Beforethe United States Department ofTransportation October7, 2014

Essential Air Service at
GREAT BEND, KANSAS Docket OST-1998-3496
Under49 U.S.C. 41731 et seq.

REQUEST OF SEAPORTAIRLINES TO CHANGE SERVICE PATTERN AT GREAT BEND, KANSAS
By Order2014-3-9, the Departmentselected SeaPortAirlines, Inc. ("SeaPort") to provide subsidized scheduled EssentialAirService ("EAS") at Great Bend, Kansas. That selection, for atwo year period, was to provide 18weekly roundtrip flights to Wichita, Kansas Subsquently, SeaPort and the community requested a change in service pattern to include 12 weekly roundtrips to Wichita and sixweekly one-stopflights to Kansas City (via Salina, Kansas City) The Department granted this request in Order2014-4-14 and SeaPort initiated service at Great Bend on June 16, 2014. Since launching service at Great Bend, demand fortravel to and from Wichita has been far below projected levels while demand fortravel to and from Kansas City has exceeded expectations. Therefore, SeaPortAirlines is requesting a change in service pattern at Great Bend to allow 12weekly nonstop roundtrips to Kansas City. We have discussed this matterwith the City ofGreat Bend and theywill be filing a letterin support of the change underseparate cover.

In support ofthis request, SeaPortAirlines statesthefollowing: #1. Demandfor Kansas City service is doublethatforWichita Since establishing service at Great Bend, passengerdemandforflights to/from Kansas City has exceeded demandforflights to/from Wichita during all but one month of service. This is illustrated on the graph on the next page.SeaPortAirlines, Inc. RequestforService Pattern Change OST-1998-3496 Page 2 of4


## 0&0 Passengers 

# by Month Great Bend

- Wichitav. Great Bend

- Kansas City
80,------------------

------------------------------ 71 70 

### +------------------
60**+----------~------** 50+-----------------

June 16-30 July2014 August2014 September2014 

### L' Wichita • Kansas City The preferencefor Kansas Cityflights is despitethat service being one-stop and operating with 50% less frequencythan Wichitaflights. This is likely afactor ofa greater numberofairlines, nonstop destinations, and departuretimes. Also, a higherpercentage of seats at Kansas City are provided by low-farefares, including Southwest, Frontier, and Spirit, which results in greatertrafficstimulation. In addition to connecting traffic, there exists a large community of interest between Great Bend and Kansas City which will generate local traffic demand. This is comprised of both business traffic (financial, legal, and medical industries) and family ties (Kansas City residents who were raised in the Great Bend area with a need to return home). Finally, the longerdistanceto Kansas City increases consumerpreferencefor air travel overthe automobile, particularlywhen the relatively lowfrequency levels are considered. Based on data since SeaPort initiated service at Great Bend, we believethatthe majority ofcustomerstraveling to/from this communitywould rather connect at Kansas City than Wichita, and this service pattern request is intended to meetthis marketdemand.SeaPortAirlines, Inc. RequestforService Pattern Change OST-1998-3496 Page 3 of4

#2. Currentservice pattern puts Great Bend's EAS eligibilityat risk. Because ofthe lowtraffic levelsthatthe current service pattern generates, the current level ofsubsidy exceeds $1 ,000 per passenger, and places the continued eligibility ofGreat Bend to receive subsidized EAS at riskThis is illustrated on thetable below.

Flights Billed O&D Subsidy Month Completed Subsidy Passengers per Passenger June 16-30, 2014 78 $60,684 36 $1,686 July 2014 159 $123,702 102 $1,213 August2014 105 $81,690 44 $1,857 September 2014 154 $119,812 60 $1,997 Totals/Average 496 $385,888 242 $1,595

As the data shows, since SeaPort initiated service at Great Bend the perpassenger subsidy has averaged approximately $1 ,595. The City of Great Bend and SeaPort believe that changing the serviceto nonstopflights to Kansas City will increase passengertraffic on EAS at Great Bend and reduce subsidiesto below $1,000 the statutory limit of per passenger. 

### #3. SeaPort is not requesting an increase in subsidy. It is importantto notethatthis requestfor change in service pattern does not include
achange in subsidy by SeaPort. This is the case despitethefactthatthe number, while the numberoffrequencieswould decrease by 33%, the numberofblock hours flown by SeaPortwould increase by 50%. This is shown on thefollowing table.

Block Weekly Subsidy Weekly Minutes Subsidy Subsidy Subsidy per Block Cap per perBlock Segments per Seat Segment Hours Departure Hour

CurrentService GBD-ICT 24 45 18 $18,672 $778 $1,037 $86 Pattern GBD-SLN/MCI 12 40 8 $9,336 $778 $1,167 $86 TOTAL 36 43 26 $28,008 $778 $1,077 $86 Proposed Pattern GBD-MCI 24 98 39 $28,008 $1,167 $718 $130 %Change -33% 50% 0% 50% -33% 50%

The calculations ofchanges in block hours and frequencies are based on a proposed schedule between Great Bend and Kansas City shown on the next page.SeaPortAirlines, Inc. Requestfor Service Pattern Change OST-1998-3496 Page 4 of4

Flight Depart Arrive Stops Frequency 

### I FROMGreat BendTO Kansas City 4310 5:00am 6:35am 0 Ex Sunday 4312 2:45pm 4:20pm 0 Ex Saturday 

### I FROM Kansas CityTO Great Bend 

# I
4311 12:30pm 2:10pm 0 Ex Sunday 4313 5:20pm 7:00pm 0 Ex Saturday

The proposed schedule would provide travelers to/from Great Bend with very strong connectivity at Kansas City and, certainly, much betterthan availablevia Wichita. This is illustrated in AttachmentA to this filing

