Order: 2012

- 9

- 17 Served: September 14 , 2012



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

Issued by the Department of Transportation on the 14 th day of Sept ember , 20 1 2

ORDER ESTABLISHING CONTRACT END DATE Summary By this O rder, the Department of Transportation is establ i shi ng the Essential Air Service ( EAS )
contract end date at Ironwood, Michigan/Ashland, Wisconsin (Ironwood)

, as May 31, 2014

. Background On March 7 , 2012, the Department issued Order 2012

- 3

- 5 selecting Great Lakes Av iation, Ltd. (Great Lakes) to provide EAS at Ironwood and Rhinelander, Wisconsin. The Order established subsidy rates and stated that the contracts would be effective through the 24

- month period following the start of Great Lakes ’ full EAS at both communities.

O n June 11
, 2012, however, Great Lakes sent an e

- ma il to the Department encouraging the re

solicitation of proposals for EAS at Rhinelander. 1 G reat Lakes explained that it had recently experi enced an aggressive expansion, wa s in the process of re

- engineering its business model (including its approach to c ode

- sharing and the associated reservation system infrastructure), ha d concerns regarding availability of gates and facilities to expand further at Minneapolis

- St Paul

, and did not want to hinder communities from considering other alternatives. While Grea t Lakes’ service under Order 2012

- 3

- 5 at Ironwood began on March 11, 2012, the original Order selecting the carrier stated that the contracts would cover the 24

- month period following the Great Lakes’ commencement of service at both communities

. After reb idding the EAS contract for Rhinelander, the Department recently issued Order 2012

- 9

- 11, September 11, 2012, selecting SkyWest Airlines. Thus, it is now necessary to establish an end date for Great Lakes’ Ironwood EAS contract. T he Departm ent w ill establ ish the contract end date as May 31, 2014, which will synchronize Ironwood with a number of other Great Lakes’ EAS contracts for service to its Minneapol is

- St. Paul hub

.

1 Great Lakes also asked the Department to re

- bid its EAS contracts at Iron Mountain/Kingsford, Michigan, and Brainerd and International Falls, Minnesota.

Essential Air Service at :
IRONWOOD, MICHIGAN/ASHLAND , WISCONSIN

Under 49 U.S.C. 41731 et seq

. Docket DOT

- OST

- 1996

- 1 266- 2

-

This O rder is issued under authority assigned in 14 CFR Part 385.12(k)(5).

ACCORDINGLY, 1. The Department sets the t ermination date of EAS contract awarded to Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd., to serve Ironwood, Michigan/Ashland, Wisconsin, under Order 2012

- 3

- 5, as May 31, 2014; and

2. We will serve copies of this O rder on the Mayor and airport manager at Ironwood, Michigan/Ashland, Wisconsin , and Great Lakes Aviation ;
Persons entitled to petition the Department for review of this O rder under the Department’s Aviation Economic Regulations, 14 CFR Part 385.50, must file such petition s within ten (10) days aft er the date of service of this O rder.

This O rder will be effective immediately, and 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.gov