X Oc Y-c + o 5T - 0 w o \ - \0 ^ S 5 

• ' • '• •::L- ^ A ' ; • . . 

US. Department Of :. i •••' • . ^ 120 0 Ne w jersey Avenue, SE 

ItanSportOtion Washington, DC 20590 

Office Of the Secnsiary •-w i; \l \ ' ^ ••. Or' 

of Transportation 

Mayor Matt Bemrich April 14. 2011 

819 First Avenue South 

Fort Dodge. IA 50501 

Dear Mayor Bemrich: 

This letter is regarding essential air service (EAS) at Fort Dodge. My puipose in writing is to 

inform you of the results of the carriers' service and subsidy proposals before we submit a 

recommendation on the carrier-selection issue to the Assistant Secretary for Aviation and 

hitemational Affairs for decision. A similar letter is being sent to Mason City. 

As you know. Order 2011-1-12, January 14, 2011, requested proposals at Fort Dodge and Mason 

City, with proposals due March 1. By Notice dated February 11. 2011, we extended the deadline 

for proposals to April 5, 2011. 

In response to our request for proposals, we received proposals from Multi-Aero, Inc.. d/b/a Air 

Choice One; Chautauqua Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings, 

d/b/a Frontier Express: Mesaba Aviation, Inc., d/b/a Delta Connection, and SeaPort Airlines. We 

emailed those proposals to the parties, and they can be viewed at the Federal Docket 

Management System, http://www.rcgulations.gov under DOT-OST-2001-10682, so 1 will only 

briefly summarize them here. You may also view a summary of each proposal in the attached 

Appendix A. 

Multi-Aero 

All of Mulli-Aero's proposals are for either a two-year or four-year period, with a four-year 

contract requiring slightly less annual subsidy. All of the proposals contemplate 30-seat aircraft, 

though they do not specify the exact aircraft type - presumably Embraer Brasilia or Saab 340. 

Multi-Aero does not currently have the requisite authority from either the Federal Aviation 

Administration or the Department to operate 30-seat aircraft in scheduled service. 

Option 1: Multi Aero proposes 14 nonstop round trips per week to Chicago O'Hare. 

The carrier requests $2,692,138 annual subsidy for a two-year contract, and $2,638,295 

annual subsidy for a four-year contract. 

Option 2: Multi Aero proposes 14 nonstop round trips per week to Minneapolis. The 

carrier requests $2,508,592 annual subsidy for a two-year contract, and $2,458,420 

annual subsidy for a four-year contract. 

Option 3: This option is part of an inseparable package with Mason City in which Fort 

Dodge would receive 14 nonstop round trips per week to Chicago and Mason City 

would receive 19 nonstop round trips per week for a combined annual subsidy of 

$5,456,099 for two years or $5,346,977 for four years. However, the level of service 

proposed for Mason City exceeds program guidelines and we would not select it, thus 

leaving this option moot for Fort Dodge as well as Mason City. 
SeaPort Airlines 

Seaport proposes 28 nonstop round trips per week to Minneapolis with 9-seat Pilatus PC-12 

aircraft, a single-engine turboprop aircraft. The carrier requests $1,600,064 subsidy the first year 

and $1,652,942 subsidy the second year. Because Fort Dodge is guaranteed service with twinengine, 15-seat aircraft, SeaPort's subsidized proposal could not be selected unless the 

community waived its right to those standards. 

Mesaba Aviation. Inc. 

Mesaba proposes only a five-month option, from June 1 through October 31, and would continue 

to operate 14 nonstop round trips per week to Minneapolis with 34-seat Saab 340 aircraft. The 

carrier requests $1,910,995 annual subsidy for this level of service, which it revised downward 

from its initial proposal after discussions with the staff. Mesaba would operate as Delta 

Connection. 

Chautauqua 

Chautauqua proposes 13 nonstop round trips per week to Milwaukee with regional jets, either 

37-seat ERJ-135 or 50-seat ERJ-145 aircraft, and operated under a code-share agreement with 

Frontier. The carrier requests $4,148,224 annual subsidy for this level of service. The contract 

would presumably be for a typical two-year period. 

Please note that the .average passenger fares in the carriers' proposals shown in the docket do not 

necessarily reflect the average local fares passengers would pay, but, rather, reflect the prorated 

portion-of the total ticket price, e.g., the Fort Dodge- Minneapolis portion of a Fon Dodge to 

Minneapolis to New York ticket. Also, the fare shown is net of certain charges such as federal 

transportation security fees, excise or ticket taxes, and passenger facility charges. Of course, 

carriers have the discretion to charge fares diey deem appropriate, and the passenger fares 

presented in their proposals have been developed for subsidy rate computation purposes only. 

