Before the US Department of Transportation 

Essential Air Service at: 

IRONWOOD, MICHIGAN/ASHLAND, WISCONSIN 

And MANISTEE/LUDINGTON, MICHIGAN 

Under 49 U.S.C. 41731 et seq. 

Docket DOT -OST -1996-1266 

Docket DOT -OST -1996-1711 

~-i .' '.)--' 

Chautauqua Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings and doing business as 

Frontier Airlines ("Frontier") respectfully submits its proposal to provide subsidized Essential Air Service to 

Ironwood, MI/Ashland, WI ("Ironwood"), and Manistee/Ludington, MI ("Manistee"). The service 

contemplated would operate to/from Frontier's hub at Milwaukee, WI, using 37-seat Embraer ERJ-135 jet 

aircraft. Two roundtrips per day would be operated nonstop from Milwaukee to Manistee, and two 

roundtrips per day would be operated from Milwaukee to Ironwood with an intermediate stop in 

Rhinelander, WI or Wausau/Stevens Point, WI. The flights would be sold under Frontier's F9 code. 

Frontier (including flying by its regional affiliates) is the largest operator at Milwaukee, from where it offers 

nonstop service as of November 2010 to 34 nonstop destinations in the U.S. and Mexico with over SO 

weekday departures. Summer seasonal service is also offered nonstop to large West Coast markets 

including San Francisco and Seattle. In addition, further destinations are available via online connections 

through Frontier's Kansas City and Denver hubs. As a low-fare airline, we will be able to offer lower fares 

to the destinations that customers from Ironwood and Manistee want to reach, and Milwaukee has been 

recognized as the airport where airfares have been falling the fastest in the DOT's Consumer Airfares 

Report. Additional access is available for Manistee and Iron(wood passengers thanks to the fact that we 

have full interline agreements with over 20 airlines, including American Airlines, Continental Airlines, 

United Airlines, and US Airways who provide further travel options with connections in Milwaukee.. In 

addition to sales via its website and reservations centers, Frontier makes all of its flights available for sale 

in each of the major G.D.S., making it easy for customers to purchase tickets through corporate travel 

departments, local travel agencies, and all of the major online travel agencies. 

Frontier already has a presence in smaller communities in the region, including both Appleton and Green 

Bay, WI, and both Grand Rapids and Flint, MI. Additionally, we are committed to continuing to develop 

services in the area. This past summer, we operated a successful new service from Denver to Green Bay, 

and we are looking to continue to develop service to smaller markets where we can stimulate demand 

with lower fares. We believe that adding further service directly into our Milwaukee hub will increase 

demand for air travel from the communities of Ironwood and Manistee. 

This is an all-or-nothing bid and we do not wish to be considered for service to only one of the points in 

the application. Frontier requests flexibility to operate the service using a 50-seat ERJ-145 aircraft in 

place of the ERJ-135 detailed herein. Finally, Frontier requests that the DOT, Ironwood, and Manistee 

waive the right to hold-in Frontier upon a 1 SO-day notice to terminate service. We do not foresee this to 

be an issue, but we do need the flexibility to react to changing costs and demand. 

Daniel Shurz, 

Vice President, Strategy and Planning 
Table of Contents 

Proposal Service Points Hub Served Round Trips Equipment Subsidy Pax 

Part Depts Forecast 

1 MBL MKE 2 E135 1329 21,588 

2 IWD MKE 2 (1-stop) E135 1329 11,888 

Totals in Bid 

Annual Subsidy Requirement Depts Passengers 

$3,082,333 2658 33,476 

Subsidy/Dept $1160 

Subsidy/Pax $92 

Schedule Proposals 

Manistee-Milwaukee 

Fit # Freq Routing Schedule Time Enroute Equip 

2002 x7 MKE-MBL 08:3010:15 0:45 ER3 

2003 D MBL-MKE 10:3510:20 0:45 ER3 

2008 D MKE-MBL 15:1216:57 0:45 ER3 

2009 x6 MBL-MKE 17:1717:02 0:45 ER3 

Ironwood-Milwaukee 

Fit # Freq Routing Schedule Time Enroute Equip 

2000 x7 IWD-MKE 1-stop 05:4007:25 1:45 ER3 

2003 D MKE-IWD 1-stop 10:4512:36 1 :51 ER3 

2008 D IWD-MKE 1-stop 12:5614:41 1:45 ER3 

2009 x6 MKE-IWD 1-stop 18:0019:51 1 :51 ER3 

Average 

Fare 

$75 

$87 
Market: Manistee to Milwaukee 

Aircraft 

Mileage 

Daily Departures 

Annual Departures 

Block per Departure 

Annual Block Hours 

Annual Onboard Pax 

Com pletion Percent 

Revenue 

Annual Pax 

ERJ135 

123 

4 

1329 

0.75 hours 

997 hours 

21,588 

98% 

21,588 

Average Segment Fare $75.02 

Total Revenue 

Expenses 

$1,619,531 

System/Station Costs $2,284,606 

Fuel Costs $871 ,894 

Total Annual Expense $3,156,500 

Profit/(Loss) ($1,536,969) 

Profit Margin @5% $157,825 

Subsidy Request $1,694,794 

Subsidy/Departure $1275.24 

Subsidy/Pax $78.50 

Seats 

ASMs/Flight 

Annual ASMs 

Annual RPMs 

Load Factor 

Annual Seats 

Fuel Cost per Gallon 

37 

4551 

6,048,279 

2,655,324 

43.9% 

49,173 

$2.50 
Market: Ironwood to Milwaukee (Assumed stop location is Rhinelander, WI and costs apply 

to Ironwood-Rhinelander,WI) 

Aircraft ERJ135 Seats 37 

Mileage 70 ASMs/Flight 2,590 

Daily Departures 4 Annual ASMs 3,442,110 

Annual Departures 1329 Annual RPMs 832,160 

Block per Departure 0.45 hours Load Factor 24.2% 

Annual Block Hours 598 hours Annual Seats 49,173 

Annual Onboard Pax 11,888 Fuel Cost per Gallon $2.50 

Com pletion Percent 98% 

Revenue 

Annual Pax 11,888 

Average Segment Fare $87.83 

Total Revenue $1,044,123 

Expenses 

System/Station Costs $1,792,780 

Fuel Costs $523,136 

Total Annual Expense $2,315,916 

Profit/(Loss) ($1,271,793) 

Profit Margin @5% $115,796 

Subsidy Request $1,387,589 

Subsidy/Departure $1044.08 

Subsidy/Pax $116.72