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ULS. Departmen t o f 1200 New jersey Avenue, SE 

TtansportOtion , .,, ^ Washington, DC 20590 

.'•-; r-:- n p li; 9 0 Office erf the Secretary • ^ ^ ^ 

of Transportation 

October 17, 2011 

The Honorable Mike McElroy 

Mayor of the City of Decatur 

1 Gary K. Anderson Plaza 

Decatur, Illinois 62523 

Dear Mayor McElroy: 

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

an opportunity to submit any comments if you wish. In anticipation of the end of the 

current contract with Air Choice One on January 31, 2012, the Department issued 

Order 2011-9-9, September 14, 2011, to solicit proposals from all interested air carriers to 

provide EAS at Decatur, as well as Burlington, Iowa, for a new term. In response to that 

order, we received proposals from Multi-Aero, Inc. d/b/a Air Choice One (Air Choice 

One), the incumbent, and Hyannis Air Service, Inc. d/b/a Cape Air (Cape Air). 

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

entering DOT-OST-2006-23929 in the "Enter Keyword or ID" section. 

Cape Air proposes six daily nonstop round trips (36 per week) to Lambert-St. Louis 

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

expects to offer a code-share agreement with American Airlines. Cape Air proposes an 

annual subsidy of $1,529,333 for a two-year term, or an annual subsidy of $1,491,902 for 

a four-year term. 

Air Choice One proposed five 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 and three nonstop round trips each weekday and weekend (18 per 

week) to Chicago O'Hare (the current service pattern) for an aimual subsidy of 

$2,750,435 (two-year term) or $2,667,922 (four-year term). Option 2 is two nonstop 

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

round trips each weekday and weekend (24 per week) to Chicago O'Hare for an annual 

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nonstop round trips each weekday and weekend (36 per week) to St. Louis for an annual 

subsidy of $2,228,174 (two-year term) or $2,219,529 (four-year term). Option 4 is six 

nonstop round trips each weekday and weekend (36 per week) to Chicago O'Hare for an • 

annual subsidy of $2,854,864 (two-year term) or $2,769,218 (four-year term). Option 5 

is a package with Burlington, Iowa, that includes 36 weekly nonstop round trips for 

Burlington and Decatur (18 nonstop round trips to Chicago O'Hare and 18 nonstop round 

trips to St. Louis), for an annual subsidy of $5,220,901 (two-year term) or $5,168,692 

(four-year term). The 36 weekly round trips proposed for Burlington is more service than 

the Department solicited in its request for proposals. 

Please note that the average passenger fares shown in the proposal do not necessarily 

reflect the average local fare Decatur passengers would actually pay, but, rather, reflect a 

prorated portion of the total ticket price, e.g., the Decatur - St. Louis portion of a Decatur 

- 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 discretion 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 November 14, 2011. We will carefully consider your comments before we 

submit a recommendation to the Assistant Secretary for a decision. Should you have any 

questions or need additional time to draft your comments, please let us know. 

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.schlemmer@dot.gov or 202-366-3176. 

A similar letter has been sent to Airport Director at Decatur Airport. 

Sincerely, 

Dennis J. Devany 

Chief, Essential Air Service