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Order 2010-6-9

Served: June 8, 2010

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

 Issued by the Department of Transportation

on the 8

th day of June, 2010

ORDER PROHIBITING TERMINATION OF SERVICE 

AND REQUESTING PROPOSALS

Summary

By this order, the Department is (a) prohibiting Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (Great Lakes)

from terminating its subsidized service at Fort Leonard Wood and Joplin, Missouri, for 

30 days beyond the end of its 90-day notice period, and (b) requesting long-term 

proposals from carriers interested in providing essential air service (EAS), with or 

without subsidy, by July 15, 2010. (See Appendix A for a map.)

Background

Great Lakes was selected to provide EAS at Fort Leonard Wood and Joplin through two 

separate orders1using 19-seat Beechcraft 1900D aircraft. Great Lakes was to provide

Joplin with 18 weekly nonstop round trips to Kansas City for a two-year period beginning 

when it inaugurated full EAS through the end of the 24th month thereafter, at an annual 

subsidy of $997,680. Great Lakes inaugurated service at Joplin on September 8, 2008, 

with two round trips and inaugurated a third round trip on September 29, 2008. By Order 

2009-10-13, Great Lakes is providing Fort Leonard Wood with 18 weekly nonstop round 

trips to Kansas City or St. Louis from November 1, 2009, through October 31, 2011, for 

an annual subsidy of $1,292,906. 

 

1 Order 2009-10-13, October 22, 2009, for Fort Leonard Wood and Order 2008-7-8, July 3, 2008, for Joplin

Essential Air Service at

FORT LEONARD WOOD, MISSOURI

JOPLIN, MISSOURI

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

 DOCKET DOT-OST-1996-1167

 DOCKET DOT-OST-2006-23932
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On May 4, 2010, Great Lakes filed a 90-day notice with the Department of its intent to 

terminate its subsidized service at Fort Leonard Wood and Joplin effective August 2,

2010. In its notice, Great Lakes states that during the past two years, it “has seen 

significant capacity reductions and a further deterioration of Kansas City International 

Airport as a Hub,” and “terminal facilities are not conducive to connectivity with 

passengers having to undergo security rescreening, not only in our existing terminal 

facility but also within the transfer of passengers between the three terminal facilities.”

Decision

Because Great Lakes’ proposed termination of service would leave Fort Leonard Wood 

and Joplin without any scheduled air service, we must prohibit the carrier from 

terminating such service at the end of its 90-say notice period and request proposals for 

replacement service. We will also require it to maintain service at the community for an 

initial 30-day period after the original 90-day notice period consistent with the current 

contract. Furthermore, we will require Great Lakes to continue to maintain service at the 

communities for successive 30-day periods until we have completed processing the 

carrier replacement case and the new carrier has actually started service. 

Request for Proposals

Carriers interested in filing proposals, with or without subsidy requests, should file them 

no later than July 15, 2010. At the end of that period, our staff will docket the proposals, 

thereby making them public, and direct each carrier to serve a copy of its proposal on the 

civic parties and other applicants. Shortly afterwards, we will provide a summary of the 

proposals to the community officials and ask them to submit their final comments. We 

will give full consideration to all proposals that are timely filed.2

Interested carriers should prepare their proposals with every expectation that their initial 

proposals will represent their final and only proposals. However, we retain the discretion 

to negotiate proposals with carriers when we deem it desirable. We also retain the 

discretion to reject outright all unreasonable or unrealistic proposals and re-solicit a new 

round of proposals.

We are here providing interested 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, they might want to 

include proposed schedules as well as supporting data for their subsidy requests, such as 

projected block hours, revenues and expenses. We strongly encourage clear, well-

 

2 Carriers should not expect the Department to accept late filings. In cases where a carrier proposes to 

provide essential air service without subsidy and we determine that service can be reliably provided without 

such compensation, we do not proceed with the carrier-selection case. Instead, we simply rely on that 

carrier’s subsidy-free service as proposed.
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documented proposals that will facilitate their evaluation by the affected communities 

and the Department.3

With respect to Fort Leonard Wood and Joplin, we expect proposals consisting of four

round trips on weekdays and weekends with 15- to 29-seat aircraft (24 per week), three 

round trips on weekdays and weekends with 30 to 33-seat aircraft (18 per week), or two 

daily round trips (14 per week) with 34-seat or larger aircraft to Chicago O’Hare, 

Dallas/Fort Worth, Memphis or another suitable hub airport with airline connections to 

the national air transportation system. Carriers that submit proposals using aircraft with 

fewer than 15 seats may propose more frequencies beyond the four round trips described 

above. If a proposal offering aircraft with fewer than 15 seats is submitted for either

community discussed here and the community ultimately supports the service, in effect 

waiving their right to 15-seat or larger aircraft, we would consider the waiver to apply 

only to the two-year carrier-selection at hand, i.e. we would not assume that the 

community waives their rights for all time.

