U.S. Department of Transportation · 

### Office ofthe Secretary Of

### Transportation



### May24, 2012
Mr. DanPorter Mayor ofCortez Cortez CityHall 210 E. Main Street Cortez, CO 81321
Dear

### Mr. Porter: Y.2' Lt !t () '"; ...... 1200 NewJerseyAve., S.E. Washington, DC 20590



### I would like to update you on the Essential Air Service situation at Cortez, Colorado and give you an opportunity to submit any comments if you wish. In 

### anticipation of the end of Great Lakes' current contract on July 31, 2012, the Department issued Order 2012-4-21, on April16, 2012, to solicit proposals from all interested air carriers to provide service at Alamosa and/or Cortez, Colorado. In response to iliat Order, we received one proposal from the incumbent air carrier, GreatLakes, to provideBAS at both communities. A copy of the proposal is aUached and may be accessed online through the Depmtmenfs Dockets Managernent Systern**~~t:** 

### http://www.regulations.gov/ by entering "DOT-OST-] 2960" and "DOT-OST-1998-3508" in the "Enter Keyword or ID" field, so we wm only briefly summarizetheproposalhere. Great Lakes' proposal would continue to offer three round trips per day between Alamosa and Denverutilizing a 19-seatBeechcraft 1900D aircraft, for an annual subsidy of$2,078,676. Additionally, Great Lakes proposes to continue BAS operations at Cortez with three round trips per daybetween Cortez and Denver utilizing a 19-seat Beechcraft 1900D aircraft, for an annual subsidyof$2,240,766.
We want to give you an opportunity to submit any formal comments for the record before we submit a recommendation to ilie Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs. We request that you submit any comments you may have as soon as possible, but in any case no later than June 15, 2012. We wiU carefully consider your comments before we submit a recommendation to the Assistant Secretary for a decision. If you have any questions or if you find that you need additional time to draft your comments, please let me know,

### Please send your comments to me at the following email address: EAS @dot.gov or by fax to 202-366-7838. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at scott.faulk@dot.gov or 202-366-9967.

# ~-~ ScottFaulk / Essential AirServiceDivision Office ofAviationAnalysis U.S. Department ofTransportation Enclosure

## Before the United States Department ofTransportation 

# Washington, DC

Essential Air Service at ALAMOSA, COLORADO CORTEZ, COLORADO under49 U.S.C. 41731 et.seq. 

## May 15, 2012

Docket OST-1997-2960 Docket OST -1998-3508

This document contains Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd.'s response to Order Requesting Proposals 2012-4-21. Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. is pleased to submit these proposals to provide essential air transportation at these points in Colorado. These proposals are submitted on a stand alone basis. Our proposals contemplate conveniently timed connecting services to our Denver hub, whereby passengers may utilize.ourcode-share agreements with United Airlines and FrontierAirlines. Local service will be marketed and priced utilizing the Great Lakes (ZK) brand and reservations**syst~m.** Aclefitionally, Great Lakes maintains interline ticketing and baggage agreements with the\majority oftheatflercarriers serving Denver, including interline a-ticketing agreements with American Airlines, Delta Airlines, FrontierAirlines, United Airlines and U.S. Airways. All of which will offer passengers traveling to and from these communities supplemental access to the domestic and international airtransportation system.

These proposals assume the use of pressurized 19 seat Beechcraft 1900D airliner equipment. Questions and comments may be referred to: Michael 0. Matthews · Chief Financial Officer Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. 1

022 Airport Parkway Cheyenne, 

### VVY 82001 (307) 432-7000TableofContents:SubsidyPassengersAverageProposalServicePoint(s)Hub(s)ServedRoundTripsEquipmentRequirementForecastFare1Alamosa,ColoradoDenver31900D$2,078,67615,000$102.722Cortez,ColoradoDenver31900D$2,240,76616,000$127.98Departures: Block Hours: 

# Great lakes Aviation, ltd. Annual Compensation Requirements for Essential Air Service at 

### Alamosa, Colorado to Denver (DEN) Three Round Trips- 81900 (at 98 percent completion)

Revenue Passenger Miles: Available Seat Miles:
Operating Revenues: Passenger: 15,000 psgrs at $102.72 $1,540,800

Other: (at 0.62% ofpassenger revenue) $9,553 Total Operating Revenues:
Operating Expenses: 1 Direct: Aircraft and Hull Insurance Fuel and Oil Flying Operations Maintenance $365,710 $1,057,245

$317,003 $512,429 Total Direct Expenses: Total Indirect Expenses: Total Operating Expenses: Operating Loss Profit Element (5.0% ofTotal Operating Expenses) Annual Compensation Requirement: Representative Schedule *** [ALS] Alamosa, Colorado ***

---------·-·--·-··-- D E P A R T U R E S -·---·--····--·--·-- FL T TO OPT ARR EQP 7263 DEN 6:00 7:00 BE1 7263 DEN 8:00 9:00 BE1 7264 DEN 10:45 11 :45 BE1 7269 DEN 16:28 17:28 BE1 -···-···············ARRIVALS·······-············ FLT FROM OPT ARR EQP 7305 DEN 12:15 13:13 BE1 7268 DEN 15:20 16:18 BE1 7258 DEN 20:58 21:56 BE1 7258 DEN 20:58 21:56 BE1 No Upline Scheduling Restrictions FREQ 12345

6 12345 7 12345 7

FREQ 12345 12345 7 6 ' 12345 7 1,840 1,810 2,685,000 6,257,840

$1,550,353

$2,252,387 $1,203,831 $3,456,218 ($1 ,905,865) $172,811 $2,078,676

# Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. Annual Compensation Requirements for Essential AirService at 

### Cortez, Colorado to Denver (DEN) Three Round Trips- 81900 (at 98 percent completion)
Departures: Block Hours: Revenue Passenger Miles: Available Seat Miles:
Operating Revenues: Passenger: 16,000 psgrs at $127.98 $2,047,680

Other: (at 0.62% ofpassenger revenue) $12,696 Total Operating Revenues:
Operating Expenses: Direct: Aircraft and Hull Insurance Fuel and Oil Flying Operations Maintenance $365,710 $1,373,084

$411,054 $586,411 Total Direct Expenses: Total Indirect Expenses: Total Operating Expenses: Operating Loss Profit Elernent (5.0% ofTotal Operating Expenses) Annual Compensation Requirement: Representative Schedule 

### *** [CEZ] Cortez, Colorado 

### *****---··--~------------** 0 E P A R T U R E S -------------------· FLT TO OPT ARR EQP 7261 DEN 6:00 7:13 BE1 7261 DEN 6:45 7:58 BE1 7263 DEN 8:05 9:18 BE1 7267 DEN 16:17 17:30 BE1

-------------------- A R R I V A L S -------------------· FLT FROM OPT ARR EQP 7262 DEN 8:35 21 :55 BE1 7266 DEN 14:43 16:03 BE1 7267 DEN 16:45 18:05 BE1 7270 DEN 20:56 22:1@ BE1 No Upline Scheduling Restrictions FREQ 12345

6 1234567 12345 7

FREQ 1234567 12345 7 6 12345 7 1,840 2,347 4,448,000 9,718,880

$2,060,376

$2,736,259 $1,360,067 $4;096,326 ($2,035,950) $204,816 $2,240,766