U.S

. Departmen t o f • > 20 0 Ne w Jerse yAvenue , S E Transportatio n wash.ngton

. o c 2059 0 Offic e o f th e Secretar y Jul y 28 , 201 0 o f Transportatio n

Th e Honorabl e Pau l R
. LePag e Mayor of th e Cit y o f Watervill e Cit y Hall One Commo n Stree t Waterville , M E 0490 1 Dea r Mayo r LePage : I woul d lik

e to updat e yo u o n th e essentia l ai r servic e (EAS ) situatio n a t August aStat e Airport , Hancoc k

Count y Ba r Harbo r Airport , an d Kno x Count y Regional Aiiport

a t Rockland , an d giv e yo u a

n opportunity to offe

r any comment s o n th e recor d befor e w e submi t arecommendatio n t o th e Assistan t Secretar y fo r Aviatio n an d Intemational Affairs
. Th e curren t

EA S contrac t

a t your communit

y expire s October

31 , 2010 , an d i

n anticipatio n o f

that , w e issue d Orde r

2010-6-22 , Jun e 24 , 2010 , solicitin g proposal s fro m carrier s intereste d i

n providin g subsidize d EA S fo r anew , two-yea

r period , beginnin g Novembe r 1 , 2010
. In respons e t o ou r request , tw o carrier s responded : Hyanni s Ai r Service , Inc. , operatin g a s Cap e Ai r (Cap e Air) , an d Colgan Ai r Inc , operatin g a s U S Airway s Expres s (Colgan Air)
. Yo u shoul d hav e receive d acop y o f th e proposal s fromeac h carrier , an d the y ca n b e accesse d a t www.regulations.go v b y enterin g th e numbe r DOT-OST-1997-278 4 i

n th e searc h block
. A s aresult , w e wil l onl y briefl y summariz e the mhere
. Cap e Ai r ha s propose d on e servic e optio n fo r AugustaAVatervill e an d Rockland , eac h optio n to b e considere d o n astand-alon e basis
. Servic e t o bot h communitie s woul d b e fro mBosto n Loga

n International Airpor

t (Boston ) usin g 9-sea

t Cessn a40 2 aircraft
. A

t Augusta/Waterville , Cap e Ai r propose s fou

r dail y nonsto p roun d trip s (2 8 aweek ) fro m Jun e throug h September , and thre e dail y nonsto p roun dtrip s (21 aweek) fro mOctober throug h May , fo

r a n annual subsidy o

f $1,402,04 6 for

atwo-yea

r selectio n contract , o r $1,362,61 6 for

afour-yea

r selectio n contract . Servic e to Rocklan d woul d b e fiv e dail y nonsto p roun d trip s i n Jul y an d Augus t (3 5 aweek) , fou

r dail y nonsto p roun d trip s (2 8 a week ) in Jun e an d September , an d thre e dail y nonsto p roun d trip s (21 aweek) fro m October throug h May , for

a n annual subsidy of

$1,461,65 1 fo

r atwo-yea

r selectio n contract , or

a n annual subsid y of

$1,420,54 5 fo

r afour-yea

r selectio n contract . Colga n Air ha s propose d tw o options , bot h servin g Bosto n usin g 34-sea t Saa b 34 0 aircraft
. Optio n 1 woul d provid e thre e roun d trip s eac h weekda y an d tw o eac h weeken d wit h amix o f nonstop s and one-sto p servic e over a n Augusta/Waterville-Ba

r Harbor

Bosto n routing , o r

Ba r Harbor-AugustaAVaterville-Bosto n routin g fo r a n annua l subsidy2 -

of $4,439,041

. Optio n 2 woul d serv e Ba r Harbo r only , wit h tw o dail y nonsto p roun d trip s (1 4 aweek) t o Bosto n for a n annual subsidy of

$2,298,533

. Th e schedule s tha

t th e canier s hav e propose d ar e illustrativ e onl y an d the y ma y make schedul e change s t o reflec t changin g conditions , e.g. , to bette r mee t shiftin g connectin g ban k time s a t th e hub
. However , th e Departmen t doe s expec t

asubsidize d ai r

canie r to maintai n well-time d an d well-space d flight s in orde r to ensur e ful

l compensation
. W e reques t

tha t you revie w th e proposal s an d submi t an y comment s yo

u ma y hav e a s soo n a s possible , but

n o late r than Augus t

25
. W e wil l carefull y conside r your comment s befor e w e submi t

arecommendatio n to th e Assistan t Secretar y fo r adecision
. Letter s requestin g feedbac k

hav e als o bee n sen t

t o th e communit

y leader s o f

th e other thre e citie s a s well
. Pleas e sen d your

comment s vi ae-mai l to EAS@dot.go v o r b y fa x t o 202-366-7638
. I

f you hav e any questions , pleas e feel fre e t o contac t Michae l Marti n o f

m y staf f a t michael.f.martin@dot.go v o r 202-366-6494
. Sincerely , /JL-VXrfVvj»_ a • LM/GMAA / Denni s J
. DeVahy , Chie f Essential Air»Servic e Division ' Offic e o f Aviatio n Analysi s cc : Andre w Bonney , Hyaimi s Ai r Service , Inc
. Dou g Shockley , Colgan Air , Inc
.