Order: 2014

- 2

- 13

Served February 19, 2014

U N

I T E D S

T A T E S O F A

M E R I C A D E P A R T M E N T O F T R A N S P O R T A T

I O

N UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

on the 19 th day of February , 20 1 4

Essential Air Service at

GREENBRIER /WHITE SULPHUR

SPRINGS, WES T VIRGINIA

BECKLEY, WEST VIRGINIA

CLARKSBURG/FAIRMONT,

WEST VIRGINIA

MORGANTOWN, WEST

VIRGINIA

STAUNTON, VIRGINIA

Under 49 U.S. C. § 47131 et seq. DOCKET DOT

- OST

- 2003

- 15553

DOCKET DOT

- OST

- 1997

- 2761

DOCKET DOT

- OST

- 2005

- 20736

DOCKET DOT

- OST

- 2005

- 20735

DOCKET DOT

- OST

- 2002

- 11378



### ORDER REQUESTING PROPOSALS

Summary

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

Essential Air Service (EAS) at Greenbr ier/White Sulphur Springs ( Greenbrier or Lewisburg ),

Beckley, Clarksburg/Fairmont (Clarksburg)

, and Morgantown, West Virginia ; and Staunton,

Virginia, for a new contract term , with or without subsidy support , beginning August 1, 2014

. Proposals are due Ma rch 21

, 201 4

. (See Appendix A for area map s )

.

B a c k g r o un d

By Order 2012

- 4

- 32 , issued on April 30, 2012 (Beckley, Clarksburg, and Morgantown); Order

2012

- 5

- 17

, issued on May 22, 2012 (Greenbrier) ; 1 and Order 2012

- 6

- 10, issued on

June 18, 2012 (Sta u nton)

, the Department selected Silver Airways (Silver) to provide subsidized

EAS at all of the above communities

, using 34

- seat Saab 340 aircra ft, for the period from

July 1, 2012, through July 31, 2014, for a combined annual subsidy of $12,848,083 ( $3,484,710

f

or Greenbrier; and $3,394,629 for Staunton, $2,512,494 for Beckley, and $3,456,250 combined

for Clarksburg and Morgantown )

.

Those Orders selected Silver to provide the following service: At Lewisburg, 12 weekly nonstop

round trips during the off

- peak s eason of November 1 through April 30, and 14 weekly nonstop

1 Order 2012

- 5

- 17 also selected Silver to serve communities in Alabama and Mississippi. We will deal with those

communities in a separate Order.2

round trips during the peak season of May 1 through October 31, with service to Hartsfield

Jackson Atlanta International Airport ( ATL) and Washington Dulles International Airport ( IAD).

At Staunt on, 18 weekly round trips to IAD, with up

- line service permitted

.

At Beckley, 12 weekly round trips to IAD, with intermediate stops permitted on 5 of those round

trips (currently at Staunton).

At Clarksburg and Morgantown, Silver offers 18 weekl y nonstop or one

- stop round trips over a

Clarksburg

- Morgantown

- IAD or Morgantown

- Clarksburg

- IAD routing.

Those Orders, as well as the complete public file for EAS at eac h of the above

communities, may be accessed online through the Federal Docket Manag ement System at

http://www.regulations.gov , by entering the community’s respective Docket number in the

“SEARCH for: Rules, Comments, Adjudications or Supporting Documents:” field.

Request for Proposals

As the e nd of the current rate term approaches, we are here requesting proposals from air carriers

interested in providing EAS at the above communities

, with or without subsidy support , for a

new contract term beginning August 1, 2014. Air carriers should file th eir proposals no later

than March 21 , 2014. After that date, our staff will docket the proposals, thereby making them

public. Additionally, we request each air carrier serve a copy of its proposal on the civic parties

at the above communit ies and on the other applicants. Shortly afterwards, we will provide a

s ummary o f the proposals to the communities and ask them to submit any formal comments on

this carrier

- selection case. We will give full consideration to all proposals that are timely filed. 2

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

when they prepare their proposals, but we will not prescribe a precise format for their

proposals. We expect proposals to adequately describe the service being pro posed 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, we recommend they include

information concerning proposed schedules and projected block hours. In addition, applicants

are urged to provide financial data supporting their subsidy requests, including information on

their projected expenses and revenues. We strongly encourage clear, well

- documented

proposals that will facilitate their evalua tion by th e affected communities and the

Department. 3

2 Air carriers should not expect the Department to accept late filings. In cases where a carrier proposes to provide

EAS without subsidy and we determine that service can be reliably p rovided without such compensation, we usually

do not proceed with the carrier

- selection case. Instead, we simply rely on that carrier’s subsidy

- free service as

proposed.

