~1llsOur~ Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP 

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2300 N Street, NW 1 Washington, DC 20037-1122 I tel 202.663.8000 1 fax 202.663.8007 

May 29, 2012 

VIA E-MAIL 

Robert A. Letteney 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 

Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Ave., S.E. 

Washington, DC 20590 

Kenneth P. Quinn 

tel 202.663.8898 

kenneth.quinn@pillsburylaw.com 

Re: Pinnacle Airlines Corp.'s Essential Air Service Program CJ 

Dear Mr. Letteney: 

On behalf of our client, Pinnacle Airlines Corp. ("Pinnacle") and its affiliates 

including Colgan Air, Inc. ("'Colgan"), 1 

we are writing in response to the Department of 

Transportation's ('"Department") Order 2012-5-192 (the ·'Order'') purporting to extend the 

Essential Air Service (''EAS'') obligations of Colgan at Presque Isle, Maine, and Plattsburgh, 

New York, for an additional 30 days, through the earlier of July 6, 2012, or when full 

replacement service begins. 

As the Order states, Peninsula Airways ('"PenAir'') has announced its plans to 

inaugurate service beginning on June 14, 2012, from Boston to Presque Isle and Plattsburgh. 

2 

Pillsbury serves as counsel to Pinnacle and its affiliates (collectively, the "Debtors") in connection with 

certain regulatory matters related to their cases under chapter II of title II of the United States Code (the 

"Bankruptcy Code") tiled in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the 

"Bankruptcy Court") on April I, 2012. and jointly administered under the caption In re Pinnacle Airlines 

Corp .. et al, Case No. 12-11343 (REG). 

Dockets OST-2000-8012 and OST-2003-14783 (May 23, 2012). 

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CO~FrDENTlAL TREATMENT REQliESTED 

THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS TRADE SECRETS AND CONFIDENTIAL COMMERCIAL OR FINANCIAL 

INFORMATION EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE LINDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT. 5 U.S.C. ~ 

552{8)(4). IT IS SUBMITTED VOLUNTARILY FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF ALLOWING EVALUATION BY THE 

U.S. GOVERNMENT. 
Mr. Robert A. Letteney 

May 29,2012 

Page 2 

PenAir has published its schedule and is selling tickets for these routes. 3 To maintain 

continuity of service, Colgan has agreed to provide service to Presque Isle and Plattsburgh 

until June 14, 2012. Although we do not believe it was the Department's intention to extend 

Colgan's obligation to provide EAS beyond June 14. 2012, we wish to make clear that 

Colgan has no obligation to continue providing EAS beyond the agreed June 14 date. Simply 

put, the operational extension component in paragraph I of the Order is null and void to the 

extent it does intend to impose obligations on Colgan to continue to provide EAS beyond 

June 14, 2012. 

As explained in my letter of May 9, 2012, the automatic stay became effective 

immediately upon the Debtors' filing for relief under the Bankruptcy Code on April I, 2012 

(the ''Petition Date"). The automatic stay applies to "all entities,'' including the Department 

and bars any attempt to extend Colgan's obligations under its EAS service contracts. 

Because the Order purports to extend Colgan· s obligations past the date set forth in the last 

order issued prior to the Petition Date, the Order is a violation of the automatic stay and, 

therefore, is null and void ab initio.+ If necessary, the Debtors will move to enforce the stay 

and seek appropriate relief from the Bankruptcy Court for such violations. 

In addition, the Department may only require carriers to continue providing EAS 

service "[i]f, at the end of the notice period ... the Secretary has not found another air carrier 

.•. .''

5 Because the Department h~s selected PenAir to provide EAS to Presque Isle and 

Plattsburgh as of June 14, 2012 and because PenAir has already published schedules and is 

3 See, e.g., PenAir Home Page, http://www.penair.com. 

+ See, e.g, II U.S.C. § 362(a)(3) (the automatic stay prohibits, inter alia, any "act to ... exercise control over 

property ofthe estate"); see also In re Enron Corp., 300 B.R. 201,212 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2003) (holding that 

letters demanding performance of prepetition obligations violate the automatic stay); In re Best Payphones, 

Inc., 279 B.R. 92, 93 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2002) (holding that the issuance of a decision in an administrative 

proceeding "violated the automatic stay, and was void ab initio"). For the same reasons, the Department's 

orders extending EAS issued and the Department's May 2, 2012 letter issued after April I, 2012, including its 

order with respect to the Presque Isle and Plattsburgh routes dated May I, 2012 (Order 2012-5-1), are also 

null and void. 

5 49 U .S.C. § 41734(b ). 

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CONFIDE~TIAL TREATMENT REQllESTED 

THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS TRADE SECRETS AND CONFIDENTIAL COMMERCIAL OR FINANCIAL 

INFORMATION EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT, 5 U.S. C. ~ 

552(B)(4). IT IS SUBMIHED VOLUNTARILY FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF ALLOWING EVALUATION BY THE 

U.S. GOVERNMENT. 
Mr. Robert A. Letteney 

May 29,2012 

Page 3 

selling tickets, the Department was not empowered to issue the Order requiring Colgan to 

continue EAS service to these communities after this date.6 

Colgan wishes to reassure the Department that, consistent with its representations 

over the past several months, it will provide EAS to Presque Isle and Plattsburgh until June 

14, 2012, when PenAir is scheduled to begin replacement service. Colgan will also maintain 

the documentation required, as described in paragraph 2 of the Order. However, Colgan 

cannot and will not provide EAS to Presque Isle and Plattsburgh beyond June 14, 2012, as 

continued service would pose an impossible logistical and financial burden which would 

threaten the Debtors' reorganization. 

Thank you for your consideration. As always, we remain available to answer any . 

questions. 

Sincerely, 

Kenneth P. Quinn 

cc: (via email) 

Brian T. Hunt 

Philip Reed 

Alicia M. Simmons 

Dennis DeVany 

James Dann 

John Spanjers 

MarshallS. Huebner 

6 See id. 

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CONFIDENTIAL TREATME:'IIT REQlESTED 

403519524v1 

THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS TRADE SECRETS AND CONFIDENTIAL COMMERCIAL OR FINANCIAL 

I~ FORMATION EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACL 5 U.S. C. ~ 

552(8}(4}. IT IS SUBMITTED VOLUNTARILY FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF ALLOWING EVALUATION BY THE 

U.S. GOVERNMENT.