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U.S. Department of 

Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

,ir:rORTATiON 

-: OPERATiO;-^ 

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1 200 New jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC 2059 0 

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March 21, 2012 

Mr. Jeff Hancock 

City Manager 

302 W. 5th St. 

McCook, NE 69001-1059 

Dear Mr. Hancock: 

1 would like to update you on the Essential Air Service situation at McCook and give you an 

opportunity to submit any comments if you wish. In anticipation of the end of Great Lakes' 

current contract on May 31, 2012, the Department issued Order 2012-1-28, on January 27, 2012, 

to solicit proposals from ail interested air carriers to provide service at McCook. In response to 

that Order, we received only one proposal, which was submitted by the incumbent airline. Great 

Lakes Aviation, Ltd. 

We have directed the air carrier to serve its proposal on you: in addition, copies of the proposal 

may be accessed online through the Department's Dockets Management System at: 

http://\vww.regulations.gov7 by entering "DOT-OST-1997-3005" in the "'Enter Keyword or ID" 

field, so we will only briefly summarize the one proposal here. 

Great Lakes' proposal would continue to offer 12 nonstop round trips per week from McCook to 

Denver International Airport utilizing a 19-seat Beech 1900 aircraft, for an annual subsidy of 

$1,976,338. 

While we would normally ask for your comments as to the various air carrier options, we 

nonetheless want to give you an opportunity to submit any formal comments for the record 

before we submit a recommendation to the Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International 

Affairs. 

Please note that the average passenger fares shown in ihe proposal do not necessarily reflect the 

average local fare McCook would actually pay, but rather, reflect a prorated portion of the total 

ticket price, e.g., the McCook - San Francisco portion of a McCook - Denver- San Francisco 

ticket that the subsidized air carrier would realize. Also, the fare shown is net of certain charges 

such as Federal transportation security fees, excise or ticket taxes, and Passenger Facility 

Charges. Of course, air carriers have the discretion (o ciiarge fares they deem appropriate, and 
the passenger fares presented in the proposal have been developed for subsidy rate computation 

purposes only. 

You should also note that the schedules that the air carrier has submitted are illustrative only, and 

that Great Lakes may make schedule changes to reflect changing conditions, e.g., to better meet 

shifting connecting bank times at the hub aiiport. The Department expects subsidized air carriers 

to maintain well-timed and well-spaced flights in order to ensure full compensation. 

We request that you submit any comments you may have as soon as possible, but in any case no 

later than April 20, 2012. We will carefully consider your comments before we submit a 

recommendation to the Assistant Secretary for a decision. If you have any questions or if you 

find that you need additional time to draft your comments, please let me know. 

Please send your comments to me at the following email address: EAS@dot.gov or by fax to 

202-366-7838. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Scott Faulk of my staff at 

scott.faulk@dot.gov or 202-366-9967. 

A similar letter has been sent to the Mayor of McCook and the Airport Advisory Commission. 

Sincerely, 

Dennis J. DeVany 

Chief, Essential Air Service Division, X-53 

Office of Aviation Analysis