a. C^fccC V 

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O 

u s . Department of 

Ttansportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

-RARTMENT OF 

:''-^CPORTATION 

••'>T OPERATIONS 

23 P 3^ 2 0 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

The Honorable Cheryl Walker 

1275 Main Street 

El Centro, CA 92243 

September 23, 2010 

Dear Mayor Walker: 

As you know, SkyWest Airlines, Inc., d/b/a United Express (SkyWest), provides subsidized air 

service under the essential air service (EAS) program at El Centro/Imperial. SkyWest was 

initially selected by Order 2008-12-26, to provide El Centro/Imperial thirteen nonstop round 

trips a week to Los Angeles with the aircraft based in Los Angeles. The Department's current 

contract with SkyWest, Order 2009-5-21, May 27, 2009, calls for an annual subsidy of $662,551 

to provide El Centro/Imperial with a total of six nonstop and seven one-stop round trips per week 

to Los Angeles with 30-seat Embraer Brasilia aircraft, and expires December 31, and requires the 

aircraft to be based in El Centro/Imperial. In anticipation of the end of that contract, by 

Order 2010-8-13 the Department requested "best and final" proposals to serve El 

Centro/Imperial for a new, two-year period, and we received timely-filed proposals from 

SkyWest and from Alaska Juneau Aeronautics,, Inc., d/b/a SeaPort Airlines (Seaport). 

My purpose in writing is to inform you of the results of each carrier's service and subsidy 

proposal before we submit a recommendation on the carrier-selection issue to the Assistant 

Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs for decision. Copies of each carrier's full 

proposal may be accessed online through the Department's Dockets Management System at 

http://www.regulations.gov/ by entering "DOT-OST 2008-0299" in the "enter Keyword or ID" 

field, so we will only summarize it here. 

SeaPort SeaPort proposes to provide three daily nonstop round trips per week: one to Phoenix 

and two to San Diego — for a first-year subsidy of $1,202,248 and a second year subsidy of 

$1,226,710. All service would be with 9-seat, single-engine, pressurized, turboprop Pilatus PC12 aircraft, and the aircraft would be based in El Centro/Imperial based on the schedule shown in 

SeaPort's proposal, reproduced in Attachment B. 

SkyWest SkyWest proposes to revert to the service it originally provided: thirteen nonstop 

round trips per week to Los Angeles ~ for a total armual subsidy of $1,852,091. All service 

would operate on a nonstop basis with 30-seat Brasilias, a twin-engine, turboprop, and 

pressurized aircraft. SkyWest would operate as United Express. 

We note that El Centro/Imperial's EAS calls for service with 15-seat, twin-engine aircraft. Thus 

it is likely we would only select SeaPort if the community waives those assurances. In that 

event, we would consider that waiver effective only for the two-year period of the SeaPort 

contract. 
Please note that the average passenger fares shown in the carriers' proposals do not necessarily 

reflect the average local fares passengers would pay, but rather reflect the prorated portion of the 

total ticket price, e.g., the El Centro/Imperial - Los Angeles portion of an El Centro/Imperial -

Los Angeles - Atlanta ticket that the carrier would realize. Also, the implicit average fare, as 

reflected in the carriers' subsidy calculations, enclosed as Attachments A and B, are net of 

certain charges such as federal transportation security fees, excise and ticket taxes, and passenger 

facility charges. Of course, carriers have the discretion to charge fares they deem appropriate, 

and the passenger fares shown in Attachments A and B were developed for subsidy rate 

computation purposes only. Each carrier would have to realize passenger fares comparable to 

the averages shown in its proposal in order to achieve break-even or profitable operations even 

with subsidy. 

You should also note that the schedules submitted by the two carriers and reproduced in 

Appendix C are illustrative only, and the carrier selected may make schedule changes to reflect 

changing conditions, e.g., to better meet shifting connecting bank times at the hub. The 

Department expects subsidized air carriers to maintain well-timed and well-spaced flights in 

order to ensure full compensation. 

We know this matter is important to you and we will act as quickly as possible upon receipt of 

your letter. In order to expedite the case, please submit your comments by email to 

EAS@dot.gov and to Kevin.Adams@dot.gov, by October 21. If you have any questions or do 

not wish to submit formal comments, please contact Kevin Adams at (202) 366-1047. As a final 

matter, an identical letter is being sent to the Mayor of Imperial. 

Sincerely, 

\c' ^ Dermis J. DeVany 

Chief, Essential Air Service Division 

Office of Aviation Analysis 

Enclosures 

cc: Airport Manager, SkyWest, SeaPort 
AIRLINE S 

September 13,2010 

Dennis J. DeVany 

Office of Aviation Analysis 

US Department of Transportation 

400 Seventh Street, S.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

SkyWest Airlines Essential Air Service Proposal for Imperial, California. 

Dear Mr. DeVany: 

Attached is the SkyWest Airlines proposal for continued service to Imperial, California. 

Our proposal is to provide two direct round trips daily (13 round trips per week) to Los 

Angeles, California (LAX) with no intermediate stops or aircraft flow from other cities. 

Please note that this is different than our current service pattern which consists of both 

non-stop and one-stop flights to LAX. A sample schedule is also attached. Service will 

be provided with the Embraer Brasilia (EMB-120) 30-seat turboprop aircraft. The 

proposal period is for January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2012. 

These flights will be operated as United Express, pursuant to a code-sharing agreement 

with United Airlines, and will provide connections in Los Angeles to the national 

transportation system. 

SkyWest welcomes the opportunity to continue to provide reliable service if selected. 

Thank you for your consideration. 

Sincerely, 

r< 

Michael Thompson 

Vice President - Market Development 

SkyWest Airlines 
Sample schedule for IPL-LAX: 

To: LOS ANGELES INTL 

Dep Arr Freq 

08:40 09:48 1234567 

20:32 21:40 12345 7 

From: LOS ANGELES INTL 

Dep Arr Freq 

07:25 08:25 1234567 

19:05 20:05 12345 7 

f ^v j 9-f3 
SkyWest Airlines 

Imperial 

10-Sep-lO 

Number of round-trips per week 

Aircraft Type - Embraer Brasilia 

Passenger Revenue 

Passengers 

Average Fare 

Revenue 

Blocic Time 

Trip block time - IVIinutes 

Total scheduled block time 

Total completed block time 

RPMS 

Passengers 

Stage Length 

ASMS 

Scheduled Departures 

Competed Departures 

Stage length 

Available Seats 

2011-2012 

Imperial 

Los Angeles 

13 

98% 

98% 

10,500 

S 76.50 

$ 803,250 

64 

1,442 

> 1,413 

10,500 

182 

1,911,000 

1,352 

1,325 

182 

30 

7,381,920 

Revenue 

Direct Operating Expenses 

Flight attendant 

RPM related 

Departure related 

ASM related 

Operating income (loss) 

5% profit margin 

Subsidy requirement 

SkyWest effective rates per unit 

Per trip 

Per passenger 

SkyWest cost per block hour 

Effective Subsidy rate per unit 

Per trip 

Per passenger 

SkyWest cost per block hour 

Load factor 

Average fuel cost per gallon 

803,250 

BIkHr S 1,153.19 

BIk Hr $ 34.49 

RPMS S 0.01 

Departures S 408.46 

ASMS S 0.04 

s 

$ 

s 

s 

s 

s 

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s 

s 

s 

s 

$ 

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48,743 

24,143 

541,198 

285,022 

2,528,896 

(1,725,646) 

126,445 

1,852,091 

1,909 

241 

1,789 

1,398 

176 

1,789 

26% 

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