Order 2012

- 10

- 21 Served: October 24 , 20 12



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

Issued by the Department of Transportation on the 24 th day of October , 2012

ORDER TEMPORARILY EXTENDING CURRENT SUSBIDY Summary By this O rder, the Department is extending the contract established under Order 2010

- 10

- 5 (October 7, 2010) for Pacific Wings ’ Esse ntial Air Service (EAS) operations at Athens, GA, from October 1, 2012, until such time as SeaPort Airlines’ replacement service commences.

Background By Order 2010

- 10

- 5 (October 7, 2010), the Department selected Pacific Wings, L.L.C. dba Georgia Skies (P acific Wings) to provide EAS at Athens, Georgia, for the two

- year period ending September 30, 2012. Under that contract, Pacific Wings provides two nonstop round trips a day (12 a week) with 9

- seat Cessna Car avan aircraft for an annual subsidy of $ 1,051,3 86. In anticipation of that contract’s expiration, we issued Order 2012

- 7

- 15 (July 13, 2012) soliciting proposals from carriers interested in providing EAS at Athens for a new contract period beginning October 1, 2012

. In response to our request, we rece ived proposals from four carriers: Sovereign Air, Inc. (Sovereign), Sun Air Express dba Sun Air International (Sun Air), Multi

- Aero, Inc. dba Air Choice One (Air Choice One), and SeaPort. Pacific Wings did not submit a proposal to continue service

. By Or der 2012

- 9

- 27 (September 28, 2012), the Department selected SeaPort Airlines, Inc. (SeaPort) to provide EAS at Athens.

Decision SeaPort expects to begin replacement service on or about November 1, 2012. Therefore, we will temporarily extend the EAS contr act awarded to Pacific Wings a s established by Order 2010

- 10

- 5 from October 1, 2012, until such time as SeaPort begins full EAS at Athens

.

This O rder is issued under authority delegated in 49 CFR Part 1.56a(f). Essential Air Service at

ATHENS, G EORGIA

Under 49 U.S.C. § 41731 et seq

. DOCKET DOT

- OST

- 2002

- 11348ACCORDINGLY,

1. The Department requires P acific Wings, L.L.C. dba Georgia Skies, to continue to provide EAS at Athens, GA, at service levels and subsidy rates as established in Order 2010

- 10

- 5, until such time as SeaPort begins replacement service ;

2 . W e direct Pacific Wings, L.L.C. to retain a ll books, records, and other source and summary documentation to support 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 documentatio n shall be retained for seven years from the issuance date of this Order or until the Department indicates that the records may be destroyed, whichever comes first. Copies of flight logs for aircraft sold or disposed of must be retained. The carrier
may forfeit its compensation for any claim that is not supported under the terms of this O rder;

4

. Docket DOT

- OST

- 2002

- 11348 will remain open until further order of the Department; and

5

. The Depart ment will serve a copy of this O rder on the m ayor and airp ort manager of Athens
, Pacific Wings
, and SeaPort

. By:

SUSAN L. KURLAND Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs

(SEAL)

An electronic version of this document is available on line at www.regu lations.gov