Order: 2014

- 3

- 12

Served: March 19, 2014



### UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

on the 19th of March , 2014

Essential Air Service at

BRADFORD, PENNSYLVANIA

D U BOIS, PENNSYLVANIA

FRANKLIN /OIL CITY , PENNSYLVANIA JAMESTOWN, NEW YORK PARKERSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA/ MARIETTA, OHIO

Under 49 U.S.C. 41731 et seq

. Docket DOT

- OST

- 2003

- 14528

Docket DOT

- OST

- 2004

- 17617

Docket DOT

- OST

- 1997

- 2523

Docket DOT

- OST

- 2003

- 14950

Docket DOT

- OS T

- 2005

- 20734

ORDER PROHIBITING TERMINTATION OF SERVICE

AND REQUESTING PROPOSALS

Summary By this Order, the Department prohibits Silve r Airways Corp. (“Silver ”), from terminating service at Bradford, DuBois, and Franklin/Oil City (“Franklin”), Pennsylva n ia; Jamestown, New York; and Parkersburg, West Virginia/Marietta, Ohio (“Parkersburg”), for 30 days beyond the

end of the air carrier’s 90

- day notice period, i.e. June 14 , 2014. We are also requesting proposals from air carriers interested in providing Es sential Air Service (“EAS ”) at Bradfo rd, DuBois, Franklin, James town, and /or Parkersburg . (See Appendix A for a map). Proposals are due April

17 , 2014

.

Background
By Order 2012

- 9

- 23 (September 27, 2012), the Department selected Silver to provide subs idized

EAS at Bradford, DuBois, Franklin, Jamestown, and Parkersburg

, for a combined annual subsidy of $10,3 48,117 ($1,940,272 for Bradford, $2,587,029 for DuBois, $1,293,515 for Franklin, $1,940,272 for Jamestown, and $2,587,029 for Parkersburg), from Oct ober 1, 20 12, through September 30, 2014

. Silver operates its service with 19

- passenger Beech 1900 D aircraft to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) under a code

- share agreement with United

Airlines.2

On February 14, 2014

, Silver filed a 90

- day n otice of its intention to terminate scheduled air service at Bradford, DuBois, Franklin, Jamestown, and Parkersburg, effective May 15 , 2014. In that notice, Silver explains it is no longer able to provide subsidized service to these cities due to multiple factors

. Among those factors are increased costs associated with the new Federal regulatory requirements in which an air transport pilot certification is required as well as new flight and duty limitation and rest rules for flight crew members , the impac t of the recent nationwide pilot shortage, disappointing traffic results in some of these cities, the announced

r egional flight reductions by partner United Airlines at its hub at CLE , and the added costs of operating an aircraft fleet type that is being retired, the Beech 1900D. Because Silver’s

termination would mean that the communities would not have scheduled air service that they are entitled to under the EAS program, the Department must initiate a new carrier

- selection process.

We note that 49 U.S.C. § 41731(a)(1)(B) provides that communities enplaning fewer than ten passengers per day based on traffic for the year ended September 30, 2013, are not eligible for EAS support, barring a waiver from the Secretary. The Department is working towards implementation of that provision, and we anticipate addressing that matter in the near future

, which could affect some, but likely not all of these five communities . In the meantime, the communities will soon be without their required EAS. As development s on the ten enplanement provision proceed, we will keep potential applicants and the communities fully informed and will take appropriate action.

The complete public file for EAS at all five communities may be accessed online through the

Federal Docket s Management System at: www.regulations.gov by entering “ DOT

- OST

- 2003

- 14528 ” for Bradford ; “ DOT

- OST

- 2004

- 17617 ” for DuBois ; “ DOT

- OST

- 1997

- 2523 ” for

Franklin ; “ Docket DOT

- OST

- 2003

- 14950 ” for Jamestown ; “ Docket DO T

- OST

- 2005

- 20734 ” for Parkersburg in the “ Search for Rules, Comments, Adjudications, or Supporting Documents ”

field.

