Order 2012-7-19

Served: July 17, 2012

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

 Issued by the Department of Transportation

on the 17th day of July, 2012

ORDER REQUESTING PROPOSALS

Summary

By this Order, the Department is requesting proposals from carriers interested in providing 

Essential Air Service (EAS) at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, with or without subsidy, for a new 

contract period, beginning January 1, 2013. Interested parties should submit their proposals no 

later than August 15, 2012 (See Appendix A for a map.)

Background

By Order 2010-9-9, September 8, 2010, the Department selected Hyannis Air Service, Inc. d/b/a 

Cape Air (Cape Air), to provide EAS at Fort Leonard Wood for a two-year period beginning 

when the carrier inaugurated service. Cape Air inaugurated service on December 14, 2010, 

making the expiration date December 31, 2012. The carrier operates four nonstop round trips 

each day to St. Louis, with 9-passenger Cessna 402 aircraft. Fort Leonard Wood also 

experiences a significant number of passengers deploying to or returning from active duty 

military service, many of whom are carrying heavy loads of military equipment and supplies. 

Due to the operational limitations of the Cessna 402, Cape Air operates accompanying freightonly service when necessary. Freight-only flights are subsidized at a rate 90% that of passenger 

flights.

Request for Proposals

As the end of the current rate term approaches, in order to provide sufficient time to complete the 

carrier-selection process before the current contract expires, we are here requesting proposals 

from carriers interested in providing EAS at Fort Leonard Wood, with or without subsidy, for a 

new contract period beginning January 1, 2013. Carriers should file their proposals no later than 

Essential Air Service at

FORT LEONARD WOOD, MISSOURI

Under 49 U.S.C. § 41731 et seq.

 DOCKET DOT-OST-1996-1167

 
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August 15, 2012. After that date, our staff will docket proposals, thereby making them public, 

and direct each carrier to serve a copy of its proposal on the civic parties and other applicants. 

Shortly afterwards, we will provide a summary of the proposals to community officials and ask 

them to submit their final comments. We will give full consideration to all proposals filed in a 

timely manner.1

Interested carriers should prepare their proposals with every expectation that their initial 

proposals will also be their final and only proposals. We retain the discretion to negotiate 

proposals with carriers when we deem it desirable. We also retain the discretion to reject 

outright all unreasonable or unrealistic proposals and solicit a new round of proposals.

We are here providing interested carriers with some basic information to serve as guidance when 

they prepare their proposals, but we will not prescribe a precise format for their proposals. We 

expect proposals to adequately describe the service being proposed and the annual amount of 

subsidy being requested. The applicants can make their own judgments as to the level of detail 

they wish to present; however, they might want to include proposed schedules as well as 

supporting data for their subsidy requests, such as projected block hours, revenues and expenses. 

We strongly encourage clear, well-documented proposals that will facilitate their evaluation by 

the affected community and the Department.2

With respect to Fort Leonard Wood, we expect proposals consistent with what the community is 

currently receiving, i.e. four daily round trips (28 per week) on 9-seat aircraft to Chicago 

O’Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, St. Louis or another suitable hub airport with airline connections to 

the national air transportation system. If larger aircraft are contemplated, fewer frequencies

should be proposed. If the Department receives proposals for single-engine aircraft, and the 

community ultimately supports the service, in effect waiving their right to twin-engine aircraft, 

we would consider the waiver to apply only to the carrier-selection at hand, i.e. we would not 

assume that the community would waive their rights for all time.3

 As always, we will formally 

solicit the community’s views on any service options we receive before making a long-term 

carrier selection decision.

 1 Carriers should not expect the Department to accept late filings. In cases where a carrier proposes to provide 

essential air service without subsidy and we determine that service can be reliably provided without such 

compensation, we typically do not proceed with the carrier-selection case. Instead, we simply rely on that carrier’s 

subsidy-free service as proposed. 2 In selecting a carrier to provide subsidized essential air service, 49 U.S.C. § 41733(c)(1) directs us to consider 

four factors: (1) service reliability; (2) contractual and marketing arrangements with a larger carrier at the hub; 

(3) interline arrangements with a larger carrier at the hub; and (4) community views. In addition, the Consolidated 

and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012, Public Law 112-55, provides that when selecting a carrier to 

provide EAS, the Department may consider the relative subsidy requirements, thus codifying a factor that we have 

considered since the inception of the program. Interested carriers should also be aware that our general provisions 

governing EAS will be included in the selection Order as part of our authorization of subsidy for the selected 

service. Appendix C of this Order contains those general provisions. 3 Previously, most EAS communities were entitled to service with 15-seat or larger aircraft. However, in the 

Department’s FY2012 appropriation (Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, P.L. 112-55, 

November 18, 2011), Congress repealed the 15-seat guarantee, although communities are still entitled to service 

with twin-engine aircraft.
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We encourage proposals that meet these requirements in an efficient manner. Carriers are also 

welcome to propose more than one option, if they choose. They need not limit themselves to 

those requirements if they envision other, potentially more attractive service possibilities (e.g. 

different hubs or contract length) with subsidy requirements that remain competitive.

