Essential Air Service At Thief River Falls MN 

OST-2001-10642 

February 4, 2014 

At the request of the Thief River Falls Regional Airport, TransportAzumah has prepared a draft schedule 

and cost for an emergency interim bus service between Thief River Falls and Fargo ND. We will 

designate this option to be "Thief River Falls Option 3". Fargo was requested because it provides 

westbound access as well as eastbound access from its location. 

The following markets would receive emergency interim bus service: 

TransportAzumah Emergency Interim Bus Service 

Market I Hub I Round Trips Per Day I 3 Month Subsidy 

Thief River Falls MN I FAR 14 1 $364,544 

Sample bus schedules are provided below. They are subject to change: 

Thief River Falls MN - FAR 

Thief River Falls MN >Fargo ND (Daily) 

Thief River Falls MN I 715a I 1115a I 315p I 715p 

Fargo ND I 930a I 130p I 530p I 930p 

Fargo ND >Thief River Falls MN (Daily) 

Fargo ND I 1030a I 200p I 600p I 1000p 

Thief River Falls MN I 1245p I 415p I 815p I 1215a 

Statutory Authority: 

The Department has the authority to issue a contract for this service under the Alternate Essential Air 

Service Pilot Program. Under the AEAS, a community may waive its eligibility for standard essential air 

service for a particular time period to implement a solution of its choosing, including scheduled or ondemand ground transportation. The community is issued a block grant in order to implement the service 

that it requests. The Department has issued one block grant under this program to Manistee Ml in 

March 2012 for $4.1M over two years. 

The Department has the authority to issue an initial block grant to Thief River Falls for three months. 

During this time, a new RFP cim be issued for air service to this community and an airline can be found 

to operate the service. If Great Lakes is able to restart service, then the community would re-enter the 

traditional EAS program on that date. Otherwise, the community would re-enter the traditional EAS 

program on the date when the new airline begins service. 

It is important that the Department notes that this community has not chosen to enter the Alternative 

Essential Air Service Pilot Program of its own volition. The service required to be provided under the 

traditional EAS program is not being provided. If the Department considers service to Thief River Falls 

essential, then it will approve this proposal in a rapid manner. The typical start up time for a new carrier 

is four months and that does not include the time allocated to bid the contract. 

Contact: Joel Anabilah-Azumah, jazumah@transportazumah.com, 347-927-0750 
Essential Air Service & Buses 

Multimodal Solutions To Air Service Deficiencies 

Can the Essential Air Service program fund surface transportation? 

Yes! Under the Alternative Essential Air Service Pilot Program (AEASL your airport 

can apply for a block grant to meet your air service needs in a way that you may 

not be able to do under the traditional Essential Air Service program. 

Have any communities done this before? 

Manistee Ml obtained an AEAS grant in 2012 for charter air service to meet its 

EAS needs. A press release from Carl Levin's office highlighting the Manistee grant 

is attached. 

How does one access the Alternative Essential Air Service Pilot Program? 

A community would have to opt out of the traditional EAS program for the period 

of time they wish to pursue this program. The USDOT would have to approve the 

use of funds in the new program. The opt out period is not permanent. 

Our goal is to maintain air service. What can buses do for us? 

Most communities receive decent air service and wish to retain those links. 

However, some communities are having trouble with their air service or have 

none at all. If your air service is irregular, your passenger base will shrink rapidly. 

If your air service is interrupted, replacing it with nothing will cause your 

passenger base to evaporate because once new habits are established, they are 

hard to break. A bus service designed to access alternative air service can bridge 

the gap between carriers or it can fill in for weak air service. 

Why wouldn't a customer drive to a nearby airport instead of taking a bus? 

They could do this. However, most EAS airports offer free parking. Most EAS 

airports are 90 minutes or more from the nearest airport. No one wants to start 

or end a long trip with a long drive. Finally, if you live somewhere nice, you are 

likely attracting out of town visitors that are not familiar with your area and it is 

easier for them to be picked up at your airport than somewhere else. 
Are there any examples of a bus being better than a plane? 

Continental Airlines (now United) used to fly a Beech 19000 between Allentown 

PA and Newark NJ, a 65 mile trip. This flight was cancelled and delayed often, so 

the decision was made to cancel it and replace it with a bus. This service has been 

in place for almost 20 years. 3 buses are operated in each direction with a United 

flight number. Furthermore, those customers are able to book that leg of travel 

right on United's website and receive frequent flyer miles for doing so. This may 

be a community's fastest way onto a carrier's global flight timetable. 

