Order 2012

- 1

- 7 Served: January 10, 2012

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

on the 10 th of January, 2012

Essential Air Service at

PIERRE, SOUTH DAKOTA

Under 49 U.S.C. 41731 et seq

. DOCKET DOT

- OST

- 20 11

- 013 8

Thirty Day Hold

- I n Extension

Summary
By this O rder, the Department of Transportation extends the E ssential Air S ervice (EAS) obligation of Mesaba Aviation and Pinnacle Airlines, d/b/a Delta Connection (Delta), at Pierre,

S outh D akota

, for an additional 30 days, through February 1 4 , 201 2 , or until Great Lakes begins replacement service, on or about February 1 , 2012

.

Background

On Ju ly 15 , 2011, Delta filed a 90

- day notice with the Department of its intent to terminate its subsidy

- free service at 24 communities, including Pierre, South Dakota, effective October 13,

2011. By Order 2011

- 11

- 4, November 2, 2011, we req uired Delta to continue to provide EAS at

Pierre , and by O rder 2011

- 12

- 25, issued on December 14, 2011, we extended that obligation through January 15, 2012

.

Discussion

Great Lakes has announced that it will inaugurate service between Pierre and Minneapolis on February 1 , 2012

. In order to prevent a short

- term service hiatus, w e are requiring Delta to
continue its current service through January 31 , 2012. We note that Great Lakes Avia tion, Ltd., has indicated that it will inaugurate subsidy

- free replacement service on

- or

- about February 1, 2012, consisting of one round trip per day, seven days per week , with 19

- seat Beech 1900

aircraft

. 1

1 Great Lakes i ndicates it intend s to offer additional service to Minneapolis subsequent to that initial service.- 2

-

Service Transition Before Great Lakes inaugu rates the service discussed above and Delta terminates its service, we expect Delta and Great Lakes to work together to make a smooth transition at Pierre. In that regard, before Delta suspends its service to Pierre, we expect it to notify any passengers holding reservations for travel after the suspension date, to assist those passengers in making alternate air transportation arrangements, or to provide a refund of the ticket price, without pena lty, if requested.

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

ACCORDINGLY,
1. We require Mesaba Aviation and Pinnacle Airlines, operating as Delta Connection, to

maintain its current level of service at Pierre through January 31

, 201 2 , or until Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd., begins its replacement service ;

2. We direct Mesaba and Pinnacle Airlines to retain all books, records, and other source and summary documentation to support subsidy claims for payment, and to preserve and maintain such documentation in a manner that readily permits its audit and examination by representatives

of the De partment. Such documentation shall be retained for seven years from the service date

of this Order or until the Department indicates that the records may be destroyed, whichever comes first. Copies of flight logs for aircraft sold or disposed of must be retained. The carrier may forfeit its compensation for any claim that is not supported under the terms of this O rder;

3. This Docket will remain open until further Order of the Department; and

4. We will serve copies of this O rder on the Mayor and air port manager of Pierre, South Dakota,

Mesaba Aviation, Pinnacle Airlines , and Great Lakes, Aviation, Ltd

.

Persons entitled to petition the Department for review of this O rder under the Department’s Aviation Economic Regulations, 14 CFR 385.50, must file s uch petitions within ten (10) days

after the date of service of this Order

.

This Order 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

at http://www.regulations.gov