Hold

- In
Silver’s proposed termination of service at Bradford, DuBois, Franklin, Jamestown, and Parkersburg would cause service levels to d rop below the EAS guaranteed levels established by the Department. Thus, the Department must prohibit the air carrier from terminating such

service at the end of its 90

- day notice , i.e. May 15, 2014 . We will require Silver to continue to

maintain its curr ent level of service at these five communities for successive 30

- day periods until we have completed processing the air carrier

- replacement case and the selected air carrier has actually started service. 1

R e qu e st f

or P r o p osals 2 In order to provide suffici ent time to complete the carrier

- selection process before Silver terminates its service, we are here by requesting proposals from air carriers interested in providing service at Bradford, DuBois, Franklin, Jamestown, and /or Parkersburg, with or

1 In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 41734(c), we will extend Silver’s service obligation for successive 30

- day periods as necessary until replacement service actually begins.

2 Applicants should be aware of the provisions of 49 U.S.C. § 41731(a)(1)(B), the ten enplanement rule, discussed above, when preparing their proposals. Staff will be available to answer any questions

.3

without subs idy support, for a new two

- year period. Air carriers should file their proposals no

later than April 17 , 2014 . After that date, our staff will docket proposals, thereby making them public, and direct each air carrier to serve a copy of its proposal on th e civic parties and other applicants. Shortly thereafter, we will provide a summary of the proposals to community officials and ask them to submit their final comments. We will give full consideration to all proposals filed in a timely manner

. 3

T he Depa rtment expects proposals similar to what ea ch community currently receives using 19

seat aircraft.

Bradford 18 weekly nonstop or one

- stop round trips

DuBois 24 weekly nonstop or one

- stop round trips
Franklin/Oil City 12 weekly nonstop or one

- stop round trips

Jamestown 18 weekly nonstop or one

- stop round trips
Parkersburg/Marietta 24 weekly nonstop round trips

For aircraft seating 30 or more passengers, we expect proposals of 12 to 14 round trips per

week , if served on a nonstop basis to/from the h ub

.

Alternatively, we will accept proposals consisting of additional frequencies if smaller aircraft (9

- passenger) are contemplated. We encourage proposals that meet these guidelines in an

efficient manner. Air c arriers are also welcome to propose mor e 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 requirement s that remain competitive.

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 proposed 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 encouraged to provide financial data supporting their subsidy requests, including information on their projected expenses and revenues. We strongly encourage
clear, well

- documented proposals that wi ll facilitate their evaluation by the affected community and the Department. 4

3 Carriers should not expect the Department to accept late filings. In cases where a carrier propose s to provide EAS without subsidy and we determine that basic EAS, required by 49 U.S.C. § 41732, can be reliably provided without such compensation, we typically do not proceed with the carrier

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

- free service as proposed.

4 In selecting a carrier to provide subsidized EAS for an eligible place not in Alaska, 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 substantial weight to the views of the elected officials representing the users; and (e) whether the carrier has included a plan in its prop osal to market its service to the community. In addition, the Consolidated and Further Continuing4

Filing Procedures Carrier proposals should be submitted to the Department with all materials merged into a single document. In addition, because the document will be published on Regulations.gov, each page

should be formatted to be viewed online.

Service and Traffic History We have provided some histori c traffic data for the communities in Appendix B. Traffic has

dec r eased year over year

.

Other Carrier Requirements The Dep artment is responsible for implementing various Federal statutes governing lobbying activities, drug

- free workplaces, and nondiscrimination. 5 Consequently, all carriers receiving Federal subsidy for EAS must certify that they are in compliance with Depart ment regulations regarding drug

- free workplaces and nondiscrimination, and those carriers whose subsidies exceed $100,000 over the life of the contract must also certify that they are in compliance with the regulations governing lobbying activities. Becau se the Department is prohibited from paying subsidy to carriers that do not submit these documents, all carriers that plan to submit proposals involving subsidy should be aware that the selected carrier will be required to complete the required certificati ons. Interested carriers requiring more detailed information regarding these requirements should contact the Offic e of Aviation Analysis at (202) 366

- 5903. 6

Community Comments

Civic officials and the states are welcome to submit comments at any time. We encourage prospective appl icants to contact communities before they submit their proposals so that they can

tailor them to the communit y ’ s needs, as they will not be able to amend them after the due date. As noted earlier, we will provide a summary of th e proposals to the civic parties shortly after the deadline for carrier proposals, and ask them to submit their final comments.

