Order 2012

- 10

- 10 Served: October 9, 2012 

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

Issued by the Department of Transportation
on the 9 th of October, 2012

Essential Air Service at

ESCANABA , MICHIGAN

Under 49 U.S.C. 41731 et seq

. DOCKET OST

- 2003

- 15128

CLARIFYING ORDER

By Order 2010

- 6

- 4, June 1, 2010, the Department re

- selected Mesaba Airlines, Inc., d/b/a
Delta Connection (Mesaba), to provide Essential Air Service ( EAS ) operated on a linear
basis at Iron Mountain and Escanaba, Michigan

, through August 31, 2012. On July 15, 2011, Mesaba filed notice at Iron Mountain and Escanaba as well as 22 other
communities. 1 By Order 2011

- 9

- 5, September 13, 2011, we prohibited Mesaba from terminating service, and requested proposals

. 2

In response to Order 2011

- 9

- 5 , w e received proposals at both Escanaba and Iron Mountain. By Order 2011

- 11

- 30, November 23, 2011, we selected Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (Great Lakes) to provide EAS between Iron Mountain and Minneapolis. Likewise, by Order 2012

- 4

- 1 0, April 6, 2012, we selected Delta Air L ines, Inc., (Delta) to provide EAS between Esca naba and Detroit. 3 Thus, the historical linear service pattern at Iron Mountain and Escanaba wou ld end when Delta and Great Lakes inaugurated service. 4

1 The other communities noticed by Mesaba were Muscle Shoals, Alabama, For Dodge, mason City, Sioux City, and Waterloo, Iowa; Alpena, Pellston, and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan; Bemidji, Brainerd, Hibbing, International Falls, and Thief River Falls, Minnesota; Greenville, Hattiesburg, and Tupelo, Mississippi; Butte, Montana; Devils Lake and Jamestown, North Dakota, and Aberdeen, Pierre, and Watertown, South
Dakota.

2 This Order affects Es canaba only.

3 Delta Air Lines proposes to be responsible for the provision of this service itself, rather than one of its code share partners. Delta indicates that it would parcel out the EAS responsibilities at separate times to one of its code share pa rtners, including Pinnacle, Atlantic Southeast, SkyWest, Mesaba or Chautauqua, depending on the availability of aircraft and other considerations in order to afford Delta maximum flexibility to meet its obligations.

4 Order 2011

- 4

- 10 provided that Delta’ s service at Escanaba would be effective with the “[s]tart of Great Lakes’ service at Iron Mountain, allowing Delta to terminate its [linear] service obligation at Iron Mountain, through the 24 th month thereafter.”2

O n June 11, 2012, Great Lakes notified the Department that it was having difficult y inaugurating service at Iron Mountain. In response, Order 2012

- 6

- 9, June 15, 2012, re

solicited proposals at Iron M ountain, and ultimately Order 2012

- 9

- 11, September 11, 2012, selected SkyWest Air l ines, Inc., d/b/a Delta Connection (SkyWest)

, at Iron
Mountain. 5

As noted above, Order 2012

- 4

- 10 made the selection of Delta at Escanaba contingent on
Great Lakes ’ inaugurating replacement service at Iron Mountain

. Thus Great Lakes’ problems inaugurating service on a timely basis at Iron Mountain also delayed the start of
Delta’s service at Escanaba. 6

Out of an abundance of caution, we will clarify Order 2012

- 4

- 10 by making the start of
Delta’s carrier selection at Escanaba effective when SkyWest (rather than Great Lakes) inaugurat es replacement service at Iron Mountain. SkyWest has recently indicated that it will inaugurate that service on December 15, 2012. We will therefore specify the effective period of Delta’s two

- year selection at Escanaba to be from December 15, 2012,

t h rough December 31, 2014

.

This order is issued under authority as signed in 14 CFR Part 385.12( 1 )

ACCORDINGLY,

1. We amend the effective period of Order 2012

- 4

- 10, Appendix C

- 2, as follows: “Start of SkyWest’s service at Iron Mountain, allowing Delta to terminate its service obligation at Iron Mountain, from December 15, 2012, through December 31, 2014 ; ”

2. Th i s dock et will remain open until further order of the Depart m ent; and

3. We will serve a copy of this O rder on the mayor and airport and city manage r s of Iron Mountain and Escanaba, Michigan, Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd., SkyWest Airlines, and Delta
Air Lines.

P ersons entitled to petition the Department for review of this order under the Department’s Regulations, 14 CFR Part 385.30 must file such petitions within ten (10) days after the date of service of this order.

5 The Order also selected SkyWest at Br ainerd and International Falls, Minnesota; and Rhinelander, Wisconsin.

6 Order 2012

- 4

- 20, April 16, 2012, set final rates for Delta Air Lines forced service at Iron Mountain and Escanaba from January 11, 2012, when it first became eligible for a higher rat e than set by Order 2010

- 6

- 4 until further Notice, so there are no past

- period rates at issue.3

This O rder will be effective immediately, an d the filing of a petition for review shall not preclude its effectiveness.

By:

TODD M. HOMAN
Director Office of Aviation Analysis

(SEAL)

An electronic version of this document is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.regulations.govAppendix A

Minneapolis (MSP) to Iron Mountain (IMT), 257
Iron Mountain ( IMT ) to Escanaba (ESC)

, 50 Escanaba (ESC) to Detroit (DTW)

, 306