TOBY DOUGHERTI', CPM, CITYMANAGER

PAULBRISENO, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER P.O.BOX490 1SO7MAIN STR£ET HAYS, KANSAS 67601-0490 m785/628-7320 FAX785/628-7323 www.haysusa.com



### December 9,2013

Kevin Adams US Department ofTransportation 1100 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 RE: PASSENGER SERVICE AT THE HAYS REGIONAL AIRPORT 

### Dear Kevin: CITYCOMMISSION KENT STEWARD, MAYOR HENRY SCHWALl.ER, IV EBERPHElPS SHAUN MUSn. RON MEll1CK

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### Two years ago, the City of Hays recommended the DOT contract with Great lakes Airlines to provide passenger service atthe Hays Regional Airport, This recommendation was made despite the fact that Great Lakes Airlines was more expensive than SkyWest Airlines and Great Lakes had a history of unreliability and poor customer service. The recommendation was made because our main runway was to be reconstructed and the SkyWest planes could not utilize the crosswind runway. Great Lakes' performance was never optimal. Inthe pasi year, ithas gotten much worse. Since receiving the EAS contract, Great Lakes' reliability has gone from badtoworse. I have attached the lastfew months' enplanement reports. As you will see, GreatLakes has an ontime percentage inthe 50's. When looking atthe detailed sheet, you will note that most ofthe incidents are cancellations, not late arrivals ordepartures. The impacts ofthis poor performance arevery damaging. Inshort, passengers are quickly losing confidence inthe Hays Regional Airport due to Great Lakes' poor performance. Three years ago, the Cityof Hays applied for, and received a marketing grant from the FAA. Using thegrant, and City of Hays dollars, acomprehensive marketing effort was targeted at passengers throughout the region. The marketing campaign was very successful and, despite Great Lakes marginal performance, wewere able to maintain and in some instances increase passengers. However, the positive impacts ofthe marketing campaign have been erased byGreat Lakes' poor performance. Great Lakes' performance has deteriorated tothe point that passengers have lostconfidence in the Hays Regional Airport. Passengers are tired ofcancelled flights, delayed flights, and missed connections. Passengers understand weather delays and cancellations, butthey have little tolerance forthese actions as a resuit ofequipment issues, lack ofcrew, oreven worse, for no stated reason. Business travelers, who are the meat and potatoes ofthe Hays Regional Airport's demographic, aretired ofdisrupted business trips. They no longer viewthe airport as convenient. Ihave inciuded emalls from Fort Hays State University and Nex-Tech illustratingthis point. FHSU isthe largest employer in the City of Hays, and Nex-Tech is one of the

largest. I have had similar conversations with the heads of other large companies in Hays. The result isthat passengers are seeking out other, more reliable airports. Many are driving four orfive hours to Denver or Kansas City, orthree hours to Wichita. itwill be difficult for usto get these passengers back once they leave. Itwill be impossible with an unreliable carrier. As more passengers leave, boardings will decrease. This means profits will decrease and the carriers will require a larger subsidy. This will cost the DOT more per passenger. Itwill also have lasting impacts on the Hays Regional Airport. Our goal and focus for the past four years

. has been to increase boardings atthe Hays Regional Airport. The more viable the Hays Regional Airport, the more positive economic impact to the region. In short, it iscritical to the regions' long-term success to be serviced byaviable airport with reliable service. As previously mentioned, the main runway was recently reconstructed, a newfire station was completed, and we are inthe design phase of aterminal remodel and expansion project. Other current and former EAS communities have made concerted efforts to increase the reliability and viability of,their airports. The list includes: Manhattan KS, Garden City KS, Joplin MO, Grand Island NE, laramie WY. Some ofthese cities were able to be profitable in the open market and gave up their EAS subsidy. Hays isfollowing in the footsteps ofthese cities as We see a lotof potential for Increased boardings atthe Hays Regional Airport. I cannot stress enough the importance of a reliable carrier in achieving our long-term goals. Itisalso very clear that Great lakes in not the carrier that will aid in achieving our goals. When considering proposals to provide passenger service atthe Hays Regional Airport, I ask that you keep the I g-term viability of the Hays Regional Airport in mind.

Toby Doug erty City Manager CPM, ICMA-CM Enclosures

c: Paul Briseno, Assistant City Manager 1.0. Creech, Director of Public Works Mike Mooney, Sixel Consulting Group; Inc.