Order 2012

- 6

- 3 Served: June 6, 2012 

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

Issued by the Department of Transportation

on the 6 th day of June , 201 2

Essential Air Service at

Muscle Shoals/Florence/Sheffield/

Tuscumbia, Alabama Alpena, Michigan Iron Mountain/Kingsford, Michigan Brainerd, Minnesota International Falls, Minnesota Greenville, Mississippi Laurel/Hattiesburg, Mississippi and Tupelo, Mississippi ,

under 49 U.S.C. 41731 et seq

. Docket DOT

- OST

- 2000

- 7856

Docket DOT

- OST

- 2009

- 0300 Docket DOT

- OST

- 1999

- 5175 Docket DOT

- OST

- 2011

- 0135 Docket DOT

- OST

- 2009

- 0304 Docket DOT

- OST

- 2008

- 0209 Docket DOT

- OST

- 2001

- 10685 Docket DOT

- OST

- 2009

- 0305

ORDER EXTENDING SERVICE OBLIGATION

Summary B y this O rder, w e extend the Essential A ir S ervice obligation of the two wholly owned subsidiaries of Pinnacle Airlines Corporation

-- Mesaba Aviation, Inc. (“Mesaba”) and Pinnacle Airlines (“Pinnacle”), d/b/a Delta Connection at the eight communities listed below for 30 days, through

, July 9 , 201 2

.

Communities 3-Ltr. State Communities 3-Ltr.

1 Alpena APN Michigan 5 International Falls INL

2 Brainerd BRD Minnesota 6 Iron Mountain IMT

3 Greenville GLH Mississippi 7 Muscle Shoals MSL

4 Hattiesburg PIB Mississippi 8 Tupelo TUP

Background O n July 15, 2011, Mesaba and Pinnacle filed notice s to terminate their service at the above eight communities. By Order 2011

- 9

- 5, issued on September 13, 2011, we prohibited the air carriers from suspending service at the communities in accordance with 49 U.S.C. § 41734(b)

.The notices at all of these communities were triggered by Mesaba/Pinnacle’s retirement of its fleet of 34

- seat Saab 340 aircraft. All of the service is now provided with 50

- seat regional jets. As a result of the larger jet aircraft replacing the smaller Saab 340 aircraft, we will require the statutory frequency requirement of two round trips a day, six days a week, i.e., twelve round trips a week.

We have received proposals and comments regard ing service at the above

- captioned communities

. 1 However, replacement service may not commence before June 9 , 2012, the end of the current hold

- in period. In accordance with 49 U.S.C. § 41734 (c ), we must extend the service obligations of Mesaba and Pinna cle for an additional 30 days, or until replacement service actually begins, whichever occurs first. However, the Department will continue to provide compensation to Mesaba and Pinnacle pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 41734(d).

This Order is issued under the a uthority assigned in 14 CFR 385.12(k)(5).

ACCORDINGLY, 1. We require Mesaba Aviation, Inc. and Pinnacle Airlines, d/b/a Delta Connection , to provide 12 round trips a week to a medium or large hub airport at the above

- captioned communities for an additional 30 days, through July 9

, 2012, or until replacement service actually begins, whichever occurs first ; 2

2. We direct Mesaba Aviation, Inc. and Pinnacle Airlines to retain all book s , records, and other source and summary documentation to support subsidy 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 Depar tment indicates that the records may be destroyed, whichever comes first. Copies of flight logs for aircraft sold or disposed of must be retained. The air carrier may forfeit its compensation for any claim that is not supported under the terms of this O r der.

3

. These Dockets will remain open until further O rder of the Department; and

1 The Department has issued Selection Orders for all of the above communities, with the exception of Alpena. However, the selected air carriers have not yet announced a start date. Copies of those Selection Orders may be accessed online through the Depa rtment’s Dockets Management System at: http://www.regulations.gov by entering each community’s respective Docket number in the “Enter Keyword or ID” field.
2 In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 41734(c), the Departme nt will continue to extend Mesaba and Pinnacle’s service obligation for successive 30

- day periods as necessary until replacement service actually begins.4. The Department will serve a copy of this O rder on the mayors and airport managers of : Muscle Shoals, Alabama; Alpena, and Iron Mountain/Kingsford, Michigan; Brainerd, and International Falls, Minnesota; Greenville, Laurel/Hattiesburg, and Tupelo, Mississippi; and on the carriers in our service list.

By:

TODD M. HOMAN Director Office of Aviation Analysis (SEAL) An electronic version of this document is av ailable on the World Wide Web at http://www.regulations.gov