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County of Jefferson 

Office of th e Count y Administrato r 

Historic Courtliouse 

193 Arsenal Street, 2"* Floor 

Watertown, NY 13601-2567 

Phone: (313) 783-3075 Fax: (315) 785-5070 

August 20, 2010 

Dennis J. DeVany, Chief 

Essential Air Service Division 

Office of Aviation Analysis 

U. S. Dept of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S. E. 

Washington, D. C. 20590 

RE: EAS Community Response 

Docket DOT-OST-1997-2842 

Dear Mr. DeVany: 

On behalf of the County Board of Legislators for Jefferson County, I want to thaiik you for offering 

us the opportunity to weigh in on the important deliberations regarding future commercial air service 

at the Watertown International Airport which, of course, is made available through the U. S. DOT's 

essential air service (EAS) program. As you know, three proposals were filed under the docket 

referenced above and county officials responsible for the ownership, operations and oversight of this 

important air transportation facility have been engaged in a careful review of each of the submittals 

since that time. 

While each of the three airlines presents a unique opportunity worthy of consideration for the part 

of northern New York served directly by our commercial airport and two of the three are also 

prepared to provide quality daily service to our residents immediately, it is abundantly clear that only 

one air carrier is closely linlced to the County's aggressive business plan for increasing conunercial 

passenger loads to service a growing local customer base in the not too distant future. 1 am, 

therefore, very pleased to advise you that our organization has universally endorsed the commercial 

air service proposal submitted to your office by Gulfstream International Airlines as the carrier of 

choice for the Watertown International Airport. 

I am sure that you will recall that a similar recommendation was made by Jefferson County during 

the RFP process two years ago because of the close linkage between our respective business plans 

for future growth of both the County's airport and commercial passenger traffic that only Gulfstream 

could supply. However, during this interim time period another airline was awarded the EAS 
contract. While that air service has been dependable, the organization reliable, pleasant to work with 

and usually quite responsive to any operational requests that we might have made, in point of fact, 

the enplanement nimibers have fallen dramatically compared to the short term stay of the prior 

commercial air carrier. It is also very apparent that service to/from a sub-hub in Albany, NY is 

simply not the airport of choice for local residents wishing to fly out of our airport, especially if they 

are looking to continue on to other destination points. Further, in our most recent discussions with 

that airline's representatives, it was also made quite clear that "the math" simply doesn't work in 

terms of getting to our desired 10,000 enplanement level with the type of plane and suggested flight 

plans being offered under their EAS proposal for the next two years. While adding a new linkage 

from Albany to Boston is a new initiative very much appreciated, a competing airline is already 

offering a similar route plan, flying direct and in less time with a bigger plane. 

On the other hand, that airline, Gulfstream Litemational, has gained valuable operational experience 

in the intervening two years successfully sei-ving several northern U. S. communities during the 

winter seasons. That aspect of the company's proposal two years ago was, admittedly, a valid point 

of potential concern. Also, two years ago, the recommended hub was Cleveland which has 

subsequently somewhat downsized overall commercial fliglits from that airport; now, the destination 

point is Boston's Logan International Airport, which is exactly where our local travelers were 

previously demonstrating a desire to go as witnessed by the increased enplanement numbers with 

Big Sky Airline. During our meetings with Gulfstream, we were most impressed with the marketing 

plan that was being developed, the fact that total interlining agreements were in place, a specific gate 

& linkage with airlines in Boston had been estabhshed. Department of Defense certification for 

military travel was already in place, the convenience of customer web site access to secure tickets 

was available, the short term financial & regulatory issues were disclosed up front, a plan has been 

developed to address additional demands for air service if such arises and, most importantly, a very 

attractive ticket pricing program was identified that would clearly benefit our area travelers. 

It is Jefferson County's stated goal to provide quality commercial air service to its local customer 

base in northern NY. With Gulfstream International Airlines, we feel we have the best opportunity 

to expand air transportation service to the region and, in so doing, flirther enhance potential 

economic development opportunities as well, thus moving forward in a veiy positive way towards 

achieving our stated goal. Your endorsement of this particular commercial air carrier, tlirough the 

awarding of a two year EAS contract to Gulfstream International Airline, is hereby requested. 

I would be happy to respond to any questions and/or comments that you might have regarding our 

recommendation. Thank you for your continuing support of the County's Watertown International 

Airport growth & development. I look forward to continuing to work closely with you and your staff 

on important initiatives similar to the one that we are currently addressing. 

Robert F. Hagemann, UI 

County Administrator 
G. Renee Williams, Transportation Analyst 

County Legislators 

Airport Manager