### BEFORE THE **DEP AR**  **TMENT OF**

**T RANSPOR** 

**TAT ION**  **WA SHINGTON, D.C.** 

__________________________________________ __________

) Essential Air Service at ) ) 

### WEST **YELLOWSTONE NA TIONAL**  **P ARK** **, MONT**

**ANA** ) **OST**

**- 2003** 
**- 1462**  **6** ) Under 49 U.S.C. §41731 et seq. )

__________________________________________ _________ )
**SIL VER**  **AIR**

**WAY S**  **P ROPOSAL** 

**TO P**  **ROVIDE S**  **UBSIDIZED AIR SERICE**  **AT WEST**  **YELLOWSTONE NA TIONAL**  **P ARK** **, MONT** 

**ANA** Corresponden ce with regard to this document should be addressed to: Mickey Bowman Vice President Essential Air Service Silver Airways 1100 Lee Wagener Blvd, Suite 201 Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33315 Telephone: 954

- 302

- 5929 Fax: 270

- 689

- 2180 E

- Mail: mbowman@gosilver.com
Si lver Airways cordially submits its proposal s to provide seasonal, subsidized air service to West Yellowstone National Park , Montana . Silver Airways hereby offers one option for service. Silver Airways proposes to operate flights , under its independent Silver Airways identity to the hub airport of Billings, Montana

. Silver Airways has an established market presence in Montana serving seven eastern Montana cities from the regional business center of Billings. We see synergy to be gained by linking the w estern part of the state to the east. Silver Airways has maintained interline ticketing and baggage agreements with most legacy carriers and will schedule its flights to allow connecting opportunities

. Silver Airways contends that reasonable local fares will stimulate demand and the variety of de stinations available from Billings will adequately meet the transportation needs of West Yellowstone National Park

. Toward that end we will establish a far e structure predicated on a $99 one way , $198 round trip fare betw een the Park and Billings. Silver Airways flights will be available for sale through all major reservation portals and we will maintain our own web based booking site as well as a reservation call center. This service will be marketed under our existing Island Air codeshare affiliation , as are all of our other Montana flights

. In compliance with Public Law 100

- 223, Silver Airways proposes to operate these flights using Beech 1900D turb oprops that are pressurized and accommo date 19 passeng ers to Billings. The 1900D features stand up headroom and a pressurized cabin that we feel is critica l in recovering lost passengers with ample cargo capacity to accommodate even bulky military duffle bags. One of the hallmarks of the Silver Airways operation is our ability to provide safe and reliable transportation. To ward this end, Silver Airways has establish ed a regional maintenance base in Billings to support these flights. Addition ally this proposal would benefit from a dedicated spare aircraft that wa s established with the earlier Montana EAS package. With this spare located in Billings , we have great flexibility in responding to any operati onal challenges and can assure this community receive s the level of oper ational performance it deserve s .**Service Option 1**

**3 8**  **We ekly freque**  **ncies between West Yellowstone National Park** **, Montana and Billings, Montana**  Silver Airways proposes to operate these flights under it s own independent marketing identity and in conjunction with the existing codeshare agre em ent it has with Island Air

. The timing of these flights w ill be optimized for connections to and from both legacy and lo w cost airline flights at Billings Silver Airways proposes to encourage connecting traffic by using a simplified local fee structur e whereby pas sengers connecting to or from other airline flights would pay only the low, local fare in addition to the low fares a lready a feature at Billings

. The basic servic e pattern would consist of three roundtrip s each weekday to Billings. Two round trip s wo uld operate on Saturday s and two round trips would operate on Sunday s to Billings

. **Silver Airways Airlines**  **Sample Flight Schedule Service Option 1**  **FROM TO**  **DEP ARR**  **FLT EQUIP**  **FREQ STOP**  **STA STA**  **TIME TIME**  **NUM BILLINGS**  **WEST YELLOWSTONE 07**  **10 0805**  **3594 BE1**  **X7 0**  **BILLINGS WEST YELLOWSTONE**  **1030 112**  **5 3591**  **BE1 X7**  **0 BILLINGS**  **WEST YELLOWSTONE 1400**  **1455 3591**  **BE1 7 Only**  **0 BILLINGS**  **WEST YELLOWSTONE 1725**  **182 0**  **3593 BE1**  **X6 0** 

**WEST YELLOWSTONE BILLINGS**  **0825 092**  **0 3560**  **BE1 X7**  **0 WEST YELLOWSTO**  **NE BILLINGS**  **1145 1240**  **3591 BE1**  **X 7**  **0 WEST YELLOWSTONE**  **BILLINGS 1515**  **1610 3565**  **BE1 7 Only**  **0 WEST YELLOWSTONE**  **BILLINGS 1840**  **1935 3593**  **BE1 X6**  **0** (Note: This Schedule is for illustrative purposes and may not reflect the final published product)**GULFSTREAM INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES**

**Essential Air Service Proposal To Provide Service at: West Yellowstone National Park,**  **Montana Option 1**  **West Yellowstone** Hub Served **Billings** Number of Roundtrips per Service Day **3** ( 2 Roundtrips on S aturday and Sunday) **Non**
**- Stop**  **Operating Statistics** (38rt/w eek) Assumed Completion % 98% Annual Adjusted Block Hours 594.95 Annual Adjusted Departures 649.04 Annual Adjusted ASMs 1,849,764 Annual RPMs 1,086,188 Projected Load Factor 58 .7% **Revenue Projections** Enplaned Passengers 7,241 Mileage (Average as Operated) 150 Average Fare $ 89.26 **Passenger Revenue** $ 646,372 **Expense Projections** Flight Operations $168,904 Owne rship $66,600 Maintenance $261,321 Reservations, Stations & Administration $485,232 Fuel $302,236 Marketing $2,000 **Total Annual Expenses** $1,286,293 Projected Profit / (Loss) ($639,921) Profit Element $64,315
**Annual Su bsidy Required**  **$704,236** Subsidy per Departure $1,085.04 Subsidy per Passenger $97.25In conclusion, Silver Airways believes that this pro posal will provide this National Park with superior air

s ervice options . We feel the passenge rs will benefit from the fact that Billings is the financial and b usiness center of Montana. The proposed service will connect West Yellowstone National Park not only with Billings, but also with an additional seven eastern Montana cities on a daily basis

. Additional connections will also be available with the legacy carriers serving Billings as well assuring full access to the national transportation system

. We will provide this service on s tand up, pressurized airliners and the infrastructure we have e stablish ed in support of this operation will add jobs to the Montana economy . Additionally the integrity of service that has been a hallm ark of the Silver Airways operation will lead to an enhanced customer experience and bode well for the development of intra

- state air service. Respectfully Submitted: January 24, 2012

______________________ Mickey Bowman Vice Pr esident Essential Air Service Silver Airways