From: Gormas, Michael (OST)



### Sent: Thursday, February 06, 20143:48 PM To: Vivian, Jordan; Lane, Michelle; Bonini, Kyle; Billings, John; ~eadinger, Patricia (OST,);

# A~~'r!O' tl!,a1:<Jllr (OST); dvoss@flygreatlakes.com; chowell@flygreatlakes.com; Mike Harma; 'I."q ,cU
- I ,- Kate Geldaker@klobuchar.senate.gov; Mike Matthews; Cindy Stork; Eric Dahl (airoort@watertownsd.us); Thief River FallsAirport Authority; shane@airchoiceone.com; Thomas Drake (tdrake@watertownsd.us); Darnea Wood; Steve Nordhagen (mayorbeav@yahoo.com) 

### Cc: Schlemmer, Kevin (OST) 

### Subject: Requesting Comments from the Cities of Ironwood, Thief River Fallsand Watertown on EAS proposals Greetings:
Iwould like to update you on the Essential Air 5ervice situation at Ironwood, MI, Thief River Falls, MN, and Watertown, 5Dand give you an opportunity to submit any comments for the record ifyou wish. In anticipation of the end of Great Lakes' current contract on May 31, 2014, the Department issued Order 2013-12-14, on December 23,2013, to solicit proposals from all interested air carriers to provide service at Ironwood, Thief River Fallsand Watertown. In response to that Order, we received proposals from Great LakesAviation, Ltd. ("Great Lakes") for all three communities and Multi-Aero Inc., Inc. d/b/a Air Choice One (Air Choice One) for Ironwood only. In asubsequent development, after the request for proposals was issued, Great Lakessuspended all operations at Ironwood and Thief River Falls,effective February 1,2014. Copies ofthe proposals are attached and may beaccessed online through the Department's Dockets Management 5ystem at: http://www.regulations.gov/ byentering "DOT-05T-1996-1266", "DOT-05T2001-10642", or "DOT-05T-2001-10644" inthe "Enter Keyword or ID" field, sowe will only briefly summarize the propo.sals here.
Forallof its proposals, Great Lakesinitially plans to operate the Beech 1900D aircraft in anine seat configuration. However, assoon aspilot experience allows for the issuance of restricted ATPcertificates for First Officers, the carrier plans to re-install the additional 10seats. Great Lakes' proposal consists of the following one option for Ironwood:
1. 12weekly nonstop round trips between Ironwood and Minneapolis utilizing a Beech 1900D aircraft, at a requested annual subsidy rate of $2,152,426.
Great Lakes' proposal consists of the following two options for Thief River Falls:
1. 12weekly nonstop round trips between Thief River Fallsand Minneapolis utilizing aBeech 1900D aircraft, at arequested annual subsidy of $2,428,750. 2. 12weekly one-stop round trips to Denver utilizing a30-seat EMB-120 Brasilia aircraft, at a requested annual subsidy of $2,428,750.
Great Lakes' proposal consists of the following three options for Watertown:
1. 18weekly nonstop round trips between Watertown and Minneapolis utilizing aBeech 1900D aircraft, ata requested subsidy of $2,847,284. 

# '):082. 12weekly nonstop round trips between Watertown and Minneapolis utilizing aBeech 1900D aircraft and 6or 7weekly one-stop round trips to Denver utilizing a30-seat EMB-120 Brasilia aircraft at a requested annual subsidy of $2,847,284. 3. 12weekly one-stop round trips between Watertown and Denver utilizing a30-seat EMB-120 Brasilia aircraft at arequested annual subsidy of $2,847,284.
Air Choice One's proposal consists ofthe following two options for Ironwood only, all utilizing a9-seat Cessna Grand Caravan or an 8-seat Piper Navajo aircraft:
1. 12weekly nonstop round trips between Ironwood and Chicago O'Hare, at an annual subsidy request of $2,888,564. 2. 18weekly nonstop round trips between Ironwood and Chicago O'Hare, atan annual subsidy request of $3,563,394.
We want to give you an opportunity to submit anyformal comments for the record before we submit a recommendation to the Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs. We request that you submit any comments you may have assoon aspossible, but in any case no later than February 27, 2014. In recognition that Ironwood and Thief River Fallscurrently have no scheduled air service, ifthe communities could expedite submitting their comments to us,the Department stands ready to process the carrier selection in an expedited manner. We will carefully consider your comments before we submit arecommendation to the Assistant Secretary for adecision. Ifyou have any questions or ifyou find that you need additional time to draft your comments, please let me know.
Please send your comments to me atthe following email address: EAS@dot.gov or byfaxto 202-366- 7638. Ifyou have any questions, please feel free to contact me at michael.gormas@dot.gov or 202-366- 1853. Sincerely,
Michael D.Gormas United States Department of Transportation Office ofAviation Analysis 1200 New JerseyAve SE Washington, DC20590 202.366.1853