Q 

US.0epartnwntOf 1200 New jersey Avenue, SE 

Transportation Washington, DC 20590 

Office Of the Secretary ;i 

of Transportation 

April 27, 2010 

George A. Smith 

Deputy Airport Director 

North Central West Virginia Airport 

2000 Aviation Way 

Bridgeport, West Virginia 26330 

Dear Mr. Smith: 

I would like to update you on the essential air service situation at Beckley, 

Clarksburg/Fairmont, Morgantown, and Parkersburg, West Virginia, and give you an 

opportunity to submit any comments if you wish. In anticipation of the end of Colgan 

Air's current contract on July 31, 2010, the Department issued Order 2010-2-16, 

March 12, 2010, to solicit proposals from all interested air carriers to provide service at 

all four communities, including yours. In response to that order, we received proposals 

from three carriers: Colgan Air, Inc. dA)/a United Express (Colgan), Gulfstream 

International Airlines (Gulfstream), and Charter Air Transport. 

We have directed each carrier to serve its proposal(s) on you; in addition, copies 

of the proposals may be accessed online through the Department's Dockets Management 

System at: http://www.regulations.gov/by entering "DOT-OST-1997-2761 (Beckley), 

DOT-OST-2005-20734 (Parkersburg), DOT-OST-2005-20735 (Morgantown), or DOTOST-2005-20736 (Clarksburg/Fairmont) in the "Enter Keyword or ID" field, but we have 

summarized the proposals in the attachment provided. 

My purpose in writing to you at this time is to request any final conunents you 

might have on the carriers' service and subsidy proposals before we submit a 

recommendation on the earner-selection issue to the Assistant Secretary for Aviation and 

International Affairs. 

Please note that the average passenger fares shown in each proposal do not 

necessarily reflect the average local'fare Clarksburg passengers would actually pay, but, 

rather, reflect a prorated portion of the total ticket price, e.g., the ClarksburgWashington, D.C. portion of a Clarksburg-Washington, D.C.-San Francisco ticket that 

the subsidized 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, carriers have the discretion to charge fares they deem appropriate, 

and the passenger fares presented in their proposals have been developed for subsidy rate 

computation purposes only. 

You should also note that the schedules that the carriers have submitted are 

illustrative only, and that they may make schedule changes to reflect changing conditions, 

e.g., to better meet shifting connecting bank times at the hub. The Department expects 

subsidized air carriers to maintain well-timed and well-spaced flights in order to ensure 

full compensation. 

We request that you review each proposal and service option and submit any 

comments you may have before we submit a recommendation to the Assistant Secretary. 

We ask that you submit any comments you may have as soon as possible, but in any case 

no later than May 19, 2010. We will carefully consider your coirmients before we submit 

a recommendation to the Assistant Secretary for a decision. We appreciate that there are 

significant issues for you to consider, so if you have any questions or if you find that you 

need additional time to draft your coirmients, please let us know. 

Please send your comments to me at the following e-mail address: EAS@dot.gov 

or by fax to 202-366-7638. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Kevin 

Schlemmer of my staff at kevin.schleinmer @dot.gov or 202-366-3176. 

Similar letters have been sent to the civic officials of the other three EAS 

communities at issue here. 

Sincerely, 

)ermis J. DeV&ny 

Chief, Essential Air Service Division, X-53 

Office of Aviation Analysis 
I 

Attachment 

Hub {# of flights Subsidy amount 

Conrmnunlty 

Beckley 

Parkersburg/ 

Marietta 

Clarksburg/ 

Fairmont 

Carrier 

Colgan 

CAT* 

CAT* 

CAT* 

CAT* 

CAT* 

CAT* 

CAT* 

Gulfstream 

Gulfstream 

Colgan 

CAT* 

CAT* 

CAT* 

CAT* 

CAT* 

Gulfstream 

Gulfstream 

Gulfstream 

Gulfstream 

Colgan 

CAT* 

CAT* 

CAT* 

Gulfstream 

Gulfstream 

Gulfstream 

Gulfstream 

per week) 

IAD (24) 

CLT(24)/IAD(12) 

IAD (24) 

CLT (24) 

CLT (24) 

CLT (24) 

IAD (24) 

CLT (24) 

OF (24) 

PIT (24) 

IAD (24) 

CLT(24)/IAD(12) 

IAD (24) 

CLT (24) 

CLT (24) 

IAD (24) 

CLE (48) 

CLE (36) 

PIT (48) 

PIT (36) 

IAD (36) 

IAD(24)/CLT(12) 

IAD (24) 

CLT (24) 

CLE (48) 

PIT (48) 

CLE (36) 

PIT (36) 

Aircraft 

Saab 340 

EMB-120 

EMB-120 

EMB-120 

EMB-120 

EMB-120 

J32 

J32 

B-1900 

B-1900 

Saab 340 

EMB-120 

EMB-120 

EMB-120 

EMB-120 

EMB-120 

B-1900 

B-1900 

B-1900 

B-1900 

Saab 340 

EMB-120 

EMB-120 

EMB-120 

B-1900 

B-1900 

B-1900 

B-1900 

per community 

$2,313,457 

$2,330,866 

$1,821,239 

$1,555,803 

$1,931,964 

$2,198,850 

$1,893,863 

$1,724,161 

$2,399,389 

$2,322,422 

$2,598,975 

$2,330,866 

$1,821,239 

$1,555,803 

$1,931,964 

$2,287,944 

$2,642,237 

$2,112,390 

$2,573,454 

$2,040,004 

$1,488,219 

$1,548,570 

$1,815,272 

$2,446,250 

$1,547,242 

$1,373,478 

$2,265,024 

$1,832,897 

Combined with 

n/a 

Parkersburg 

Parkersburg 

Parkersburg 

Parkersburg 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

Beckley 

Beckley 

Beckley 

Beckley 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

Morga ntown 

Morgantown 

n/a 

n/a 

Morgantown 

Morgantown 

n/a 

n/a 

Notes 

aircraft based at PKB 

aircraft based at BKW 

aircraft based at PKB 

aircraft based at BKW 

Morgantown Colgan 

CAT* 

CAT* 

CAT* 

Gulfstream 

Gulfstream 

Gulfstream 

Gulfstream 

IAD (36) 

IAD(24)/CLT(12) 

IAD (24) 

CLT (24) 

CLE (48) 

PIT (48) 

CLE (36) 

PIT (36) 

Saab 340 

EMB-120 

EMB-120 

EMB-120 

B-1900 

B-1900 

B-1900 

B-1900 

$1,488,219 

$1,548,570 

$1,689,077 

$3,203,424 

$1,547,242 

$1,373,478 

$2,030,281 

$1,421,065 

Clarksburg 

Clarksburg 

n/a 

n/a 

Clarksburg 

Clarksburg 

n/a 

n/a 

CAT=Charter Air Transport 

CLT=Charlotte; IAD=Washington-Dulles; PIT=Pittsburgh 

• CAT proposes 1 single-stop or nonstop round trip to Myrtle Beach per week that would be unsubsidized