From: 

To: 

Cc: 

Subject: 

Date: 

All, 

Muldoon, Albert (OST) 

"mayor office@cityofcarlsbadnm com"; "jrtully@cityofcarlsbadnm com"; "steye summers@state nm us"; 

"sechandler@cityofcarlsbadnm.com" 

Devany Dennis COSD CDennis.DeVany@dot.govl; "Greg Kahlstorf'; "Shawn Simoson"; Bob Karns 

CBob@Sovereiqnairinc.coml 

RE: Essential Air Service at Carlsbad, NM - Request for Comments- Due February 8, 2013 

Friday, January 18, 2013 12:56:00 PM 

I wanted to provide an update regarding the status of Boutique Air's operating authority. 

Effective today (January 18, 20 13), the Department of Transportation has approved Boutique 

Air for Commuter Air Carrier Authority. As such, please disregard the statement in the email 

below indicating Boutique Air does not have the requisite authority. Please feel free to 

contact me if you have any questions. 

Regards, 

A.J. 

A.J. Muldoon :·">') 1 • 

Transportation Industry Analyst 

Office of Aviation Analysis 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

albert muldoon@dot.gov 

(202) 366-1058 

From: Muldoon, Albert (OST) 

Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2013 4:02 PM 

c::: 

To: 'mayor.office@cityofcarlsbadnm.com'; 'jrtully@cityofcarlsbadnm.com'; 

'airport@cityofcarlsbadnm.com'; 'steve.summers@state.nm.us'; 'sechandler@cityofcarlsbadnm.com' 

Cc: Devany, Dennis (OST) (Dennis.DeVany@dot.gov); 'Greg Kahlstorf'; 'Shawn Simpson'; Bob Karns 

(Bob@Sovereignairinc.com) 

Subject: Essential Air Service at Carlsbad, NM - Request for Comments- Due February 8, 2013 

All: 

I would like to update you on the Essential Air Service (EAS) situation at Carlsbad, NM, and 

give you an opportunity to submit comments on the record before we submjt a 

recommendation to the Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs. On 

December 12, 2012, the Department issued Order 2012-12-4 soliciting proposals from 

carriers to provide EAS at Carlsbad, NM, for a new contract period beginning June 1, 2013. 

In response to that Order, we received proposals from three carriers: Pacific Wings, L.L.C. 

d/b/a New Mexico Airlines (New Mexico Airlines), Sovereign Air, Inc. (Sovereign), and 

Boutique Air. 

I have attached copies of the proposals to this email. The proposals can also be accessed 

online through the Federal Dockets Management System at www.regulations.gov by entering 

"DOT-OST -2002-12802" in the search box. For your convenience, I will briefly summarize 

the proposals below. 

New Mexico Airlines, the incumbent carrier, proposes to continue its existing service 

consisting of 12 non-stop round trips per week to Albuquerque (ABQ). The service would be 

, .. ,, ;·I 

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. ··•.· 
operated with 9-passenger single-engine Cessna Grand Caravan (C-208B) aircraft. Pacific 

Wings would provide this service for an annual subsidy of $1,397,081. 

Sovereign has proposed four service options for Carlsbad. The first option would provide 14 

weekly one-stop (Roswell) round trips to ABQ. Service would be provided with 19-

passenger, twin-engine Jetstream 31 aircraft. Sovereign would provide this service for an 

annual subsidy of $1,422,426. Sovereign's second option would consist of 14 weekly nonstop round trips per week to ABQ, also using Jetstream 31 aircraft. This service option 

would require an annual subsidy of $1,410,533. The third service option would provide 12 

weekly non-stop round trips to ABQ on 12-passenger, twin-engine King Air-200 aircraft. 

This service would be provided for an annual subsidy of$1,171,625. Sovereign's final 

service option would consist of 19 weekly one-stop (Roswell) round trips to ABQ utilizing 

the King Air-200 aircraft. This service would be provided for an annual subsidy of 

$1,551,397. Please be aware that Sovereign does not currently have the requisite operating 

authority to perform the proposed service from either the Federal Aviation Administration or 

the Department. 

Boutique Air has proposed three service options for Carlsbad. Boutique Air offers each 

service option as either a two- or four-year contract. All service would be operated with a 9-

passenger, twin-engine Pilatus PC-12 aircraft. The first option would provide 24 weekly 

non-stop round trips to ABQ as well as 12 weekly non-stop round trips to Dallas-Fort Worth 

International Airport (DFW). This service option would require an annual subsidy of 

$3,977,670. The second service option would consist of 12 weekly non-stop round trips each 

to ABQ and DFW. This option would be provided for an annual subsidy of $2,965,492. The 

final option would provide 12 weekly non-stop round trips to DFW. This option would 

require an annual subsidy of $1,991,802. Please note that Boutique Air also does not 

currently have the requisite operating authority to perform the proposed service. 

The schedules and fares that the carriers have proposed are illustrative only, and they may 

make schedule changes to reflect changing conditions (e.g. to better meet shifting connecting 

bank times at the hub) or adjust fares as they see fit. The Department expects subsidized 

carriers to maintain well-timed and well-spaced flights in order to ensure full compensation. 

We request that you review each proposal and submit any comments you may have as soon 

as possible, but no later than February 8, 2013. We will carefully consider your comments 

before we submit a recommendation to the Assistant Secretary for a decision. 

Please send your comments via email to EAS@dot.gov or by fax to (202) 366-7638. If you 

have any questions, please feel free to contact A.J. Muldoon of my staff at 

albeti.muldoon@dot.gov or (202) 366-1058. 

Sincerely, 

Dennis J. DeVany 

Chief, Essential Air Service Division, X-53 

Office of Aviation Analysis