Service and Traffic History

In order to assist interested carriers in developing traffic and revenue projections for their service 

proposals, we have summarized some historical origin-destination traffic in Appendix B. From 

2008 to 2010, traffic remained relatively stable at the airport. However, in 2011, traffic increased 

approximately 48% over 2010. For the most recent 12-month period, ended December 31, 2011, 

there was an average of 22.8 enplaned passengers per day at Fort Leonard Wood.

4

As Fort Leonard Wood is an active military base, many of the passengers utilizing the airport are 

either deploying to or returning from active duty. Carriers should be aware that these passengers 

are often carrying substantial loads of military equipment and supplies (sometimes in excess of 

200 pounds per person). This can present weight and balance issues depending on the aircraft 

used. Under the existing EAS contract, we have authorized Cape Air to operate additional 

freight-only flights at a subsidy rate 90% that of the passenger service. Over the life of the 

existing contract, Cape Air has had to operate these freight-only flights 58.9% of the time, on 

average. Carriers should take this unique situation into account when drafting their proposals.

New Filing Procedures 

Carrier proposals should be submitted to the Department with all materials merged into a single 

document. In addition, because the document will be published on Regulations.gov, each page 

should be formatted to be viewed online.

Other Carrier Requirements

The Department is responsible for implementing various Federal statutes governing lobbying 

activities, drug-free workplaces, and nondiscrimination.5 Consequently, all carriers receiving 

Federal subsidy for essential air service must certify that they are in compliance with Department 

regulations regarding drug-free workplaces and nondiscrimination, and those carriers whose 

subsidies exceed $100,000 over the life of the rate term must also certify that they are in 

compliance with the regulations governing lobbying activities. Because the Department is 

prohibited from paying subsidy to carriers that do not submit these documents, all carriers that 

plan to submit proposals involving subsidy should be aware that the selected carrier will be 

required to complete the required certifications. Interested carriers requiring more detailed 

 

4 Enplaned passengers per day calculated by adding origin and destination passenger totals from Appendix B, then 

dividing by 313 (days), then dividing by 2.

5 The regulations applicable to these areas are: (1) 49 CFR Part 20 -- New restrictions on lobbying; 

(2) 49 CFR Part 21 -- Nondiscrimination in federally-assisted programs of the Department of Transportation --

Effectuation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; 49 CFR Part 27 --Nondiscrimination on the basis of 

disability in programs and activities receiving or benefiting from Federal financial assistance; and 14 CFR Part 382 -

- Nondiscrimination on the basis of disability in air travel; and (3) 49 CFR Part 29 -- Government-wide debarment 

and suspension (non-procurement) and government-wide requirements for drug-free workplace (grants).
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information regarding these requirements should contact the Office of Aviation Analysis at 

(202) 366-5903.6

Community and State Comments

The community and state are welcome to submit comments at any time. As noted above, we 

encourage prospective applicants to contact the community before they submit their proposals so 

that they can tailor them to the community’s needs, as they will not be able to amend them after 

the due date. As noted earlier, we will provide a copy of the proposals to the civic parties and 

ask them to submit their final comments shortly after August 15, the due date for carrier 

proposals.

This Order is issued under authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.56a(f).

 6 The certifications are also available on the web at http://ostpxweb.dot.gov/aviation/index.html.
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ACCORDINGLY,

1. We request that carriers interested in providing Essential Air Service at Fort Leonard Wood, 

Missouri, submit their proposals, with or without subsidy requests, no later than August 15, 

2012. Proposals should be e-mailed to EAS@dot.gov, with the subject “Proposal to Provide 

Essential Air Service at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri (Docket DOT-OST-1996-1167).”7

2. Docket DOT-OST-1997-1167 will remain open until further order of the Department; and 

3. We will serve copies of this Order on the mayors of Waynesville and Saint Robert, Missouri, 

personnel at Fort Leonard Wood, the airport manager of Waynesville/St. Robert Regional 

Airport, and the service list for this docket.