Flight: Continental: Airlines f1ight 3165 operated by JCO 

CONNECTION BUS SERVICE on a Sus 

Depart: Allentown/Bethlehem, PA (ABE)- Wed, Feb 02 6:00am 

Arrive: Newark, NJ (EWR)- Wed, Feb 027:30am 

Flight: Continental Airlines flight 1413 on a Boeing 737-500 

Jet 

Depart: Newark, NJ (EWR)- Wed. Feb 02 8:55am 

Arrive: DallaslFt Worth, TX (DFW)- Wed, Feb 02 12:1:4pm 

FUght: Continental: Airlines flight 1758 on a Boeing 737-500 

Jet ' 

Depart: DallaslFt 1North, TX (DFW)- Wed, Feb 09 12:54pm 

Arrive: Newark, NJ (EWR)- Wed, Feb 09 5:31pm 

Ftight: Continental Airlines flight. 3164 operated by /CO~ 

CONNECTION BUS SERVICE on a Sus 

Depart: Newark, NJ (EWR)- Wed. Feb 09 8:00pm 

Arrive: Allentown/Bethlehem, PA (ABE)~- Wed. Feb 09 9:25pm 

How does passenger and baggage screening work on United's ABE-EWR 11flight"? 

Customers check in as normal and their checked bags are screened by TSA. 

Customers are ticketed in ABE. The screened bags are loaded onto the bus and 

then the baggage compartment is sealed by TSA. Passengers are loaded 

unscreened and taken to EWR, where they are screened. Meanwhile, the baggage 

is taken into the baggage area directly by the bus, where the sealed 
compartments are opened. On the return, the passengers and baggage are 

loaded at a gate and taken directly to ABE. 

Will these customers be counted towards the airport's enplanements? 

We are not sure. For example, ABE excludes passengers on the ABE-EWR "flight" 

from their enplanement and deplanement totals. However, when an aircraft is 

delayed or unavailable, airlines routinely bus those passengers to their 

destinations and they are counted. Our view is that it is only worth collecting air 

service taxes and fees if the passengers count towards your enplanements. 

Passengers will grumble about riding a bus. 

Many markets have buses with free wi-fi and llOV outlets available. Availability 

will depend on the length of the contract as well as your location, but there are a 

sufficient number of high-quality buses in the market that will be able to provide 

a comfortable ride. 

It sounds interesting, but I am still on the fence. 

The average start-up time for a new airline is four months, which is why the 

US DOT bids markets six months in advance. If you don't have air service today, 

contact us for an interim solution. If your air service is unreliable, contact us so we 

have a bid ready at the end of your cycle. 

Contact: Joel Anabilah-Azumah, jazumah@transportazumah.com, 347-927-0750 
Senator Levin Applauds Obama Administration Decision to Provide a First-of-Its-Kind 

Alternate Essential Air Service Grant to Manistee 

Friday, March 16, 2012 

WASHINGTON-- Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded a 

first-of-its-kind Alternate Essential Air Service grant to Manistee County Blacker Airport. The grant will enable 

Manistee, which lost its air service provider in March, to resume air service between the Manistee County Blacker 

Airport and Chicago Midway in May. 

The Essential Air Service (EAS) program was established by congress to provide smaller, more rural airports with 

consistent, dependable air service. Under the EAS program, the U.S. Department of Transportation provides a 

subsidy directly to an airline which then provides service to a specific community. The Alternative Essential Air 

Service (AEAS) program leaves that responsibility with the community itself. Under AEAS, each community must 

determine its own transportation needs, and receives financial support in the form of a grant from the federal 

government to meet those needs. This can take the form of more frequent service with smaller aircraft, ondemand air taxi service, scheduled or on-demand surface transportation, regionalized air service, and purchasing 

an aircraft. 

"This flexible funding will allow Manistee to take the lead in setting up service for the airport, making sure that the air 

service plan meets the community's needs," Levin said. "Commercial air service is vital to connecting Michigan 

communities to the U.S. and global economy, and preserving that connection is of major importance." 

Frontier Airlines, Manistee's former EAS carrier, stopped service on March 11, 2012. As a result of their 

successful AEAS application, Manistee plans to resume service on May 1, 2012 with Public Charters, Inc. The 

community preferred the AEAS option as the bids they received under EAS did not adequately meet their 

transportation needs. 

On January 5, 2012, the Airport Manager of the Manistee County Blacker Airport, with support from the Airport 

Authority, Manistee County Board of Commissioners, Manistee Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Manistee 

County Visitors Bureau and the office of Senator Carl Levin, submitted an application for AEAS. The Airport 

Authority proposed regularly scheduled charter service consisting of at least 1 ,019 annual nonstop one-way flights 

between the Manistee County Blacker Airport and Chicago Midway International Airport (MOW), for a two-year 

period utilizing two-pilot, twin-engine aircraft with 30 seats for the first six months of service and with 19 seats for 

the remaining 18 months. The grant totals $4.156 million over two years. 
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• Lehigh Valley International Airport-Newark shuttle for Continental 

passengers is quirky but profitable Tweet 8+1 

May 04, 2010 I By Gregory Karp I OF THE MORNING CALL 

For the past 15 years, some Continental Airlines passengers at Lehigh Valley International Airport began their flight in a 

most unusual way, a bus ride to Newark, N.J. 

