# Ral eigh County 

# === ~irport 1 7G A i r p o rt 

### C i rc l e • R oo m 

### 1 15 B e aver , WV 25B 1 1
- 9 · P . ~ P h o n e 

### 304.255.0476 • Fax 304 . 253.209 5
J une 18, 2014 Mr. Scott F au lk Transpo rtatio n I n d ust ry A nalyst U
. S
. De p a rt ment of Tra n sp o rt at i o n Office of Av iation Analys i s EAS 

### & Domesti c An a l ysis Divi s io n 

### 1200 New Je rs ey Ave ., 

### SE Washing t o n, DC 2 0590 R E : D o c ket DOT - OST -1 997 -27 6 1 N

~ • . J D ea r Faulk , Rale ig h County Me mor ial A ir port (B KW) B e c kley , We st Virg i n ia h as reviewed t h e Esse nt i a l A ir Service ( E A S) b ids to p rovi de Bec k ley EAS t h at were s u b mi tt ed o n M ay 2 7 ,2 0 14 . T he D epartment h a s requested our commen t s rega rdin g th e me r i ts of the p ro pos a l s by T hu rsd ay, J u n e 1 9 , 20 15 . Thi s lette r wi l l co n stit u t e t h e comm en ts of t he Air p o rt a nd Ci ty of B ec k ley
. F irst , we ve ry mu ch appre c iate t h e int e re st s h own in o ur m arke t by th e two b i d d i n g ca r r i ers , Bout i qu e Air and Ci ty L i nk A i r . W e l earn ed, after th e M ay 2 7th de a dl i ne , t h at a thi rd ca rr ie r i s now also i ntere ste d in bidd in g t o prov i d e E AS service in o u r market
. We app reci at e that t he Departm en t h a s a diff icul t t a s k in ma na gin g a n EAS b i d p ro cess for tw e lve cities , In c l ud ing two t h at a re su bj ect t o 1 0 -e n p la n e m e nt enforceme nt a ct i ons conc ur rent with this b i d cyc l e . We h ave revi ewe d t he bi d proposals of bot h Bo u ti q ue A i r a n d City Li nk Ai r carefully. Our comme nt s re g ardi ng e ach a re below
. Boutique A ir- T he carr ier s ubm itt e d two pro o s als, on e fo r 1 8 tr i p s p er we e k to Pi tt s b urgh w i th an a n nual s ub sidy need of $ 1. 78 mi l li on an d one o r s ix t r ips per we ek to Pi tt s b urg h co m bined with 12 tr i ps per we e k to Washi n g t on Dulles , with the com ine d service re qu irin g $2. 4 m i ll ion in annual subsidy. Th e ca r rier p roposes to offer these se rv i ces w it h 9 s eat PC -1 2 single en g i ne ai rc raft or " s i mi l arly configure d Beech K ing Air 200/300 aircraft "
. The addi t io n of co mmen ts rega rding tw in engine a i rcraft i s new to the May 27 b i d document a nd not f urth e r ex pl a in d i n t h at do cume nt. T he car r ie r men t ion ed t h at se rv ices would be di splayed in majo r GDS syste m s bu t he ca rr i er d o e s not appea r t o have any i nterline ticket a n d ba g agree m ents in place
. The car r ier c u r r n t l y ho l d s one EAS con tract i n N e w Mex i co a nd op e rates PC - 12 a nd othe r Cess n a a irc raft in Nevada and C a l i forn i a . C i ty L i nk Air - C ity L i n k Ai r p roposes t o off er 1 trip s per wee k to Pitts b u rgh for a n ann u al subsidy n eed 

## of $2.2 mil li on dollars
. Th e pro posed a irc raft i s a Be e c h K i ng Ai r 2 00/300 w i th n i ne seat s. The b i d i s tied t o a bid for Ja m e st own , NY se rvi ce a nd it is i m p oss ible for us t o d e termin e th e co st, revenue and traffic proj ecti o n s for our marke t as t he b id shee t is merged a n d al l we can d o i s g u e ss as to our m a rke tforeca st . Th e ca r rier do e s not c urrent ly op erat e a n y fli g h ts nor have any ai rcraft and pro p ose s t o use

third party a irc raft un de r wet l ea s e cont ract fo r ini t i a l operat ions u nti l a native o perat i n g cert if icate can be ob t ained. The ca rr ier adv i sed us t hat i t wo u ld h ave tic ke t and bag agre em ent s in p la c e a nd poss i b l y code sha re a r rangemen t s with network ca r ri ers i n place at startup or s oo n t here after. We are surp ri se d that a startup a ir line wit h t hi rd pa rty rese rvat ions a n d ope rati ng a ircraft a rra ng e m e nt s ca n gain a cod e share a r ra ngement wi th a netwo r k o r ot he r l arge ai r l i ne . After care f ul considerat ion w e wou l d li ke t o reje ct both b id s and req u est t hat t he Depa rtm e n t commence a re-b i d p roces s for ou r ma r ke t . Our reaso n s are l i sted b elow;

~ Boutique A i r ha d o rigin a ll y i nd icat e d serv i c e wou l d be with a singl e eng ine a i rc raft
. We wou l d prefer not to accept single eng i ne s erv i ce at th i s t ime
. The M ay 2 7 bid do c u me n t co nt a i ns a reference to operation of service with Beech King Air equipmen t but prov i d es n o det a i ls as to how or when th e carrier would get such equipment or how the car r i e r wou l d reco ncil e using t h e same cost , revenue a nd subsidy forecast for two very different types of a irc raft. W i t h ou t m o re informat i on we can n ot endorse th i s proposal at this time.

~ Ci ty Lin k A ir does not curre n t ly have a n operatin g certi f icat e o r , as far as we can te l l , an y in house ope rating capab i l ity. T he ca r r ie r env isi ons start up w ith thi rd p a rty reservat i ons a n d distri bu ti on syst e m s and with w e t l eased a i rc raft operation s p rov i d ed by a thi rd party aircraft operator . Given a l ac k of i n - h ouse operati ng autho r ity a n d a lack of i n -h o use i n fra structure commonly associat ed w i th ai rlin e ope rations , we cannot endo rs e t h i s p rop o sa l at t hi s t i me . W e do very muc h appre c i at e th e in terest th at bot h ca rri ers h ave show n in o ur m a r ket and we u rg e th em t o subm it b i ds in a reb id p rocess onc e t h ey satisfy the e l i g ibi lity req uireme nts. We hope that both ca r ries w i ll, at t he ti me of rebidding a nd i n th e co mment period t h ereafter , b e a bl e t o more f u l l y demonstrate w hat th ei r f i nal op erat ing pl a ns are in t erms of forecast d e t ai l s , a i rcraft of use and distribution ar rangemen t s . We very much appreciat e t he Department working with us t o find t he mo st e ff ect ive EA S s o lu tio n for Beckley. Our air service is ve ry i mportant to us and we wan t to use t his bid d i ng pro c e s s t o f in d an a i r line that we can partner with for long t erm mutual be n efit
. Best regar p s 

# d~l/CJ;4
- ~ Tom Cochran Airport M a n ager