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

- delegated to the Director, Office of Aviation Ana lysis.

Appropriations Act, 2012, Public Law No. 112

- 55, and continued by the Full

- Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013, Public Law No. 113

- 6, and the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014, Public Law No. 113

- 46, 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.

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

-- Effectuation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; (3) 49 CFR Part 27

-- Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Programs and Activities Receiving or Benefiting from Federal Financial Assistance; (4)

14 CFR Part 382

-- Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Ai r Travel; and (5) 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/aviation

- policy/small

- community

rural

- air

- service/essential

- air

- service

.5

ACCORDINGLY,

1. We prohibit Silver Airways Corp. from suspending service at Bradford, DuBois, Franklin, Jamestown, and Parkersburg , at the end of the 90

- day notice period, and require it to maintain its

current level of service at the commu n ities , as set forth in Appendix C , for an initial 30

- day period through June 14, 2014 , or until an air carrier capable of provid ing reliable EAS actually begins service, whichever is first;

2. We request that air carriers interested in providing EAS at B radford, DuBois, Franklin, Jamestown, and /or Parkersburg , submit their proposal, with or without subsidy requests, no later

than April 17 , 2014 . The proposal should be emailed to: EAS@dot.gov with the title “Proposal

to Pro vide EAS at Bradford, DuBois, Fra nklin, Jamestown, and /or Parkersburg 7 ”;

2. Th ese docket s will remai n open until further O rder of the Department; and

3 . We will serve copies of this O rder on the mayor s of Bradford, DuBois, Franklin, Jamestown,

and Parkersburg

, the airport manager s of Bradford Regional A irport , DuBois Regional Airport, Venango Regional Airport ( Franklin/Oil City )

, Chautauqua County

- Jamestown Airport and the

Mid

- Ohio Valley Regional Airport (Parkersburg/Marietta)

, and the service list for th ese docket s

.

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 Order will be effective immediately, and the filin g of a petition for review shall not preclude

its effectiveness.

By:

SUSAN L. KURLAND Assistant Secretary for

Aviation and International Affairs

(SEAL) An electronic version of this document is available

o nline at http://www.regulations.gov

.

7 Questions regarding filings in response to this order should be directed to Mic hael Gormas at 202

- 366

- 1853, or via

email at mail to:michael.gormas@dot.govAppendix A

AREA MAP

Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper

- copyright © Karl L. SwartzAppendix B Page 1 of 3

EAS Carrier Traffic at:

Bradford (BFD), Dubois (DUJ), Franklin/Oil City (FKL), Pennsylvania, Jamestown (JHW), New York, and Parkers burg (PKB), West Virginia/Marietta, Ohio 1

