S\ :; ^^RTMENT OF 

U.S.DepartmeMof ' '' ' '-'^^-""'•"•'i^'i'-O 1200 New jersey Avenue, SE 

Transportation Washington, DC 20590 

Office Of the Secretary ' '--' < " -" ^i- H J 

of Transportation 

September 15,2011 

The Honorablle Ron Payne 

Mayor of the City of Owensboro 

Owensboro CJity Hall 

101 E 4* St 

Owensboro, JCY 42303 

Dear Mayor |»ayne: 

I would like to update you on the essential air service situation at Owensboro and give 

you an opportunity to submit any comments if you wish. In response to Pacific Wings' 

90-day notice! of intent to terminate service, the Department issued Order 2011-8-6, 

August 19, 2011, to solicit proposals from all interested air carriers to provide EAS at 

Owensboro for a two-year term. In response to that order, we received proposals from 

Hyannis Air $ervice. Inc. d/b/a Cape Air (Cape Air), Multi-Aero, Inc. d/b/a Air Choice 

One (Air Chqice One), SeaPort Airlines, Inc. (SeaPort), and TransportAzumah. 

Copies of each proposal may be accessed online at http://www.regulations.gov by 

entering DO11-OST-2000-7855 in the "Enter Keyword or ID" section. 

Cape Air proposes three daily nonstop round trips (21 per week) to Lambert-St. Louis 

International Airport (St. Lx)uis) using 9-passenger Cessna 402 aircraft. The carrier 

expects to off^r a code-share agreement with American Airlines. Cape Air proposes an 

annual subsidy of $1,829,680, for a two-year term, or an annual subsidy of $1,784,898 

for a four-year term. 

Air Choice One proposed four options, each operating with 9-passenger Cessna Grand 

Caravan aircraft. Option 1 is three nonstop round trips each weekday and weekend (18 

per week) to St. Louis for an annual subsidy of $1,504,893. Option 2 is three daily 

nonstop round trips (21 per week) to St. Louis for an annual subsidy of $1,579,756. 

Option 3 is three nonstop round trips each weekday and weekend (18 per week) to 

Nashville International Aiiport (Nashville) for an annual subsidy of $1,426,475. 
Option 4 is three daily round trips to Nashville (21 per week) for an annual subsidy of 

$1,566,823. In addition. Air Choice One states that each of its four options would offer 

10 nonstop pund trips each week on an unsubsidized basis. Under Options 1 and 2, it 

proposes fi\le nonstop round trips to Chicago O'Hare and five additional nonstop round 

trips to St. Louis. Under Options 3 and 4, it proposes five nonstop round trips to Chicago 

O'Hare and five additional nonstop round trips to Nashville. However, the proposed 

unsubsidized service is outside the scope of the EAS program, thus, if selected, we could 

not require that Air Choice One provide the service and we will not consider it in our 

carrier-selection decision. 

SeaPort proposes three options, all using 9-passenger Cessna Caravan aircraft. Option 1 

is three nonstop round trips each weekday and weekend (18 per week) to Nashville for an 

annual subsidy of $1,029,080 (first year) and $1,024,114 (second year). Option 2 is two 

nonstop round trips each weekday and weekend (12 per week) to St. Louis and one 

nonstop roupd trip each weekday and weekend (6 per week) to Memphis International 

Airport for dn annual subsidy of $1,297,492 (first year) and $1,353,557 (second year). 

Option 3 is two nonstop round trips each weekday and weekend (12 per week) to St. 

Louis and one nonstop round trip each weekday and weekend (6 per week) to Nashville 

for an annual subsidy of $1,278,929 (first year) and $1,254,171 (second year). 

TransportAzumah proposes two ground transportation options, both utilizing a 47-

passenger bus. Option 1 is four daily round trips to Nashville International Airport for an 

aimual subsidy of $377,151. Option 2 is six daily round trips to Nashville International 

Airport for an annual subsidy of $545,727. 

Please note t|hat the average passenger fares shown in the proposal do not necessarily 

reflect the ayerage local fare Owensboro passengers would actually pay, but, rather, 

reflect a proijated portion of the total ticket price, e.g., the Owensboro - St. Louis portion 

of a Owensboro - St. Louis - Washington, D.C. ticket that the subsidized carrier would 

realize. 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 discjretion to charge fares they deem appropriate, and the passenger fares 

presented in this proposal have been developed for subsidy rate computation purposes 

only. 

You should also note that the schedules that the carrier has submitted are illustrative only, 

and that they may make schedule changes to reflect changing conditions, e.g., to better 

meet shifting connecting bank times at the hub. The Department expects subsidized air 

carriers to maintain well-timed and well-spaced flights in order to ensure full 

compensation. 

We ask that you submit any comments you may have as soon as possible, but in any case 

no later than October 5, 2011. We will carefully consider your comments before we 

submit a recc|mmendation to the Assistant Secretary for a decision. Should you have any 

questions or ^eed additional time to draft your comments, please let us know. 
3-

Please send your comments via e-mail to EAS@dot.gov or by fax to 202-366-7638. If 

you have any questions, please feel free to contact Kevin Schlemmer of my staff at 

kevin.schlet|nmer@dot.gov or 202-366-3176. 

A similar letter has been sent to the Airport Director at Owensboro Daviess County 

Regional Airport. 

Sincerely, 

^.^,/2.^ 

Dennis J. DeVany 

Chief, Essential Air Service