The communities and air carriers are encouraged to work together in advance of the due 

date for proposals to craft a service pattern that is desirable to the community and meets 

the operational needs of the airline interested in submitting a proposal. In addition, 

carriers should be very clear as to whether a specific community’s proposal is on a standalone basis, or whether it is part of a larger, inseparable package with other communities.

We encourage proposals that meet these requirements in an efficient manner. Carriers 

are also welcome to propose more than one service option, if they choose; they need not 

limit themselves to those requirements if they envision other, potentially more attractive 

service possibilities -- different hubs, for example -- with subsidy requirements that 

remain competitive.

Service and Traffic History

In order to assist interested carriers in developing traffic and revenue projections for their 

service proposals, we have summarized some historical origin-destination traffic in 

Appendix B. For the most recent 12-month period, ending March 31, 2010, there was an 

average of 16.1 enplaned passengers per day at Fort Leonard Wood and 12.2 per day 

Joplin4.

 

3 49 U.S.C. 41733(c)(1) directs us to consider four factors in selecting a carrier to provide subsidized 

essential air service: (1) service reliability; (2) contractual and marketing arrangements with a larger carrier 

at the hub; (3) interline arrangements with a larger carrier at the hub; and (4) community views. In 

addition, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, Public Law 110-161, states that when selecting a 

carrier to provide essential air service, the Department may consider the carriers’ relative subsidy 

requirements, thus codifying a factor that we have considered since the inception of the program. 

Interested carriers should also be aware that our general provisions governing essential air service will be 

included in the selection order as part of our authorization of subsidy for the selected service. Appendix C 

of this order contains those general provisions. 

4 Enplaned passengers per day calculated by adding enplanement and deplanement totals from 

Appendix B, then dividing by 313 (days), then dividing by 2.
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New 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.

Other Carrier Requirements

The Department is responsible for implementing various Federal statutes governing 

lobbying activities, drug-free workplaces, and nondiscrimination.1 Consequently, all 

carriers receiving Federal subsidy for essential air service must certify that they are in 

compliance with Department regulations regarding drug-free workplaces and 

nondiscrimination, and those carriers whose subsidies exceed $100,000 over the life of 

the rate term must also certify that they are in compliance with the regulations governing 

lobbying activities. Because 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 

certifications. Interested carriers requiring more detailed information regarding these 

requirements should contact the Office of Aviation Analysis at (202) 366-5903.2

Community and State Comments

The communities and state are welcome to submit comments at any time. As noted 

above, we encourage prospective applicants to contact the communities before they 

submit their proposals so that they can tailor them to the community’s needs, as they will 

not be able to amend them after the due date. As noted earlier, we will provide a copy of 

the proposals to the civic parties and ask them to submit their final comments shortly 

after July 15, the due date for carrier proposals.

This order is issued under authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.56a(f).

ACCORDINGLY,

1. We prohibit Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. from suspending service at Fort Leonard 

Wood and Joplin, Missouri, at the end of its 90-day notice period, and require it to 

maintain service as set forth in Appendix D, for an initial 30-day period through 

September 2, 2010, or until a carrier capable of providing reliable essential air service 

actually begins service, whichever is first;3

 

1 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; 49 CFR Part 27 --

Nondiscrimination on the basis of disability in programs and activities receiving or benefiting from Federal 

financial assistance; and 14 CFR Part 382 -- Nondiscrimination on the basis of disability in air travel; and 

(3) 49 CFR Part 29 -- Government-wide debarment and suspension (non-procurement) and governmentwide requirements for drug-free workplace (grants).

2 The certifications are also available on the web at http://ostpxweb.dot.gov/aviation/index.html.

3 In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 41734(c), we will extend Great Lakes’ service obligation for successive 

30-day periods as necessary until replacement service actually begins.
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2. We direct Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. to retain all books and other source and 

summary documentation to support claims for payment, and to preserve and maintain 

such documentation in a manner that readily permits its audit and examination by 

representatives of the Department. Such documentation shall be retained for seven years 

or until the Department indicates that the records may be destroyed, whichever is earlier. 

