# e [xyy-o^-'m W ULS . Departmen t o f 120 0 Ne w jerse y Avenue , S E Transportatio n , ^- ^ -^n m " Washington , D C 2059 0 Jun e 22,201 0 ^ Offic e o f th e Secretar

y o f Transportatio n Th e Honorabl e Jod i Gueri n Mayo r o f th e City of

Larami e 40 6 Ivinso n St . Laramie , W

Y 8207 3 Dea r Mayo r Guerin , I woul d lik e t o updat e you o n th e essential ai r servic e (EAS ) situatio n a t Larami e Regiona l Airport

and Worlan d Municipa

l Airpor t an d giv e yo u a

n opportunit

y t o offe r an y comment s o n th e recor d befor e w e submi t

arecommendatio n t o th e Assistan t Secretary fo

r Aviatio n an d International Affairs . A s yo u know . Grea t Lake s Aviatio n Ltd. , operatin g a s bot

h aUnite d Airline s and Frontie r Airline s cod e share partner (Great Lakes) , i s th e curren t

EA S provider

a t you r commimity , an d thei r

contrac t expire s Septembe r

30 , 2010 . I

n anticipatio n of

that , w e issue d Orde r

2010-5-14 , Ma

y 12 , 2010 , solicitin g proposal s fromcarrier s intereste d in providin g subsidize d EA S fo r anew , two yea r period , begiimin g Octobe r 1 , 2010 . I

n respons e to ou r

request , tw o carrier s responded : Great

Lake s an d Sovereig n Air , Inc . (Sovereig n Air) . Yo u shoul d hav e receive d acop y of th e proposal s fro meac h carrier , an d the y ca n b e accesse d a

t www.regulations.go v b y enterin g th e number s DOT-OST-1997-295 8 fo r Larami e an d DOT-OST-1997-298 1 fo r Worlan d i n th e searc h block . A s aresult , w e wil l onl y briefl y summariz e the mhere . Great Lake s ha s propose d on e servic e optio n fo r eac h community t o b e considere d a s stand-alon e bids , bot

h usin g 19-sea

t Beechcraf

t 1900 aircraft . Th e servic e t o Larami e woul d b e thre e nonsto p roun d trip s eac h weekda y and fou r roun d trip s eac h weeken d (1 9 aweek ) t o Denve r

fo r a n annual subsidy of

$1,181,572 . Th e servic e t o Worlan d woul d b e tw o roun d trip s eac h weekda y and weeken d (1 2 aweek) ove r aWorland-Cheyenne

Denver , Worland-Laramie-Denver , or Worland-Denver

routin g fo

r $1,770,336 . A t Worland , Sovereig n Ai r

woul d provid e thre e roun d trip s Monday-Friday , and fou r weeken d roim d trip s (1 9 aweek) over aWorland-Laramie-Denve r routin g fo

r a n annual subsidy of $2,151,671 . A

t Laramie , Sovereig n Air

woul d provid e th e 1 9 roun d trip s a wee k describe d above , plu s 1 6 additional nonsto p roun d trip s awee k for atota l o f 5 dail y nonsto p roun d trip s (3 5 aweek) for a n annua l subsidy of

$2,361,671 . Under

it s Optio n 1 , al l servic e woul d b e wit

h 9-sea t Kin g Air aircraft . Under

it s Optio n 2 , Sovereig n woul d us e a19-sea

t Beechcraf

t 190 0 o n th e Larami e flight s tha t d o no t servic e Worlan d and a9

- sea t Kin g Ai r aircraf t o n al l othe r

flights . W e note tha

t th e 9-sea t Kin g Air aircraf t doe s no t mee t th e 15-or-more-passenger-sea t standard require d b y our

governin g statue s (4 9U.S.C . § 41732(b)(3 ) and (b)(6)) . I f th e communitie s indicate thei r willingnes s t o waiv e thei r right t o receiv e EA S wit

h 15-sea t o r larger aircraft , w e wil l conside r

th e waiver

to appl y onl y to th e ne w two-yea r ter munder consideratio n a

t thi s tim e (i.e. , w e woul d no t assum e tha

t th e communitie s waiv e thei r right s i n perpetuity. ) Further , Sovereig n Air doe s no t currentl y hav e th e requisit e operatin g authorit y fromeithe r

th e Departmen t

or th e Federal Aviatio n Administratio n to provid e schedule d air service , althoug h i

t ha s submitte d applications . Th e schedule s tha

t th e carrier s hav e propose d ar e illustrativ e onl y an d the y ma y make schedul e change s t o reflec t changin g conditions , e.g. , t o bette r mee t shiftin g connectin g ban k time s a t th e hub . However , th e Departmen t doe s expec t

asubsidize d ai r

carrie r t o maintai n well-time d an d well-space d flight s in orde r t o ensur e ful

l compensation . W e reques t

tha t yo u revie w th e proposal s and submi t any comment s yo u ma

y hav e a s soo n a s possible , bu t

n o late r than Jul y 21 . W

e wil l carefull y conside r

your cortunent s before w e submi t

arecommendatio n t

o th e Assistan t

Secretar y for adecision . Pleas e sen d your

comment s vi ae-mai l t o EAS@dot.go v o r b y fa x t o 202-366-7638 . I

f you hav e an

y questions , pleas e fee

l free t o contac t

Michae l Marti n o f

m y staf f a t michael.f.martin@dot.go v o r 202-366-6494 . Sincerely , Denni s J . DeVany , Chie f ^ Essential Ai r

Servic e Divisio n Offic e of Aviatio n Analysi s cc : Michae l Matthews , Great Lake s Aviation , Ltd . Jo n Payne , Sovereig n Air , Inc .