Order 2012-2-9

Served: February 14, 2012

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

on the 14th day of February, 2012

Essential Air Service at

ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA

JOHNSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA

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

DOCKET DOT-OST-2002-11446

DOCKET DOT-OST-2002-11451

 

ORDER REQUESTING PROPOSALS

Summary

By this Order, the Department is requesting proposals from airlines interested in providing 

Essential Air Service (EAS) at Altoona and Johnstown, Pennsylvania, for a new term beginning 

July 1, 2012, with or without subsidy. Proposals are due by March 14, 2012. (See Appendix A 

for a map.)

Background

By Order 2010-5-10, May 10, 2010, the Department selected Colgan Air, Inc. operating as 

United Express (Colgan), to provide EAS at Altoona and Johnstown with three round trips each 

weekday and weekend (18 a week), with a mix of nonstop and one-stop service over an 

Altoona-Johnstown-Washington Dulles or Johnstown-Altoona-Washington Dulles routing 

using 34-seat Saab 340 aircraft for a combined annual subsidy of $3,348,294 from July 1, 2010 

through June 30, 2012.

Request for Proposals

Air carriers should file their proposals no later than March 14, 2012. After that date, our staff 

will docket the proposals, thereby making them public, and shortly afterwards will provide a 

summary of the proposals to the communities and ask them for their final comments. We will 

give full consideration to all proposals filed in a timely manner. 

Interested air carriers should prepare their proposals with every expectation that their initial 

proposal will also be their final and only proposal. We retain the discretion to negotiate 
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proposals with air 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.

Air carriers proposals should be submitted to the Department with all materials merged into a 

single document. In addition, because the document will be published on 

www.regulations.gov, each page should be formatted to be viewed online.

We are here providing interested air carriers with basic information to serve as guidance when 

they prepare their proposals, but we will not prescribe an exact format. 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.1

Air 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, frequency or equipment, for example -- with subsidy 

requirements that remain competitive. 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 airlines.

Proposals should provide sufficient capacity to accommodate historical levels of traffic. In 

order to assist carriers in developing traffic and revenue projections for their proposals, we 

have provided a summary of historical passengers in Appendix B. During year ended 

September 30, 2011, Altoona averaged 14 enplanements per day and Johnstown, 26. We 

expect service levels that are comparable with what the community currently receives, with

service to Washington Dulles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, or any large or 

medium hub that offers access to the national air transportation system utilizing twin-engine

aircraft. If air carriers choose to serve both communities on shared flights, we expect proposals 

consisting of three round trips weekdays and weekends (18 a week) with 30 to 50-seat aircraft, 

or four round trips (24 a week) with 19-seat aircraft. For proposals with 8/9-seat aircraft, we 

expect four nonstop round trips a day (24 a week).2 Should the communities agree to singleengine aircraft, in effect waiving their right to twin-engine aircraft, we would consider the 

waiver to apply only for the length of the term of the air carrier-selection at hand, i.e., we 

would not assume that the communities would waive their rights for all time. As always, we 

 1 In selecting a carrier to provide subsidized EAS, 49 U.S.C. 41733(c)(1) directs us to consider four factors: 

(1) service reliability; (2) contractual and marketing arrangements with a larger air carrier at the hub; (3) interline 

arrangements with a larger air carrier at the hub; and (4) community views. In addition, the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2008, Public Law 110-161, provides that when selecting an air 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 air 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.

2 Previously, most EAS communities were entitled to service with 15-seat or larger aircraft. However, in the 

Department’s FY2012 appropriation (Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, P.L. 112-55, 

November 18, 2011), Congress repealed the 15-seat guarantee, although communities are still entitled to service 

with twin-engine aircraft.
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will formally solicit the communites’ views on any service options we receive before making a 

long-term air carrier selection decision.

Other Carrier Requirements

The Department is responsible for implementing various Federal statutes governing lobbying 

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

receiving Federal subsidy to support EAS must certify that they are in compliance with 

Department regulations regarding drug-free workplaces and nondiscrimination, and those air 

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 air carriers that 

plan to submit proposals involving subsidy should submit the required certifications along with 

their proposals. Interested air 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 air 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 March 14, 2012, 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 air carriers interested in providing Essential Air Service at Altoona and/or

Johnstown, Pennsylvania, submit their proposals, with or without subsidy requests, no later 

than March 14, 2012. The proposals should be emailed to: EAS@dot.gov with the title 

“Proposal to Provide Essential Air Service at Altoona and/or Johnstown, Pennsylvania;”5

2. These dockets will remain open until further Order of the Department; and

 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.

5 Questions regarding filings in response to this Order should be directed to Michael Martin at 202-366-6494, or 

via email at michael.f.martin@dot.gov.
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3. The Department will serve a copy of this Order on the Mayors and Airport Managers of 

Altoona and Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Colgan Air, Inc., and the service list for these Dockets.

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
Appendix A

Area Map
Appendix B

Page 1 of 2

Historical Origin-Destination Plane Traffic1

Altoona, Pennsylvania

Quarter Year Deplanements Enplanements

Total 

Traffic

Enplanements 

per Day

4 2008 2,293 2,401 4,694 30

1 2009 1,871 1,944 3,815 25

2 2009 1,680 1,709 3,389 22

3 2009 1,449 1,426 2,875 18

Annual 

Totals 7,293 7,480 14,773 24

4 2009 1,388 1,351 2,739 17

1 2010 1,078 1,014 2,092 14

2 2010 884 939 1,823 12

3 2010 1,263 1,148 2,411 15

Annual 

Totals 4,613 4,452 9,065 14

4 2010 1,349 1,194 2,543 16

1 2011 769 745 1,514 10

2 2011 1,184 1,100 2,284 15

3 2011 1,195 1,157 2,352 15

Annual 

Totals 4,497 4,196 8,693 14

 1 Source: USDOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransStats Intermodal Database, Schedule T-100.
APPENDIX B

Page 2 of 2

Historical Origin-Destination Plane Traffic1

Johnstown, Pennsylvania

Quarter Year Deplanements Enplanements

Total 

Traffic

Enplanements 

per Day

4 2008 1,608 1,517 3,125 20

1 2009 1,322 1,500 2,822 18

2 2009 2,235 2,237 4,472 29

3 2009 2,273 2,252 4,525 29

Annual 

Totals 7,438 7,506 14,944 24

4 2009 2,000 1,967 3,967 25

1 2010 1,392 1,422 2,814 18

2 2010 2,212 2,463 4,675 30

3 2010 2,517 2,437 4,954 31

Annual 

Totals 8,121 8,289 16,410 26

4 2010 2,117 2,129 4,246 27

1 2011 1,379 1,536 2,915 19

2 2011 2,296 2,325 4,621 30

3 2011 2,132 2,124 4,256 27

Annual 

Totals 7,924 8,114 16,038 26

 1 Source: USDOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransStats Intermodal Database, Schedule T-100.
Appendix C

Example of 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 solicitation beyond [DATE]. The 

Department’s obligation for performance under this solicitation beyond [DATE], 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 [DATE], until funds are made available to the Department for performance. If 

funds are not made available for performance beyond [DATE], 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.