Before the United States Department of Transportation 

October 7, 2014 

Essential Air Service at 

GREAT BEND, KANSAS Docket OST-1998-3496 

Under49 U.S.C. 41731 et seq. 

REQUEST OF SEAPORT AIRLINES TO CHANGE SERVICE 

PATTERN AT GREAT BEND, KANSAS 

By Order 2014-3-9, the Department selected SeaPort Airlines, Inc. ("SeaPort") to 

provide subsidized scheduled Essential Air Service ("EAS") at Great Bend, Kansas. That 

selection, for a two year period, was to provide 18 weekly roundtrip flights to Wichita, 

Kansas 

Subsquently, SeaPort and the community requested a change in service pattern to 

include 12 weekly roundtrips to Wichita and six weekly one-stop flights to Kansas City (via 

Salina, Kansas City) The Department granted this request in Order 2014-4-14 and SeaPort 

initiated service at Great Bend on June 16, 2014. 

Since launching service at Great Bend, demand for travel to and from Wichita has 

been far below projected levels while demand for travel to and from Kansas City has 

exceeded expectations. Therefore, SeaPort Airlines is requesting a change in service 

pattern at Great Bend to allow 12 weekly nonstop roundtrips to Kansas City. We have 

discussed this matter with the City of Great Bend and they will be filing a letter in support of 

the change under separate cover. 

In support of this request, SeaPort Airlines states the following: 

#1. Demand for Kansas City service is double that for Wichita 

Since establishing service at Great Bend, passenger demand for flights to/from 

Kansas City has exceeded demand for flights to/from Wichita during all but one month of 

service. This is illustrated on the graph on the next page. 
SeaPort Airlines, Inc. 

Request for Service Pattern Change 

OST -1998-3496 

Page 2 of 4 

0&0 Passengers by Month 

Great Bend - Wichita v. Great Bend - Kansas City 

80,------------------ ------------------------------

71 

70 +------------------

60 +----------~------

50+-----------------

June 16-30 July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 

L' Wichita • Kansas City 

The preference for Kansas City flights is despite that service being one-stop and 

operating with 50% less frequency than Wichita flights. This is likely a factor of a greater 

number of airlines, nonstop destinations, and departure times. Also, a higher percentage of 

seats at Kansas City are provided by low-fare fares, including Southwest, Frontier, and 

Spirit, which results in greater traffic stimulation. 

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 longer distance to Kansas City increases consumer preference for air 

travel over the automobile, particularly when the relatively low frequency levels are 

considered. 

Based on data since SeaPort initiated service at Great Bend, we believe that the 

majority of customers traveling to/from this community would rather connect at Kansas City 

than Wichita, and this service pattern request is intended to meet this market demand. 
SeaPort Airlines, Inc. 

Request for Service Pattern Change 

OST -1998-3496 

Page 3 of 4 

#2. Current service pattern puts Great Bend's EAS eligibility at risk. 

Because of the low traffic levels that the current service pattern generates, the 

current level of subsidy exceeds $1 ,000 per passenger, and places the continued eligibility 

of Great Bend to receive subsidized EAS at risk This is illustrated on the table 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 per passenger 

subsidy has averaged approximately $1 ,595. The City of Great Bend and SeaPort believe 

that changing the service to nonstop flights to Kansas City will increase passenger traffic on 

EAS at Great Bend and reduce subsidies to below $1,000 the statutory limit of per 

passenger. 

#3. SeaPort is not requesting an increase in subsidy. 

It is important to note that this request for change in service pattern does not include 

a change in subsidy by SeaPort. This is the case despite the fact that the number, while the 

number of frequencies would decrease by 33%, the number of block hours flown by 

SeaPort would increase by 50%. This is shown on the following table. 

Block 

Weekly Subsidy Weekly Minutes Subsidy Subsidy Subsidy per Block Cap per per Block Segments per Seat 

Segment Hours Departure Hour 

Current Service 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 of changes in block hours and frequencies are based on a 

proposed schedule between Great Bend and Kansas City shown on the next page. 
SeaPort Airlines, Inc. 

Request for Service Pattern Change 

OST-1998-3496 

Page 4 of 4 

Flight Depart Arrive Stops Frequency 

I FROM Great Bend TO Kansas City 

4310 5:00am 6:35am 0 Ex Sunday 

4312 2:45pm 4:20pm 0 Ex Saturday 

I FROM Kansas City TO 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 better than available via Wichita. This is 

illustrated in Attachment A to this filing 

As outlined in this filing, market response to EAS provided to Wichita has been at 

low levels that threaten the continued eligibility for EAS at Great Bend. Therefore, and with 

the support of the City of Great Bend, SeaPort Airlines is requesting the Department 

approve a change in service in pattern to 12 weekly roundtrips between Great Bend and 

Kansas City. We request that the Department approve this change in an expeditious 

manner so that we can increase enplanement levels and ensure the continued eligibility of 

Great Bend to receive subsidized EAS. 

Respectfully Submitted, 

Timothy Sieber 

Executive Vice President 

SeaPort Airlines, Inc. 

7505 NE Airport Way 

Portland International Airport 

Portland, Oregon 97218 

Office: (971) 340-1716 

email: tsieber@seaportair.com 

DATE: October 7, 2014 
ATTACHMENT A- Connectivity at 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 235 
Connections 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