Copies of logs for aircraft sold or disposed of must be retained. The carrier may forfeit 

its compensation for any claim that is not supported under the terms of this order;

3. We request that carriers interested in providing essential air service at Fort Leonard 

Wood and Joplin, Missouri, submit their proposals, with or without subsidy requests, no 

later than July 15, 2010. The proposals should be via e-mail to EAS@dot.gov, with the 

subject “Proposal to Provide Essential Air Service at Fort Leonard Wood (Docket DOTOST-1996-1167) and/or Joplin, Missouri, (Docket DOT-OST-2006-23932);”

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4. These dockets will remain open until further order of the Department; and 

5. We will serve copies of this order on the mayors of Joplin, Waynesville, and Saint

Robert, Missouri, personnel at Fort Leonard Wood, and the airport managers of Joplin 

Regional Airport and Waynesville/St. Robert Regional Airport, and the parties listed in 

Appendix E.

By:

SUSAN L. KURLAND

Assistant Secretary for Aviation and 

International Affairs

(SEAL)

An electronic version of this document is available

on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov
Appendix A

AREA MAP

This map is provided by Sabre® AirVisionTM Profit Essentials and is being used with express permission of the copyright holder, 

Sabre Airline Solutions®.
Appendix B

Page 1 of 2

Traffic History*

Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri (TBN)

Year Quarter Carrier Deplaned Enplaned Totals

2006 2 Regions Air, Inc. 2,298 1,952 4,250

2006 3 Regions Air, Inc. 2,349 2,025 4,374

2006 4 Regions Air, Inc. 2,099 2,097 4,196

2007 1 Regions Air, Inc. 1,271 924 2,195

15,015

2007 4 Great Lakes Airlines 521 713 1,234

2008 1 Great Lakes Airlines 799 581 1,380

1,294 2,614

2008 2 Great Lakes Airlines 1,364 1,315 2,679

2008 3 Great Lakes Airlines 2,079 1,655 3,734

2008 4 Great Lakes Airlines 1,437 1,233 2,670

2009 1 Great Lakes Airlines 1,631 1,120 2,751

11,834

2009 2 Great Lakes Airlines 1,811 1,413 3,224

2009 3 Great Lakes Airlines 1,555 1,406 2,961

2009 4 Great Lakes Airlines 1,039 930 1,969

2010 1 Great Lakes Airlines 1,234 719 1,953

10,107

*Source – T-100 Market Report, Passengers in Scheduled Passenger Service, includes traffic for Regions 

Air and Great Lakes Airlines only

**Service hiatus 2Q and 3Q 2007 due to the shutdown of Regions Air, Inc.
Appendix B

Page 2 of 2

Traffic History*

Joplin, Missouri (JLN)

Year Quarter Carrier Deplaned Enplaned Totals

2006 2 Trans States Airlines 2,443 2,500 4,943

2006 3 Trans States Airlines 731 772 1,503

2006 3 Air Midwest Inc. 1,988 2,037 4,025

2006 4 Air Midwest Inc. 3,271 3,558 6,829

2007 1 Air Midwest Inc. 2,987 3,175 6,162

23,462

2007 2 Air Midwest Inc. 3,465 3,773 7,238

2007 3 Air Midwest Inc. 4,092 4,439 8,531

2007 4 Air Midwest Inc. 3,621 3,871 7,492

2008 1 Air Midwest Inc. 1,985 2,020 4,005

27,266

2008 2 Air Midwest Inc. 1,798 1,853 3,651

2008 3 Great Lakes Airlines 137 134 271

2008 4 Great Lakes Airlines 885 864 1,749

2009 1 Great Lakes Airlines 914 852 1,766

7,437

2009 2 Great Lakes Airlines 929 931 1,860

2009 3 Great Lakes Airlines 1,063 1,031 2,094

2009 4 Great Lakes Airlines 998 959 1,957

2010 1 Great Lakes Airlines 898 817 1,715

7,626

*Source – T-100 Market Report, Passengers in Scheduled Passenger Service, includes traffic for Air 

Midwest, Inc. and Great Lakes Airlines only
Appendix C 

Example of General Terms and Conditions for Essential Air Service

The carrier understands that it may forfeit its compensation for any 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 understands 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 

flights 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 carrier 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 compensated. 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 system provided to the community.

If the Department unilaterally, either partially or completely, 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 are not currently available for performance under this solicitation beyond [DATE]. The 

Government’s obligation for performance under this solicitation beyond [DATE], is contingent 

upon the availability of appropriated 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 under 

this order beyond [DATE], until funds are made available to the Department for performance. If 

funds are not made available for performance beyond [DATE], the carrier will receive notice in 

writing by the Department.