The quirky"bus-fiight" service that began in 1995 could end up a casualty of the proposed $3 billion-plus merger 

between Continental and United Airlines, said George Doughty, executive director of the Lehigh-Northampton Airport 

Authority, which operates L VIA 

Flights from New York 

united.com 

Great Rates are Still Available from United. Book Now 

"United could look at that (bus service) and say, 'V\illat is this?'" Doughty said. "It's an oddity. If I were to say something 

would come into question, it's that bus service." 

free Wi-R • fully equipped kitchent Continental passengers can check in and check bags at L VIA, but those bags are loaded with passengers onto a bus 

free grab-and-go breakfast that drives them to Newark Liberty International Airport, where they catch their Continental flight. 

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Bus Service 

Continental Airlines 

The service was born after Continental had logistical problems with its Allentown-to-Newark flights being late half the 

time or canceled because of air-traffic control issues in Newark. It found busing passengers to Newark, a 75-minute trip, 

was far more reliable. 

Doughty said the bus service always befuddles new executives at Continental. 

"They say, 'V\illat's this stupid thing with this bus?' And they look at the numbers, and theyfind out it's extremely profitable 

for them. So, they keep running it." 

United and Continental haven't announced any canceled services as a result of the merger, which isn't expected to close 

until the end of this year. The airlines said they will continue service to "all communities currently served by either airline, 

including more than 140 small metropolitan areas and communities." 

As for other changes at L VIA resulting from the merger, there might not be any, Doughty said. "I don't know that there 

would be a significant impact for us," he said. He said he doubts the combination would affect L VIA's competitive 

position relative to Philadelphia International Airport and Newark Liberty. 

At Philadelphia International, United and Continental are relatively small players, combining for less than 10 percent of 

the traffic at the airport, which is dominated by US Airways. They have no overlap in routes from Philadelphia. 

At Newark, Continental already has a hub, and that's likely to stay in place to serve the lucrative New York City market, 

Doughty said. 

Nationwide, United and Continental don't have many overlapping routes. 

At LVIA, United is only the No.4 airline by traffic. The airport has long-running service on United to its hub in Chicago's 

http://articles.rncall.com/201 Q..05-04/nem/all-a1_ 5ai rlines. 7261946may04 _1_conti nental-fl ig ht-continental-passeng ers-bus-senA ce 1/3 
2/3/2014 Airlines merger could halt bus flight- Morning Call 

O'Hare International Airport, where passengers can get connections to the western United States and Asia, Doughty 

said. United also flies to Washington-Dulles International Airport in Virginia, which gives passengers connecting access 

to the South, West and Europe. 

Doughty said he doesn't foresee changes to those United routes. "It's an important airline for us because it goes to two 

very important cities. We certainly want to retain that sel"\lice. I don't see this having an impact, but you never really know." 

Flights from New York 

united.com 

Great Rates are Still Available from United. Book Now 

Besides its bus flights to Newark, Continental currently has no flights from L ViA It ended air sel"\lice to Cleveland in 

February because of low demand. 

In the near term, little will change. Because the merger needs regulatory approvals and is not expected to close until the 

end of the year, consumers will continue booking flights on each airline separately. 

In the long term, the resultforconsumers is likely to be predictable. Less competition means higher prices. 

"This is all about reducing the amount of capacity in the system,'' Doughty said. "Fewer seats and higher fares is what it 

means to everybody." 

United and Continental, however, contend they are under strong competitive pressure from discount airlines to keep fares 

low. They also saytheycan "achieve revenue synergies without any increase in fares." 

The airlines claim frequent fliers will have more opportunities to earn and redeem miles. Both airlines operate frequentflier programs, called OnePass and Mileage Plus, and are already members of Star Alliance, a partnership of 26 airlines 

that share frequent-flier perks. Consumers with airline-branded credit cards that earn miles with those programs can 

continue using them as usual. 

After previous airline mergers, discount airlines have thrived by picking up the slack-- adding back capacitythatthe legacy 

carriers squeezed from the system. That could happen as a result of the United-Continental merger too. 

At LVIA, low-cost carriers include Allegiant, the airport's No.2 airline next to U.S. Airways, and AirTran. "We could see 

further increases by the low-cost carriers if we come out of the recession and fuel prices don't spike again,'' Doughty said. 

Information from the airlines about the merger is available online at www.unitedcontinentalmerger.com. 

gregory.karp@mcall.com 

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