Based on the cost elements incorporated in the carriers' computation summaries, the caniers 

would have to realize passenger fares comparable to the averages shown in their proposals in 

order to achieve break-even or profitable operations even with subsidy. 

You should also note that the schedules that the carriers have submitted and that are shown in the 

docket are illustrative only, and thai each carrier may make schedule changes to reflect changing 

conditions, e.g., to better meet shifting connecting bank times at the hub{s). The Department 

expects subsidized air carriers to maintain well-timed and well-spaced flights in order to ensure 

full compensation. 
We know this matter is important to you and we will act as quickly as possible upon receipt of your 

letter. In order to expedite the case, please submit your comments by email to EAS^dot.izov by 

May 3. If you have any questions or do not wish to submit formal comments, please contact 

Kevin Adams at (202) 366-1047. 

Sincerely, 

Dennis J. DeVany 

Chief, Essential Air Service Division 

Office of Aviation Analysis 

cc: Mesaba, SeaPort, Multi-Aero, and Chautauqua 
Appendix A 

Annual Subsidy Rales ai Fort Dodge, Iowa. Dockel 2001 - 106S2 

Miilli-Aero, d/b/;i Air Choice One 

EJTeclive Period 

Code Share 

Round TripsAVeek 

Stops 

Hub 

Aircraft Type 

Passengera 

Dopartures 

Block Hours 

Passenger Revenue 

Tciial Revenue 

Total Directs 

Total Indirecls 

Total operating 

Prodi 

Ei;ononiic Cosi 

Annual Subsidy Rate 

Mesaba 

Delta 

14 

Nonstop 

MSP 

Saab :i40 

I8,IQ4 

1.416 

1,625 

$1,115,041 

$1,292,611 

51,934,534 

$1,116,519 

53,051.05.1 

$152.55.1 

$.1,201,606 

$1,910,995 

Chautauqua 

2 years 

Frontier 

13 

Nonstop 

MKE 

ERJ-135/145 

25.761 

1.324 

1.545 

$1,763,018 

$5,823,092 

SKK.I50 

$5,911,242 

S4.148.224 

Seapon 21 

1 St Year 

None 

28 

Nonstop 

MSP 

PC-12 

11 .WO 

2,832 

2.067 

$869,000 

$877,690 

51.627,425 

$732,341 

$2,359,766 

5(17.^88 

S2.477,754 

$1,600,064 

2nd Year 

None 

28 

Nonstop 

MSP 

PC-12 

I 1 .(.)00 

2.832 

2.067 

$869,000 

$877,690 

$1,662,156 

$747,970 

$2,410,126 

S( 20.500 

$2,530,632 

$1,652,942 

option 1 

2 years 

None 

14 

Nonstop 

ORD 

30-Seaicr 

20.500 

1 AS \ 

1.789 

$2,562,500 

$2,613,750 

•SI. ISO, 1)2 

$873,115 

$5,053,227 

S 25 2.661 

$3,305,888 

$2.692.1.38 

Option 2 

2 years 

None 

14 

Nonstop 

MSP 

30-Seater 

20.500 

1,431 

1.645 

52.419,000 

$2,467,380 

$3,871,703 

$867,318 

$4,739,021 

$236.95) 

$4,975,972 

$2,508,592 

Oniion 3 

2 years 

None 

14 

Nonstop 

ORD 

30-Sealer 

$2,314,709 

i/June 1.2011, through October 31, 2011, i,e..5 months. The numbers shown lor Mesaba are annualized, 

I I Seaport indicates service would be June 201 I ihough May 2013, We interpret this to mean a iwo-ycar period. 

since it is unlikely that a carrier transition could be concluded by June I 

3/ Multi-Aero offers the option of a 4-year contract, in which case it would require less subsidy, as t'oMows: 

Option 1.S2.638.295: Option 2, $2,458,420; Option 3, $2,268,414. 

4/ Option 3 IS an inseparable package for Mason City and Fon Dodge, \v\(\i Mason City receiving ) 9 round tnps a »i'ek and 

Fort Dodge 14 round trips per week. To allocate between Fon Dodge and Mason City, we have arbitrarily 

applied a ratio of 14/33 to the two-ciiy package