Subsidy contracts are subject 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 claims for payment must be submitted within 60 days of the last day of service provided 

under this order.
Appendix D

GREAT LAKES AVIATION, LTD.

ESSENTIAL AIR SERVICE TO BE MAINTAINED 

FORT LEONARD WOOD AND JOPLIN, MISSOURI

EFFECTIVE PERIOD September 2, 2010, until further Department action

SERVICE 18 weekly nonstop round trips to Kansas City International Airport

AIRCRAFT TYPE Beechcraft 1900D (19 seats)

TIMING OF

FLIGHTS Flights must be well timed and well spaced to ensure full compensation
Appendix E

Distribution

Air Sunshine, Inc. Intrepid Internatl Air, Rick Eyk

Air Sunshine, Mirmohammad Adili Island Air Charters, Linda House

Air West, Inc., John Raatz Jet Air, Daniel Wolford

Air Wisconsin, Annette Daly Kenmore Air, Tim Brooks

Airline Associates, Bill Mishk McCall Aviation and Salmon Air, Dan Scott

Alaska Airlines, Jeff Cole McCall Aviation, Michelle

Alaska Airlines, Sandy Sinick Mesa, Jonathan Ornstein

Allegiant Air, Robert Ashscroft Mesa, Michael Lotz 

American Airlines, Carl Nelson Mesa, Mike Holcomb

American Eagle, Jeffrey Hartz Mesaba, John Spanjers 

Atlantic Southeast, Jon Lindlief Mesaba, Max Shemesh

Atlantis Southeast, Roger Weston Midstar Airlines, Jeffrey Fonner

Bemidji Aviation, Cori Rude Midwest Airlines, Greg Aretakis

Bemidji Aviation, Arlen Rinkenberger MN Aviation, Jose Maldonado 

Cape Air, Andrew Bonney Multi Aero, Darnea

Cape Air, Dan Wolf Multi Aero, Shane Storz

Cape Air, J. Flaherty Northwest, Tim McDonald 

Classic Aviation, Tony Henderson NYDC, Henok Araya

Colgan Air, Mike Colgan OST, Brian Swanson

CommutAir, Andy Price OST, Dennis DeVany

CommutAir, Joel Raymond OST, Kevin Adams

Consultant, Robert Silverberg OST, Kevin Schlemmer

Continental, Bruce Keiner OST, Michael Martin 

Continental, Dan Weiss OST, Renee Williams

Continental, Lorry Halloway Pacific Wings, Frank Ford

Delta, Amy Martin Pacific Wings, Greg Kahlstorf

Delta, Dan Shuman PenAir, Danny Seybert

Delta, Jeff Morgan PenAir, Scott Bloomquist

Delta, Joe Esposito Pinnacle Airlines, Joe Williams 

Delta, Karen Zachary Pinnacle Airlines, Phil Reed

Delta, Sascha Vanderbellen Public Charters, Jim Gallagher

Dorado Jets Scenic, Mary Schneider

Dorado Jets, Mark McKenna Scenic, Mitzi Daines

Era Aviation, Mike Lenorman Seaborne Airlines, Wayne D'Amico

Executive Airlines, Kate Soled SeaPort Airlines, Jim Day

Frontier Flying, Bob Hajducovich SeaPort Airlines, Rob McKinney

Gem Air, Dan Schroeder Shuttle America, Jerry Balsano 

Gem Air, JoAnn Wolters SkyWest, Eric Christensen

Great Lakes, Chuck Howell SkyWest, Michael Thompson

Great Lakes, Doug Voss Sovereign Air, Bob Karns

Great Lakes, Greg Stephens Sovereign Air, Lois R. Barton

Gulfstream, Dave Hackett Tradewind, Eric Zipkin 

Gulfstream, Mickey Bowman TransStates, Fred Oxley 

Gulfstream, T. Cooper TransStates, Gerry Wigmore

Homeland Security, Bill Ragan United, Alicia Gabriel

Homeland Security, David Bernier United, James Starnes

Homeland Security, Randy Webb US Airways, Benjamin Slocum

Horizon Air, Dan Russo US Airways, Howard Kass

Horizon Air, Jennifer Thompson US Airways, Jason Reisinger 

Horizon Air, Jeff Cole Warbelows Air Ventures, Art Warbelow

ICEPR, Luis Irizarry Wings Air (Air Greco), Aaron Goerlich
Appendix D