# CityofAlpena

May30,2012
Mr. Dennis DeVany Chief, Essential AirService Division Officeof Aviation Analysis DepartmentofTransportation 1200 NewJerseyAvenue SE, Washington, D.C. 20590 Reference DOT-OST-2009-0300
Dear Dennis, 

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This letter is the formal response of the City of Alpena to the Department's request for our comments regarding aircarrier bidsto provideAlpena EAS received by May 15, 2012.
I will begin by thanking the Department for having faith in our ability to draw carrier interest in our air service market. We are overjoyed to have worked with SkyWest Airlines and for that carriertodecideto bidto provide Delta branded regional jetservice atour airport.
The SkyWest Airlines bid is supported by the Mayor of Alpena, the Chairman of the Alpena Board of Commissioners, the Chairman of the Alpena County Regional Airport Committee, the Airport Manager, the Executive Director of the Alpena Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Target Alpena Director of Economic Development. All have been directly involved with this entire process. · SkyWest is one of the largest regional airlines in the nation, consistently profitable and well known to provide excellent customer service and reliable flight operations. Furthermore, SkyWestproposesto provide Alpena with service to Detroit and Minneapolis underthe DeltaAir Lines brand and code, which is what we currently have. With Delta branded regional jets we have seen record traffic demand and could potentially generate 25,000total O&D in 2012.
We recognize that the SkyWest service pattern is different than what we currently have, with a single trip to DTW and a single trip to MSP compared to the current twice daily DTW service. We understand from SkyWest that the current proposal is based on the current availability of aircraft and we understand that the schedule proposal contained in the bid document may change.

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Nevertheless, our endorsement of SkyWest as our replacement carrier is very strong. There is simply no comparison between that proposal; a network branded and coded regional jet operated bya large, well regarded regional airline to major hub airports including ourtraditional hub of Detroit, and the other proposals submittedfor Department consideration.
We believe that SkyWest's bid is clearly the best bid. It preservestrue network carrierservice at Alpena and the carrier forecast projects the most passengers. It offers us the best chance to growourtraffic and eventually reduce oreliminate subsidies entirely.
With regard to the other proposals, while we appreciate the interest of each carrier in our market, we declineand rejecteach proposal for reasons outlined below.
Air ChoiceOne'-This carrier submitted afive option bid package in ourlast round of bidding. At that time we submitted to the Department a lengthy response letter outlining a host of very significant concerns regarding the proposal package. Briefly, ourconcerns outlined in that letter were:
);>- Three proposals using single engine**9~seat** Caravan aircraft on a 306 mileflight to ORD wherethe blocktimewould exceed two hours. These are rejected out of hand.
);>- Two proposals using 7-seat Piper Navajo aircraft on the same 306 mile saga to ORD, again with block times exceeding two hours. Our letter outlined in great detail serious flaws in the carrier's blocktime and payload assumptions for this aircraft type at such a long distance.
);>- The carrier lacks anyticket and bag agreements and the Department itself is concerned enough about this situation to have granted Air Choice One only a one year award at two cities near Chicago, with a stipulation to the carrier that it must make progress on T&B's byearly2013orface a**re~bid** ofthose routes.
);>- Thethree round trip Navajo bids of the carrierwould generate atotal of lessthan 12,000 annual seats; given the significant payload restrictionsthat aircrafttype would taketrying to operate 306 milestoORD. This cannot be a serious proposal for a market generating around 25,000 annual passengers currently.
);>- Even thefour round trip Navajo bidswould onlygenerate lessthan 16,000annual seats. Given how clear we made our concerns regarding the earlier Air Choice One bids, we were surprised to see the carrier bid again and the first five options of the new bid are identical to those we clearly rejected earlier. The carrier has added an option for Jetstream turboprop aircraft in its latest bid package in options 4 to 7. However, the carrier has noJetstream aircraft in operation, no experience operating the aircraft type, and no operating certificate underwhich to operatethem atfull capacity.
We appreciate the carrier's relentless interest in Alpena. The carrier's proposals are at best illsuited to the Alpena market. Chicago O'Hare is too far away for Caravans and Navajos, the carrier has no ticket and bag agreements, and a definite lack of understanding of how long it takes a small plane ·to make the flight to Chicago, which may**c~ll** into question for the Department, the soundness ofthe carrier's cost projections and therefore its entire bid proposal. 

# ALPIII

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## =======-=========== '!IGHiaAWSA!lVENI;OORE

### ADI, Aerodynamics, Inc and Public Charters- We appreciate the interest of this partnership of air service companies in our market. The operating partner, ADI, does not have the requisite authority to operate Part 121 at this time. The partnership between the operating carrier and Public Charters is unclearto us and how our air service would be sellable to the general public uncertain. This combination ofconcerns causes us to reject the bid. Wethank the two carriers fortheir interest. Soverei.gn Air, Inc.-This carrier has no FAA operating authority and beyond that noticket and bag agreements. The carrier's proposal envisions B1900D or Jetstream 32 aircraft operating between Alpena and Detroit with a blocktime of 41 minutes. Regional jets take about an hour and the Mesaba SF340s took about 1:15 when they flew here. Such a huge error in the bid document calls into question the entire cost structure of the proposal. We appreciate the carrier's interest in Alpena but rejectthe bid.
In summary, we again thank the Department forworking with us and giving us the time needed to find a strong replacement carrier in SkyWest. Wewholeheartedly endorse that carrier and its bidto replace Delta. Weappreciatethe interestin ourmarketexpressed bythe otherairlines but reject each ofthe other bidsfor reasons outlined abpve.

# B::~ Matthew

### J. Waligora MayorofAlpena ,": . ·,.,