at a minimum, should be provided with twopilot, twin-engine aircraft with at least 15 passenger seats, unless the community agrees to 

smaller aircraft. In that event, we would also consider proposals for three round trips a day (18 a 

week) with eight- or nine-seat aircraft. If aircraft with fewer than 15 passenger seats are 

contemplated, service patterns should consist of nonstop service between the community and the 

proposed hub airport. If a proposal offering aircraft fewer than 15 seats is submitted and the 

community supports the service, in effect waiving its right to 15-seat or larger aircraft, we would 

consider the waiver to apply only to the two-year carrier-selection at hand, i.e. we would not 

assume that the community waives its rights for all time. Of course, as always, we will formally 

solicit the community’s views on any service options we receive before making a long-term 

carrier selection decision. The community 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 community

and meets the operational needs of the airline interested in submitting a proposal. We encourage 

proposals that meet these requirements in an efficient manner. Carriers are also welcome to 

propose more than one option, if they choose; they need not limit themselves to those 

requirements if they envision other, potentially more attractive service possibilities -- different 

hubs, for example -- with subsidy requirements that remain competitive.

 1 Carriers should not expect the Department to accept late filings. 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 do not proceed with the carrier-selection case. Instead, we simply rely on that carrier’s subsidyfree service as proposed.

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

factors: (1) service reliability; (2) contractual and marketing arrangements with a larger carrier at the hub; 

(3) interline arrangements with a larger carrier at the hub; and (4) community views. 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. Interested carriers should also be aware that our general provisions governing EAS 

will be included in the selection order as part of our authorization of subsidy for the selected service. Appendix C 

of this order contains those general provisions.
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Service and Traffic History

Great Lakes has served Huron since October 2006 and traffic has almost doubled since the 

carrier inaugurated service. In 2009, Huron generated 4,331 O&D passengers, averaging 6.9

enplanements a day. That is slightly lower than the 4,762 passengers, or 7.6 daily enplanements, 

it generated in 2008. In order to assist carriers in developing traffic and revenue projections for 

their proposals, we have summarized historical passengers in Appendix B.

New Filing Procedures

Carrier proposals should be submitted to the Department with all materials merged into a single 

document. In addition, because the document will be published on Regulations.gov, each page 

should be formatted to be viewed online.

Other Carrier Requirements

The Department is responsible for implementing various Federal statutes governing lobbying 

activities, drug-free workplaces and nondiscrimination.3 Consequently, all carriers receiving 

Federal subsidy to support 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. All carriers that plan to 

submit proposals involving subsidy should submit the required certifications along with their 

proposals. Interested carriers requiring more detailed information regarding these requirements, 

as well as copies of the certifications, should contact the Office of Aviation Analysis at 

(202) 366-5903. The Department is prohibited from paying subsidy to carriers that do not 

submit these documents.4

Community and State Comments

Civic officials are welcome to submit comments on the proposals at any time. 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 June 28, the due date for carrier proposals.

This order is issued under authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.56a(f) and re-delegated to the 

Director, Office of Aviation Analysis.

ACCORDINGLY,

1. We request that carriers interested in providing essential air service at Huron, South Dakota,

submit their proposals, with or without subsidy requests, no later than June 28, 2010. The 

 3 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 (nonprocurement) and government-wide requirements for drug-free workplace (grants).

4 The certifications are also available on the web at http://ostpxweb.dot.gov/aviation/index.html.
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proposals should be emailed to: EAS@dot.gov with the title “Proposal to Provide Essential Air 

Service at Huron, South Dakota, Docket DOT-OST-2000-7138”;5

2. Dockets DOT-OST-2000-7138 will remain open until further order of the Department; and

3. The Department will serve a copy of this order on the mayor and airport manager of Huron, 

Great Lakes, Ltd., and the parties listed in Appendix D.

Persons entitled to petition the Department for review of this order under the Department’s

Aviation Economic Regulations, 14 CFR 385.50, must file such petitions within ten (10) days 

after the date of service of this order.

This order 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

(SEAL)

An electronic version of this document is available online at

www.regulations.gov

 5 Questions regarding filings in response to this order should be directed to Renée Williams at 202-366-1058, or via 

email at renee.williams@dot.gov. Parties may call 202-366-5903 to confirm receipt of their EAS proposals.
Appendix A

Area Map
Appendix B

Historical O&D Traffic and Average Daily Enplanements

at Huron, South Dakota1

Average Daily

O&D Traffic Enplanements2

1Q09 976 6.3

2Q09 1,024 6.6

3Q09 1,066 6.7

4Q09 1,265 8.0

2009 Totals: 4,331 6.9

1Q08 1,150 7.4

2Q08 1,255 8.0

3Q08 1,361 8.6

4Q08 996 6.3

2008 Totals: 4,762 7.6

________________________________

1 Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics; TranStats Form 41, Schedule T-100. 2 Daily averages are based on one-half of the O&D passengers, divided by 313 service days (314 during 

leap years).
Appendix C

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 order beyond September 30, 2010. 

