Order 2014

- 4

- 14

Served: April 17 , 20 14



### UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

on the 1 7 th of April , 2014

Essential Air Service at

GREAT BEND, KANSAS

Under 49 U.S.C. 41731 et seq

. DOCKET DOT

- OST

- 1998

- 3496 1

ORDER APPROVING ALTERNATE SERVICE PATTERN

Summary By this O rder, the Department is approving the request of SeaPort Airlines, Inc. (SeaPort) to alter

the service pattern for Great Bend, Kansas (GBD) by allowing service to Wichita, Kansas (ICT)

, and to Kansas City, Missouri (MCI) via Salina, Kansas (SLN).

Background By Order 2014

- 3

- 9

, March 14 , 201 4

, the Department selected SeaPort to provide subsidized

Essential Air S ervice at Great Bend for an annual subsidy amount of $1,434,472

. In that Order, SeaPort was selected to provide 18 weekly nonstop round trips to ICT using a 9

- seat Cessna

Caravan aircraft for a two

- year period beginning June 1, 2014

, through July 31, 2016

.

Carrier Proposal By letter dated March 18, 2014 , the Department was notified of SeaPort’s request to alter GBD’s service pattern from 18 weekly round trips to ICT to 12 weekly round trips to ICT and 6 weekly round trips to MCI via SLN.

Community Comments

Martin Miller

, the Airport Manager of Great Bend Airport

, notified the Department that he

supports SeaPort’s request to change its service patter n at Great Bend as described above

.

1 We are also placing a copy of this Order in the Docket for Salina

, Kansas ( DOT

- OST

- 2002

- 11376 )

.- 2

-

Tim Rogers of the Salina Airport Authority commented that T he Salina Airport Authority and its Salina air service partners have no objections to SeaPort’s p lan to include Great Bend in a MCI

SLN

- G BD service pattern and routing.

Decision We will approve SeaPort’s request, which meets the three conditions necessary for approval under authority assigned under 14 CFR 385.12(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 community does not object to the alternate service patt ern; and (3) the alternate service pattern

will not increase SeaPort’s subsidy.

Because we are simply allowing the alternate service pattern and not requiring it, SeaPort may revert to the original service pattern at any time.

We note that Great Bend is exempt from the $200 per passenger statutory limit because it is more than 210 miles from the nearest large or medium hub airport; however, the Department

wishes to remind SeaPort and Great Bend about the recently enacted law that established a new

sub sidy cap at $1,000 per passenger regardless of distance from hub airports. The Department fully expects both parties to work cooperatively to ensure subsidy rates remain well below the $1,000 per passenger level. 2

This order is issued under authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.25 a ( b ) and re

- delegated to the Director, Office of Aviation Analysis.

ACCORDINGLY,

1. We approve the alterna te service pattern requested by SeaPort Airlines, Inc

. , to serve Great Bend, Kansas

, with s ervice to Wichita and Kansas C ity ( via Salina ) at the annual subsidy rate and payout formula set forth in Appendix C of Order 2014

- 3

- 9 ;

2. This docket will remain open until further order of the Department; and

2 Congress first established the $200 ceiling under P.L. 101

- 164 for fiscal year 1990, and reestablished it in fiscal years 1994

- 1999. The ceiling was made permanent by P.L. 106

- 69, the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2000.- 3

-

3. The Depart ment will serve a copy of this O rder on the mayor of Great Bend, Kansas

, the airport manager of Great Bend Municipal Airport, the airport manager of Salina Regional Airport, and SeaPort Airlines, Inc.

Persons entitled to petition the Department for review of this Order under the Departm ent’s Regulations, 14 CFR Part 385. 31 , must file such petitions within seven ( 7 ) 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 at www.regulations.gov