Order: 2015

- 5

- 20
Served: May 2 6 , 2015



### UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation
on the 26 th of May , 2015

Essential Air Service at

JAMESTOWN, NEW YORK

Under 49 U.S.C. 41731 et seq

. Docket DOT

- OST

- 2003

- 14950

ORDER CONFIRMING ESSENTIAL AIR SERVICE ELIGIBILTY

Summary By this Order

, the Department finds that Jamestown, N ew Y ork

, averaged more than 10 enplanements per day in F iscal Y ear 20 14 and

, t hus

, remains eligible for continued participation
in the Essential Air Service ( EAS ) program

.

Background The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 amended 49 U.S.C. § 41731(a)(1)(B) to change the definition of “eligible place” for the purpose of receiving EAS. The amendment states that to be eligible, a community must maintain an average of 10 enplanement s or more per service day, as determined by the Secretary, during the most recent fiscal year beginning after September 30, 2012. The legislation exempts locations in Alaska and Hawaii and communities that are more than 175 driving miles from the nearest large or medium hub airport. 1 The Secretary also has the authority to waive the 10

- enplanement requirement on an annual basis, if the community can demonstrate that the reason the location averages fewer than 10 enplanements per day is due to a temporary decline in enplanements

. 2

On May 19, 2015, the Department issued Order 2015

- 5

- 14 tentatively find ing that four
communities did not achieve the 10

- enplanement requirement : Jamestown, N ew Y ork ; Mason City, I owa ; Show Low, A rizona , and Victoria, T exas

.

On May 21

, 2015, the M anager of A irports and P arks for Chautauqua County, New York , which oversees the Chautauqua County

- Jamestown Airport ( “ Jamestown ” or “JHW” )

, filed an

1 49 U.S.C. § 41731(c) & (d).

2 49 U.S.C. § 41731(e).- 2

-

objection via e

- mail 3 to the Division Chief of the EAS program questioning the passenger numbers in the Department’s order , claiming that the actual passenger numbers were sufficient to put Jamestown over the 10

- enplanement requirement , and providing documentation in support of
his claims

. The documentation showed a n enplanement per day calculation of 11.4 passengers. In response, t he Department conducted a review of i ts i nternal data and confirmed that 7,207 revenue passengers were enplaned or deplaned at JHW, an average of 11.5 passengers a day, clearly above the 10

- enplanement per day requirement

.

Upon consideration of the documentation provided by Jamestown and further review of the enplanement numbers for this community

, the Department find s that Jamestown generated a total
of 7, 207 passenger s in Fiscal Year 2014, thus putting the community over the 10

- enplanem en t requirement. See Appendix A for traffic and calculation methodology (consistent with the procedure described in Order 2015

- 5

- 14). As a result, the Department find s that Jamestown is an eligible community in the EAS program

.

A CCORDINGLY
,

1. The Department finds that Jamestown, New York, had an average of more than 10 enplanements per day in Fiscal Year 20 14 and, thus, is an eligible community in the E ssential
A ir S ervice (EAS) program ;

2. The Department will address the status of Mason City, I owa , Show Low, A rizona

, and Victoria, T exas , in a subsequent order; and

3. The Department will serve copies of this Order on the mayors, civic, and airport offic ials at
the communities named above.

By:

BRANDON M. BELFORD Deputy Assistant Secretary for
Aviation and International Affairs

(SEAL)

An electronic version of this document is available

at http://www.regulations.gov

3 Jamestown’s objection, along with supporting documentation, may be viewed at www.regulations.gov by entering
DOT

- OST

- 2003

- 14950 in the “ Search ” field.DOT’s r ecalculation of Jamestown’s Fiscal Year 2014 traffic data

Apt Year Month Uniquecarriername Enplaned Deplaned Total

JHW 2013 10 Silver Airways 328 302 630

JHW 2013 11 Silver Airways 264 253 517

JHW 2013 12 Silver Airways 308 328 636

JHW 2014 1 Silver Airways 250 170 420

JHW 2014 2 Silver Airways 334 298 632

JHW 2014 3 Silver Airways 337 321 658

JHW 2014 4 Silver Airways 369 388 757

JHW 2014 5 Silver Airways 256 287 543

JHW 2014 6 Silver Airways 221 283 504

JHW 2014 7 Silver Airways 406 397 803

JHW 2014 8 Silver Airways 392 375 767

JHW 2014 9 Silver Airways 173 167 340
7,207

Enplanements per day - 11.5 (7,207 divided by 2 directions divided by 313 days)