The Government's obligation for performance under this order beyond September 30, 2010, is 

contingent upon the availability of appropriated funds from which payment for services can be 

made. No legal liability on the part of the Government for any payment may arise for 

performance under this order beyond September 30, 2010, until funds are made available to the 

Department for performance. If funds are not made available for performance beyond 

September 30, 2010, 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

Scheduled Air Carriers, Contiguous US and Puerto Rico

Air Greco/Wings Air

Air Sunshine, Inc.

Air Sunshine, Mirmohammad Adili

Air Wisconsin, Annette Daly 

Air Wisconsin, Jim Rankin

Airline Associates, Bill Mishk

Alaska Airlines, Jeff Cole

Alaska Airlines, Sandy Sinick

Allegiant Air, Brian Davis

American Airlines, Carl Nelson

American Eagle, Jeffrey Hartz

Bemidji Aviation, Cori Rude 

Bemidji Aviation, Arlen Rinkenberger

Cape Air, Andrew Bonney 

Cape Air, Dan Wolf 

Cape Air, J.Flaherty

Colgan Air, Kevin Scott

Colgan Air, Mike Colgan 

CommutAir, Andy Price

CommutAir, Joel Raymond

Consultant, Robert Silverberg

Continental, Bruce Keiner

Continental, Dan Weiss

Continental, Lorry Halloway

Delta, Anthony Canitano

Delta, Dan Shuman

Delta, Jeff Morgan 

Delta, Joe Esposito 

Delta, Karen Zachary 

Delta, Kristal Murphy

Delta, Sascha Vanderbellen

DHS, Bill Ragan

DHS, David Bernier

Era Aviation, Mike Lenorman

Executive Airlines, Kate Soled

fford@pacificwings.com

Frontier Flying, Bob Hajducovich

GemAir/Salmon Air, Dan Schroeder

GemAir/Salmon Air, JoAnn Wolters

Great Lakes, Chuck Howell

Great Lakes, Doug Voss 

Great Lakes, Greg Stephens

Gulfstream, Dave Hackett

Gulfstream, Mickey Bowman

Gulfstream, T. Cooper 

Horizon Air, Dan Russo

Horizon Air, Jennifer Thompson

Horizon Air, Mike McQueen

Horizon, Jeff Cole

ICEPR, Luis Irizarry

Intrepid Interntl Air, Rick Eyk

Island Air Charters, Linda House

Jet Air, Daniel Wolford

Kenmore Air, Tim Brooks 

Mesa Air, Michael Lotz 

Mesaba, John Spanjers

Mesaba, Max Shemesh 

Midwest Airlines, Greg Aretakis

MN Aviation, Jose Maldonado 

Multi Aero, Darnea

Multi Aero, Shane Storz

Northwest Airlines, Aaron Murray

Northwest, Tim McDonald

NYDC, Henok Araya

OST, Brian Swanson

OST, Dennis DeVany

OST, Kevin Adams

OST, Kevin Schlemmer

OST, Michael Martin

OST, Renee Williams

Pacific Wings, Greg Kahlstorf

PenAir, Danny Seybert

PenAir, Scott Bloomquist

Pinnacle Airlines, Joe Williams 

Pinnacle Airlines, Phil Reed

Planemasters, Inc., John Kessler

Planemasters, Inc., Paul Berliner

Planemasters, Inc., Todd DeSimone

Public Charters, Jim Gallagher

Scenic, Mary Schneider

Scenic, Mitzi Daines

SeaPort/Wings of Alaska, Jim Day 

SeaPort/Wings of Alaska, Nate Vallier

Seaport/Wings of Alaska, Rob McKinney

Shuttle America, Jerry Balsano 

SkyWest, Eric Christensen

SkyWest, Michael Thompson

SkyWest, Steve Hart

Sovereign Air, Bob Karns

Sovereign Air, Lois R. Barton

Tradewind, Eric Zipkin 

Trans States, Fred Oxley

Trans States, Gerry Wigmore

United, Alicia Gabriel

United, James Starnes

US Airways, Benjamin Slocum

US Airways, Howard Kass

US Airways, Jason Reisinger

Warbelows Air Ventures, Art Warbelow