Persons entitled to petition the Department for review of this Order under the Department’s 

Aviation Economic Regulations, 14 CFR 385.50, must file such 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

on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov

 7 Questions regarding filings in response to this Order may be directed to A.J. Muldoon at (202) 366-1058 or 

albert.muldoon@dot.gov.
Appendix A

AREA MAP

This map is provided by Sabre® AirVisionTM Profit Essentials and is being used with express permission of the 

copyright holder, Sabre Airline Solutions®.
Appendix B

Page 1 of 2

Traffic History1

Fort Leonard Wood, MO (TBN)

Year/Quarter Origin Destination Total

2008 Q1 581 799 1,380

Q2 1,315 1,364 2,679

Q3 1,655 2,079 3,734

Q4 1,233 1,437 2,670

2008 Total 4,784 5,679 10,463

2009 Q1 1,120 1,631 2,751

Q2 1,413 1,811 3,224

Q3 1,406 1,555 2,961

Q4 930 1,039 1,969

2009 Total 4,869 6,036 10,905

2010 Q1 719 1,234 1,953

Q2 1,148 1,466 2,614

Q3 1,248 1,430 2,678

Q4 1,039 1,349 2,388

2010 Total 4,154 5,479 9,633

2011 Q1 1,249 1,538 2,787

Q2 1,785 1,884 3,669

Q3 2,125 2,066 4,191

Q4 1,819 1,809 3,628

2011 Total 6,978 7,297 14,275

 1 Source – T-100 Market Report, Passengers in Scheduled Passenger Service.
Appendix B

Page 2 of 2

Cape Air Passenger and Freighter Operations by Month1

 1 Source: Cape Air reporting.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Dec,

2010

Jan,

2011

Feb,

2011

Mar,

2011

Apr,

2011

May,

2011

Jun,

2011

Jul,

2011

Aug,

2011

Sep,

2011

Oct,

2011

Nov,

2011

Dec,

2011

Jan,

2012

Feb,

2012

Mar,

2012

Apr,

2012

May,

2012

Departures Performed Pax Departures Performed Freight % Freighter Use
Appendix C

Example of General Terms and Conditions for Essential Air Service

The carrier understands that it may forfeit its compensation for any flights that it does not 

operate in conformance with the terms and stipulations of the rate order, including the 

service plans outlined in the order and any other significant elements of the required

service, without prior approval. The carrier understands that an aircraft take-off and 

landing at its scheduled destination constitutes a completed flight; absent an explanation 

supporting subsidy eligibility for a flight that has not been completed, such as certain 

weather cancellations, only completed flights are considered eligible for subsidy. In 

addition, if the carrier does not schedule or operate its flights in full conformance with the 

order for a significant period, it may jeopardize its entire subsidy claim for the period in 

question. If the carrier contemplates any such changes beyond the scope of the order 

during the applicable period of these rates, it must first notify the Office of Aviation 

Analysis in writing and receive written approval from the Department to be ensured of 

full compensation. Should circumstances warrant, the Department may locate and select 

a replacement carrier to provide service on these routes. The carrier must complete all 

flights that can be safely operated; flights that overfly points for lack of traffic will not be 

compensated. In determining whether subsidy payment for a deviating flight should be 

adjusted or disallowed, the Department will consider the extent to which the goals of the 

program are met and the extent of access to the national air transportation system 

provided to the community.

If the Department unilaterally, either partially or completely, terminates or reduces 

payments for service or changes service requirements at a specific location provided for 

under this order, then, at the end of the period for which the Department does make 

payments in the stipulated amounts or at the stipulated service levels, the carrier may 

cease to provide service to that specific location without regard to any requirement for 

notice of such cessation. Those adjustments in the levels of subsidy and/or service that 

are mutually agreed to in writing by the Department and carrier do not constitute a total 

or partial reduction or cessation of payment.

Funds are not currently available for performance under this solicitation beyond [DATE]. 

The Government’s obligation for performance under this solicitation beyond [DATE], is 

contingent upon the availability of appropriated funds from which payment for services 

can be made. No legal liability on the part of the Government for any payment may arise 

for performance under this order beyond [DATE], until funds are made available to the 

Department for performance. If funds are not made available for performance beyond 

[DATE], the carrier will receive notice in writing by the Department.

Subsidy contracts are subject to, and incorporate by reference, relevant statutes and 

Department regulations, as they may be amended from time to time. However, any such 

statutes, regulations, or amendments thereto shall not operate to controvert the foregoing 

paragraph.

All claims for payment must be submitted within 60 days of the last day of service 

provided under this order.