Bradford, PA

Quarter Year Deplanements Enplanements Total
Traffic

1 2012 401 478 879

2 2012 555 535 1,090

3 2012 608 615 1,223

4 2012 536 599 1,135

Annual

Totals 2,100 2,227 4,327

1 2013 463 402 865

2 2013 509 559 1,068

3 2013 611 613 1,224

4 2013 347 359 706

Annual

Totals 1,930 1,933 3,863

DuBois, PA

Quarter Year Deplanements Enplanements Total
Traffic

1 2012 1,154 1,211 2,365

2 2012 1,310 1,316 2,626

3 2012 1,274 1,310 2,5 84

4 2012 1,260 1,220 2,480

Annual

Totals 4,998 5,057 10,055

1 2013 1,022 1,104 2,126

2 2013 1,140 1,289 2,429

3 2013 1,313 1,445 2,758

4 2013 903 847 1,750

Annual

Totals 4,378 4,685 9,063Appendix B Page 2 of 3

Franklin/Oil City, PA

Quarter Year Deplanement s Enplanements Total
Traffic

1 2012 268 283 551

2 2012 322 303 625

3 2012 341 376 717

4 2012 347 357 704

Annual

Totals 1,278 1,319 2,597

1 2013 302 319 621

2 2013 577 323 900

3 2013 494 415 909

4 2013 232 279 511

Annual

Totals 1,605 1,33 6 2,941

Jamestown, NY

Quarter Year Deplanements Enplanements Total
Traffic

1 2012 581 602 1,183

2 2012 799 761 1,560

3 2012 981 1020 2,001

4 2012 745 764 1,509

Annual

Totals 3,106 3,147 6,253

1 2013 609 721 1,330

2 2013 923 647 1,570

3 2 013 932 980 1,912

4 2013 555 592 1,147

Annual

Totals 3,019 2,940 5,959Appendix B Page 3 of 3

Notes : 1. Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics T

- 100 M arket. Parkersburg, WV/Marietta, OH

Quarter Year Deplanements Enplanements Total
Traffic

1 2012 1,500 1,523 3,023

2 2012 1,973 2,000 3,973

3 2012 2,173 2,093 4,266

4 2012 2,127 2,1 26 4,253

Annual

Totals 7,773 7,742 15,515

1 2013 1,741 1,704 3,445

2 2013 2,124 2,255 4,379

3 2013 2,125 2,155 4,280

4 2013 1,378 1,373 2,751

Annual

Totals 7,368 7,487 14,855App endix C

Essential Air Service to be Maintained at Bradford, DuBois, Franklin, Jamestown, and Parkersburg

Effective Period: June 14, 2014, until further Department action

Scheduled Service: 18 weekly nonstop or one

- stop round trips to Bradford

.

24 weekly nonstop or one

- stop round trips to DuBois 12 weekly nonstop or one

- stop round trips to Franklin 18 weekly nonstop or one

- stop round trips to Jamestown 24 weekly nonstop round trips to Parkersburg

Aircraft: 19 seat Beech 1900DAppendix D

Example of General Terms and Conditions for Essential Air Service

The carrier understands that it may forfeit its compensation for an y flights that it does not operate in conformance with the terms and stipulations of the rate Order, including the service plans outlined in the Order and any other significant elements of the required service, without prior approval. The

carrier understa nds that an aircraft take

- off and landing at its scheduled destination constitutes a completed flight; absent an explanation supporting subsidy eligibility for a flight that has not been completed, such as certain weather cancellations, only completed flig hts are considered eligible for subsidy. In addition, if the carrier does not schedule or operate its flights in full conformance with the Order for a significant period, it may jeopardize its entire subsidy claim for the period in question. If the carri er contemplates any such changes beyond the scope of the Order during the applicable period of these rates, it must first notify the Office of Aviation Analysis in writing and receive written approval from the Department to be ensured of full compensation. Should circumstances warrant, the Department may locate and select a replacement carrier to provide service on these routes. The carrier must complete all flights that can be safely operated; flights that overfly points for lack of traffic will not be c ompensated. In determining whether subsidy payment for a deviating flight should be adjusted or disallowed, the Department will consider the extent to which the goals of the program are met and the extent of access to the national air transportation syste m provided to the community.

If the Department unilaterally, either partially or complete, terminates or reduces payments for service or changes service requirements at a specific location provided for under this Order, then, at the end of the period for which the Department does make payments in the stipulated amounts or at the stipulated service levels, the carrier may cease to provide service to that specific location without regard to any requirement for notice of such cessation. Those adjustments in the levels of subsidy and/or service that are mutually agreed to in writing by the Department and carrier do not constitute a total or partial reduction or cessation of payment.

Funds may not be available for performance under this Order beyond [DATE]. T he Government’s obligation for performance under this Order beyond [DATE], is subject to the availability 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 unde r this Order beyond [DATE], until funds are made available to the Department for performance. If sufficient funds are not made available for performance beyond [DATE], the Department will provide notice in writing to the carrier.

Subsidy contracts are su bject to, and incorporate by reference, relevant statutes and Department regulations, as they may be amended from time to time. However, any such statutes, regulations, or amendments thereto shall not operate to controvert the foregoing paragraph.

All cl aims 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 su bmitted by November 30 th

, and so on.