3 In selecting a carrier to provide subsidized EAS for an eligible place not in Alask a, 49 U.S.C. § 41733(c)(1)

directs us to consider five factors: (a) service reliability; (b) contractual and marketing arrangements with a larger

carrier at the hub; (c) interline arrangements with a larger carrier at the hub; (d) community views, giving s ubstantial

weight to the views of the elected officials representing the users; and (e) whether the carrier has included a plan in

its proposal to market its service to the community . In addition, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014, Public

Law No. 113

- 76, provides that when selecting a 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.3

The Department expects proposals similar to what the community currently receives. At

Greenbrier, 12 nonstop or one

- stop round trips each week from November 1 through April 30

and 14 nonstop or one

- stop round t rips each week from May 1 through October 30. At

Beckley, 12 nonstop or one

- stop round trips each week. At Staunton, we request 12 nonstop

round trips per week, its statutory guarantee. Staunton has historically received an additional

round trip due to it being linked with Beckley for several of its weekly round trips. If a

similar pattern is contemplated, the Department’s requested number of round trips should be

clearly addressed in the carrier’s proposal, including sample or proposed flight schedules . At

Clarksburg and Morgantown, service may be proposed at 18 nonstop and one

- stops routed

Clarksburg

- Morgantown

- hub airport, or if nonstop service to each community is proposed, we

will accept proposals for 14 nonstop round trips each week.

Alternative ly, we will accept proposals consisting of additional frequencies if smaller a ircraft

(9

- passenger) are contemplated

. We encourage proposals that meet these guidelines in an

efficient manner. Air c arriers are also welcome to propose more than one service option, if

they choose. They also need not limit themselves to these requirements if they envision other,

potentially more attractive service possibilities

-- different hubs or length of contract, for

example

-- with subsidy requirements that remain comp etitive.

Interested air carriers should prepare their propo s al with every expectation that their initial

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

proposals with air carriers when we deem it desirable; in such cases we will give all

applicants the same opportuni t y. We also retain the discretion to reject outright all

unreasonab l e or unrealistic proposals and solicit a new round of proposals. However, we

anticipate that negotiation or rejection will remain on l y occasional exceptions to the rule.

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

have summarized historical passenge r levels at the above communities in Appendix B. In the

most recent 12

- month period for which data are available (October 1, 2012, through

September 30, 2013) Lewisburg generated 13,698 total origin and destination passengers, or an

average of 2 2 enplanements per day; Beckley generated 7,502 total origin and destination

passengers , or an average of 12 enplanements per d ay; Clarksburg generated 11,784 total origin

and destination passengers, or an average of 19 enplanements per day; Morgantown generated

20,38 1 total origin and destination passengers, or an average of 33 enplanements per day ; and

Staunton generated 28,203 total origin and destination passengers, or an average of 45

enplanements per day

. 4

O t h e r Air Ca rr i e r R e qu i reme n t s

The Department is responsible for implementing various Federal statutes governing l obbying

activitie s , drug

- free workplaces and nondiscrimination

. 5 Consequent l y, all air carriers

. 4 Enplanements represent one

- half of total origin

- and

- destination traffic.

5 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

– Effectuat ion of

title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; 49 CFR Part 27

– Nondiscrimination on the basis of disability in programs4

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

Department regulations regarding drug

- free workplaces and nondiscrimination, and those ai r

carr i ers whose subsidies exceed $100,000 over the life of the rate term must also certify that

they are in compliance with the regu l ations 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 infor m ation regarding

the s e requirements, as well as copies of the certifications, should contact the Off i ce of

Aviation Ana l ysis at (202) 366

- 5903. The D epartment is prohibited from paying subsidy to

air carriers that do not submit these document s

. 6

Filing Procedures

Air c arr i e r p r opo s a ls should be submitt e d to the D e p a r tm e nt with a ll m a t er i a ls m er g e d into a

si n g le do c um e nt. I n a ddition, b eca use t h e do c um e nt will be publish e d on www.r e g u l a tions. g ov

, each p a g e should be f o r m a tt e d to be vi e w e d onlin e

.

