Order 2014

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Served: October 15 , 20 14



### UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

on the 15 th of October , 2014

Essential Air Service at

LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA

Under 49 U.S.C. 41731 et seq

. DOCKET DOT

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ORDER APPROVING ALTERNATE SERVICE PATTERN

Summary By this O rder, the Department is approving the request of Sun Air Express , LLC ( Sun Air ) to
alter the pattern of its Essential Air Service (EAS) at Lancaster, Pennsylvania (LNS) , by allowing service to Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) , in addition to its current service to Washington

- Dulles (IAD).

Background By Order 201 2

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- 9 ( August 3, 2012 ), the Department selected Sun Air to provide subsidized

Essential Air S ervice at Lancaster for an annual subsidy of $ 2,504,174

. By that Order, Sun Air

was selected to provide 30 weekly nonstop round trips to IAD using a 9

- seat Piper Chieftain

aircraft through September 30, 2015

.

Carrier Proposal On October 2, 2014, the Department received a request from Sun Air to establish PIT as an approved destination for its Lancaster EAS service. The carrier cites community interest in having service to PIT an d the carrier believes such service would be viable , given that the

nu mber of communities in Eastern Pennsylvania that have lost nonstop service to PIT. Sun Air

believes the LNS

- PIT servic e “ has the potential to fill at least a portion of that void. ” Sun Air plans to transition service in the late October/early November time frame. Sun Air is not requesting any change to the per

- departure subsidy.- 2

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Community Comments On October 10, 2014, we received comments from the Lancaster Airport Authority supportin g Sun Air’s request to shift its service to PIT. The Authority states that there has been significant interest in the community in having PIT service and believes such service will provide easy connections between western Pennsylvania and the Lancaster

- Ha rrisburg region

.

Decision We will approve Sun Air’s request, which meets the three conditions necessary for approval under authority assigned under 14 CFR 385.12(k ) ( 3) of the Department’s Regulations: (1) the alternate service pattern is equal to or great er than that determined to be essential; (2) the community does not object to the alternate service pattern; and (3) the alternate service pattern

will not increase Sun Air’s subsidy.

Because we are simply allowing the alternate service pattern and not re quiring it, Sun Air may revert to the original service pattern at any time.

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

- delegated to the Director, Office of Aviation Analysis.

ACCORDINGLY,

1. We approve the alterna te service pattern requested by Sun Air Express, LLC, allowing Pittsburgh International Airport as an approved destination for Sun Air’s Essential Air Service a t Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

2. Sun Air’s service at Lancaster will continue at the service and subsidy levels set forth in Appendix C of Order 2012

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. This docket will remain open until further order of the Department; and- 3

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4 . The Depart ment will serve a copy of this O rder on the mayor of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the

director of Lancaster Airport

, and Sun Air Express, LLC.

Persons entitled to petition the Department for review of this Order under the Department’s Regulations, 14 CFR Part 385. 31 , must file such petitions within seven ( 7 ) days after the date of

service of this Order

.

Thi s order 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
(SEAL) An electronic version of this document is available at www.regulations.gov