As outlined in this filing, market response to EAS provided to Wichita has been at low levelsthat threaten the continued eligibility for EAS at Great Bend. Therefore, and with the support ofthe City ofGreat Bend, SeaPortAirlines is requesting the Department approve a change in service in pattern to 12weekly roundtrips between Great Bend and Kansas City. We requestthatthe Department approvethis change in an expeditious
mannerso thatwe can increase enplanement levels and ensurethe continued eligibility of Great Bend to receive subsidized EAS.
Respectfully Submitted,

Timothy Sieber ExecutiveVice President SeaPortAirlines, Inc. 7505 NE AirportWay Portland International Airport Portland, Oregon 97218 Office: (971) 340-1716 email: tsieber@seaportair.com
DATE: October7, 2014

### ATTACHMENTA- Connectivityat Kansas City
Connections Outbound from Great Bend

K5 4310 0 GBD 0500 0635 0810 0935 MOW 0 WN 819 0815 1115 A1L 0 DL 2233 0820 1020 HOU 0 WN 300 0825 1026 IAH 0 UA 4470 0850 1015 DAL 0 WN 2245 0900 1025 BNA 0 WN 337 0905 1030 MOW 0 WN 734 0915 1022 DEN 0 UA 4936 0915 1030 SLN 0 K5 4122 0915 1041 MSP 0 DL 3360 0918 1045 ORO 0 UA 4670 0925 1020 S1L 0 WN 714 0940 1115 DFW 0 AA 1284 0945 1110 ORO 0 AA 4299 1001 1202 IAH 0 UA 4466 1008 1304 A1L 0 DL 1272 1015 1120 LAS 0 WN 1184 1023 1315 DlW 0 DL 5070 1030 1155 ORO 0 AA 4329 1030 1220 OAK 0 WN 1027 1035 1130 DEN 0 WN 502 1035 1200 DAL 0 WN 605**ill~** K5 4312 0 GBD 1445 1620 1755 1920 ORO 0 AA 4323 1755 2045 DlW 0 DL 1369 1800 1850 PHX 0 WN 3653 1800 1907 DEN 0 UA 4902 1800 2146 LGA 0 DL 5240 1805 1933 DFW 0 NK 913 1805 2105 A1L 0 DL 1364 1810 1958 SFO 0 UA 5481 1815 1906 PHX 0 

### us 655 1819 2020 IAH 0 UA 4499 1821 1907 DEN 0 F9 819 1825 2133 CLT 0 

### us 2035 1845 2010 BNA 0 WN 1247 1850 2025 ORO 0 UA 1568 1900 2030 DAL 0 WN 815 1915 2050 DFW 0 AA 1535 1920 2044 MSP 0 DL 3367 1920 2045 MOW 0 WN 552 1935 2100 ORO 0 AA 4263 1950 2110 MSP 0 WN 1102 1955 2040 DEN 0 WN 3834 2010 2135 BNA 0 WN 901 2020 2145 DAL 0 WN 637 2035 2255 INO 0 WN 371 2105 2220 MOW 0 WN 235Connections Inbound to Great Bend



### WN 714 0 

### DAL 0730 0855 AA 1284 0 

### DFW 0730 0900 AA 4299 0 

### ORO 0750 0910 

### DL 1272 0 

### ATL 0816 0928 

### WN 1184 0 

### MOW 0805 0930 

### UA 4466 0 

### IAH 0732 0931 

### WN 577 0 

### HOU 0745 0935 

### DL 5070 0 

### DTW 0843 0948 

## us 5872 0 

### PHL 0750 0953 

### WN 1027 0 

### MKE 0825 0955 AA 4329 0 

### ORO 0830 0955 

### UA 4251 0 

### ORO 0830 1002 

### WN 605 0 

### BOS 0725 1005 

### WN 510 0 

### BWI 0815 1005 

### WN 502 0 

### MSP 0845 1005 

### DL 3824 0 

### CVG 0925 1015 

### UA 3765 0 

### lAD 0845 1019 

### DL 5170 0 

### LGA 0805 1025 

## us 5954 0 

### DCA 0835 1029 AA 1046 0 

### DFW 0900 1030 

### WN 421 0 

### MOW 0905 1030 

### WN 1985 0 

### DAL 0905 1030 

### WN 122 0 

### DEN 0810 1040 

### UA 4942 0 

### DEN 0755 1044 

### UA 4364 0 

### EWR 0843 1053 AA 4233 0 

### ORO 0930 1055 

### UA 4197 0 

### IAH 0900 1059 1230 1410 GBD 0 K5 4311 r ii 

### WN 4648 0 

### MSY 1225 1420 

### WN 945 0 

### DAL 1300 1425 

### DL 1461 0 

### MSP 1305 1428 AA 341 0 

### DFW 1300 1430 

### DL 5700 0 LAX 0918 1438 

### UA 3949 0 

### ORO 1310 1440 

### WN 3586 0 

### LAS 1005 1450 

### UA 4307 0 

### IAH 1250 1450 

## us 1890 0 

### CLT 1320 1451 AA 4349 0 

### ORO 1345 1515 

### AS 756 0 

### SEA 1000 1520 

### UA 5481 0 

### SFO 0955 1525 

### WN 910 0 

### IND 1455 1525 

### WN 1874 0 

### MOW 1410 1530 

### DL 1533 0 

### ATL 1425 1533 

## us 5874 0 

### PHL 1340 1534 

### WN 952 0 

### DEN 1305 1535 

### AC 7321 0 YYZ 1415 1540 

## us 5852 0 

### DCA 1359 1543 1720 1900 GBD 0 K5 4313