C o m m un i t y C o m m e n ts

Civic officials and the State s are welco m e to submit comments at any time. We encourage

prosp ective applicants to contact the communi t y before they submit their proposals so that

they can tailor them to the communi t y’s needs, as they will not be ab l e to amend them after

the due date. As noted earlier, we will provide a copy of the propo s als to th e civic parties and

ask them to submit their final comments short l y after March 21 , 201 4 , the due da t e for air

carr i er proposals.

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

- delegated to the

Director, Office of Aviation A nalysis.

ACCORDI N G L Y,

1. We request that air carriers interested in providing E ssential A ir S erv i ce at

Greenbrier/White Sulphur Springs (Lewisburg), Beckley, Clarksburg/Fairmont, Morgantown,

West Virginia; and Staunton, Virginia, submit their proposals, with or without subsidy

requests, no later than March 21

, 2014 . The proposals should be emailed to: EAS@dot.gov; 7

2

. Docket s DOT

- OST

- 2003

- 15553, DOT

- OST

- 1997

- 2761, DOT

- OST

- 2005

- 20736, DOT

OST

- 2005

- 20735 , and DOT

- OST

- 2002

- 11378 will remain open until furt her Order of the

Department; and

and activities receiving or benefiting from Federal financial assistance; and 14 CFR Part 382

– Nondiscrimination

on the basis of dis ability in air travel; and (3) 49 CFR Part 29

– Government

- wide debarment and suspension (non

procurement) and government

- wide requirements for drug

- free workplace (grants).

6 The certifications are also available on the web at http://www.dot.gov/policy/av iation

- policy/small

community

- rural

- air

- service/essential

- air

- service

. 7 Questions regarding filings in response to this Order should be directed to Mr. Scott Faulk at

scott.faulk@dot.gov or (202) 366

- 9967.5

3

. The Department will serve cop i es of this Order on the civic offic i als of Greenbrier/White

Sulphur Springs, Beckley, Clarksburg/Fairmont, and Morgantown, West Virginia; and Staunton

, Virginia

, the airport m anager s of Greenbrier Valley Airport, Raleigh County Memorial

Airport (Beckley)

, North Central West Virginia Airport (Clarksburg/Fairmont), Morgantown

Municipal Airport, Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport, Silver Airways

, and the s ervice list

for this docket

.

Persons entitled to petition the Department for review of this Order under the Department’s

Regulations, 14 CFR Part 385.31(a), must file such petitions within seven (7) days after the date

of service of this Order.

This Orde r 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

An electronic version of this document is available

online at www.regulations.gov.Appendix A

Page 1 of 4



### Area Map of Greenbrier/White Sulphur

Springs, West Virginia (Lewisburg) 1

1 Map s generated by the Great Circle Mapper

– copyright © Karl L. SwatzAppendix A

Page 2 of 4



### Area Map of Staunton, Virginia 1

1 Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper

– copyright © Karl L. SwatzAppendix A

Page 3 of 4



### Area Map of Beckley, West Virginia 1

1 Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper

– copyright © Karl L. SwatzAppendix A

Page 4 of 4



### Area Map of Cl arksburg/Fairmont and Morgantown, West Virginia 1

1 Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper

– copyright © Karl L. SwatzAppendix B

Page 1 of 5



### Historical passenger Traffic at Greenbrier/White

Sulphur Springs, West Virginia (Lewisburg) 1

Error! Not a valid link.

1 Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics; Schedule T

- 100. Year Quarter Air Carrier Enplanements Deplanements Total

2010 4 Silver Airways 86 54 140

20 11 1 Silver Airways 38 32 70

2011 2 Silver Airways 101 71 172

2011 3 Silver Airways 131 53 184

Total 356 210 566

2011 4 Silver Airways 112 56 168

2012 1 Silver Airways 20 19 39

2012 2 Silver Airways 128 73 201

2012 3 Silver Airways 1,112 1, 092 2,204

Total 1,372 1,240 2,612

2012 4 Silver Airways 1,372 1,356 2,728

2013 1 Silver Airways 815 710 1,525

2013 2 Silver Airways 1,413 1,802 3,215

2013 3 Silver Airways 3,126 3,104 6,230

Total 6,726 6,972 13,698Appendix B

Page 2 of 5



### Historical passenge r Traffic at Beckley, West Virginia 1

Error! Not a valid link.

1 Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics; Schedule T

- 100. Year Quarter Air Carrier Enplanements Deplanements Total

2010 4 Colgan Air 551 537 1,088

2011 1 Colgan Air 395 410 805

2011 2 Colgan Air 819 829 1,648

2011 3 Colgan Air 1,002 990 1,992

Total 2,767 2,766 5,533

2011 4 Colgan Air 748 716 1,464

2012 1 Colgan Air 492 467 959

2012 2 Colgan Air 580 636 1,216

2012 3 Colgan Air 171 208 379

2012 3 Silver Airways 440 478 918

Tot al 2,431 2,505 4,936

2012 4 Silver Airways 850 876 1,726

2013 1 Silver Airways 604 594 1,198

2013 2 Silver Airways 1,011 925 1,936

2013 3 Silver Airways 1,286 1,356 2,642

Total 3,751 3,751 7,502Appendix B

Page 3 of 5



### Historical passenger Traffic at Clark sburg/Fairmont, West Virginia 1

Error! Not a valid link.

1 Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics; Schedule T

- 100. Year Quarter Ai r Carrier Enplanements Deplanements Total

2010 4 Colgan Air 2,030 1,407 3,437

2011 1 Colgan Air 1,215 1,063 2,278

2011 2 Colgan Air 1,545 1,337 2,882

2011 3 Colgan Air 1,718 1,670 3,388

Total 6,508 5,477 11,985

2011 4 Colgan Air 1,600 1,520 3,120

2012 1 Colgan Air 1,354 1,313 2,667

2012 2 Colgan Air 1,458 1,328 2,786

2012 3 Colgan Air 453 442 895

2012 3 Si lver Airways 955 949 1,904

Total 5,820 5,552 11,372

2012 4 Silver Airways 1,594 1,577 3,171

2013 1 Silver Airways 1,406 1,311 2,717

2013 2 Silver Airways 1,618 1,239 2,857

2013 3 Silver Airways 1,514 1,525 3,039

Total 6,132 5,652 11,784Appendix B

Page 4 of 5



### Historical passenger Traffic at Morgantown, West Virginia 1

1 Source: Bure au of Transportation Statistics; Schedule T

- 100. Year Quarter Air Carrier Enpl anements Deplanements Total

2010 4 Colgan Air 2,937 2,928 5,865

2011 1 Colgan Air 2,112 2,272 4,384

2011 2 Colgan Air 2,733 2,473 5,206

2011 3 Colgan Air 2,711 2,971 5,682

Total 10,493 10,644 21,137

2011 4 Colgan Air 2,786 2,632 5,418

2012 1 Colgan Air 1,961 2,205 4,166

2012 2 Colgan Air 2,486 2,367 4,853

2012 3 Colgan Air 553 638 1,191

2012 3 Silver Airways 1,538 1,779 3,317

Total 9,324 9,621 18,945

2012 4 Silver Airways 2,649 2,474 5,123

2013 1 Silver Airways 1,959 2,352 4,3 11

2013 2 Silver Airways 2,620 2,810 5,430

2013 3 Silver Airways 2,561 2,956 5,517

Total 9,789 10,592 20,381Appendix B

Page 5 of 5



### Historical passenger Traffic at Staunton, Virginia 1

Year Quarter Air Carrier Enplanements Deplanements Total

2010 4 Colgan Air 3,274 3,446 6,720

2011 1 Colgan Air 2,584 2,598 5,182

2011 2 Colgan Air 3,212 3,209 6,421

2011 3 Colgan Air 2,570 2,725 5,295

Total 11,640 11,978 23,618

2011 4 Colgan Air 3,168 3,207 6,375

2012 1 Colgan Air 2,770 2,901 5,671

2012 2 Colgan Air 3,310 3,279 6,589

2012 3 Colgan Air 943 956 1,899

2012 3 Silver Airways 2,375 2,526 4,901

Total 12,566 12,869 25,435

2012 4 Silver Airways 3,790 3,459 7,249

2013 1 Silver Airways 3,010 2,910 5,920

2013 2 Silver Airways 3,802 3,588 7,390

2013 3 Silver Airways 3,788 3,856 7,644

Total 14,390 13,813 28,203

1 Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics; Schedule T

- 100.Appendix C

Example of General Terms and Conditions for Eassential Air Service

The air c a rr i e r un d er st a nds t h a t it m a y f o rfe it its c omp e ns a tion f or a n y f li g hts th a t it do e s not

op era te in c o n f o r m a n c e with the t er ms a nd stipul a tions of the ra te Order

, i n c luding the s er vi c e

pl a ns outlin e d in the Order a nd a n y oth e r s i g ni f i c a nt e l e m e nts of the re qui re d s er vi ce , without

p r ior a p p r ov a l. The air c arr i e r und e r st a nds th a t a n a i r cr a f t t a k e

- o f f a nd l a nding a t its s c h e du l e d

d e stin a tion c onstitut e s a c ompl e t e d f li g ht; a bs e nt a n e x pl a n a tion suppo r ting s ubsi d y e li g i b ili t y f o r

a f l i g ht th a t h a s n ot b ee n c ompl e t e d, su c h a s cer t a in w ea th e r ca n ce ll a tions, o n l y c ompl e t e d f li g hts

a r e c onsid ere d e l i g ible f or su b si d y

. I n a ddition, if the air carr i e r d o e s not s c h e dule or o p era t e its

f li g hts in f ull c on f o r m a n c e wi th the Order f o r a s i g ni f i ca nt p e r iod, it m a y j e op ar di z e its e nti r e

subsi d y c l a im f or t he p er iod in qu e stion. I f the air c a rr i e r c ont e mpl a t e s a n y su c h c h a ng e s b e y ond

the s c ope o f the Order du r ing the a ppli ca ble p e r iod of th e se ra t e s, it must f i r st noti f y the O ff i c e of

Avi a tion An a l y sis in w r iti n g a nd r ece ive w r itt e n a pp r o v a l f r om the D e p a r tm e nt to be e nsu re d o f

f ull c omp e ns a tion. S hould c i rc umst a n ce s w arr a n t , the D e p ar tm e nt m a y l o c a te a nd s e l e c t a

re pl a ce m e nt air c arr i e r to p r ovide s er vi c e on th e se r out e s . The air c a rr i e r must c ompl e te a ll

f li g hts th a t ca n b e s a f e l y op era t e d; f l i g hts th a t ov e rf l y points f o r l ac k of t r a f f ic will not be

c omp e ns a t e d. I n d e t er m i ning wh e t h e r subsi d y p a y m e nt f o r a d e v i a ting f l i ght should be a djust e d

or dis a llow e d, t he D e p a r tm e nt will c onsid e r the e x t e nt to whi c h the g o a ls of the p r og ra m a r e m e t

a nd the e x t e nt of acce ss to the n a tion a l a ir t ra nspo r t a tion s y s t e m p r ovid e d to the c ommuni t y

.

I f the D e p ar tm e nt unil a t e ra l l y

, e ith e r p a r ti a l l y or c ompl e t e l y , t er min a t e s or re du ce s p a y m e nts f or

s e r vi c e or c h a ng e s s er vi c e r e qui re m e nts a t a sp ec i f ic lo c a tion p r ovid e d f or und e r this Order, th e n,

a t the e nd of the p e r iod f or whi c h the D e p ar tm e nt d o e s m a ke p a y m e nts in the stipul a t e d a mounts

or a t the stipul a t e d s er vi c e l e v e ls, the air c a rr i e r m a y cea se to p r ovide s er v i c e t o th a t sp ec i f ic

lo c a tion without re g a r d to a n y r e qui re m e nt f or noti c e of su c h c e ss a tion. Those a djustm e nts in the

l e v e ls of subsi d y a nd/or s er vi c e th a t ar e mutu a l l y a g r ee d to in w r iting b y the D e p ar tm e nt a nd air

ca r r i e r do no t c on s titute a tot a l or p ar ti a l re d u c tion or ce ss a tion of p a y m e nt.

S ubsi d y c ont r a c ts ar e su b j ec t to, a nd in c o r po r a te b y r ef e re n c e

, r e l e v a nt st a t ut e s a nd D e p ar tm e nt

r e g ul a tions, a s th e y m a y be a m e nd e d fr om time to tim e . How e v er

, a n y su c h st a tut e s, r e g ul a t ions,

or a m e ndm e nts th ere to sh a ll not op era te to c ont r o v er t the f o r e g oi n g p ar a g r a ph.

Funds may not be available for performance under this Order beyond [DATE] . The

Government’s obligation for performance under this Order beyond [DATE] , is subject to the

a vailability of 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. I f sufficient funds

are not made available for performance beyond [DATE] , the Department will provide notice in

writing to the carrier.

All claims for payment, including any amended claims, must be submitted within 90 days of the

last day of the month for which compensation is being claimed. For example, claims for service

provided in July must be filed by October 31 st ; August claims must be submitted by November

30 th , and so on.