### U.S. Department of Transportation Office ofthe 

### Secretary OfTransportation



### May24, 2012
Mr. Nathan Cherpeski CityManager PO Box 419

· Alamosa, CO 81101

DearMr. Cherpeski: '7 ' 1:. 1200 NewJerseyAve., S.IE. Washington, DC 20590



### Iwould like to update you onthe Essential Air Service situation at Alamosa, Colorado and give you an opportunity to submit any comments if you wish. In anticipation of the end of Great Lakes' current contract on July 31, 2012, the Department issued Order 2012-4-21, on April16, 2012, to solicit proposals from all interested air carriers to provide service at Alamosa and/or Cortez, Colorado. In 

### response to that Order, we received one proposal from the incumbent air carrier, GreatLakes, to provideEAS atboth communities.
A copy of the proposal is arttached and may be accessed online through the Department's Dockets Managem.ent Systen1t at http://www.regulations.gov/ by entering "DOT-OST2960" and "DOT-OST- A 

### in oche "Enter K(eyword or ID" field, so we wm onliy brieflly summarizethe proposalhere. Great Lakes' proposal would continue to offer three round trips per day between Alamosa 2md Denverutilizing a 19-seatBeechcraft 1900D aircraft, for an annual subsidy of$2,078,676. Additionally, Great Lakes proposes to continue EAS operations at Cmtez with three round trips per day between Cortez and Denver utilizing a 19-seat Beechcraft 1900D aircraft, for an annual subsidy of$2,240,766.
We 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. We request that you submit any comments you mayhave as soon as possible, but in any case no later than June 15, 2012. We wm 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 thneto draf! your comm.ents, please let rne know.

### Please send your comments to me at the following email address: EAS@dot.gov or by fax to 202-366-7838. Ifyou have any questions, please feel free to contact me at scott.faulk@dot.gov or 202-366-9967. Sincerely,

# ~~ ScottFaulk Essential Air ServiceDivision Office ofAviationAnalysis U.S. Department ofTransportation
Enclosure

## Before the United States Department ofTransportation 

# Washington, DC

Essential Air Service at ALAMOSA, COLORADO CORTEZ, COLORADO
under49 U.S.C. 41731 et.seq. 

## May 15, 2012

Docket OST-1997-2960 DocketOST-1998-3508

This document contains Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd.'s response to Order Requesting Proposals 2012-4-21.
Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. is pleased to submit these proposals to provide essential air transportation atthese points in Colorado. These proposals are submitted on a stand alone basis.
Our proposals contemplate conveniently timed connecting services to our Denver hub, whereby passengers may utilize ourcode-share agreerneAts with United Airlines and FrontierAirlines. Local service will be marketed and priced utilizing the Great Lakes (ZK) brand and reservations system. Additionally, Great Lakes maintains interline ticketing and baggage agreementswith the majority ofthe other carriers serving Denver, including interline e-ticketing agreements with American Airlines, Delta Airlines, FrontierAirlines, United Airlines and U.S. Airways. All of which will offer passengers traveling to and from these communities supplemental access to the domestic and international airtransportation system.

These proposals assume the use ofpressurized 19 seat Beechcraft 1900D airliner equipment. ·· Questions and comments may be referred to:
Michael 

### 0. Matthews Chief Financial Officer Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. 1022 Airport Parkway Cheyenne, VVY 82001 (307) 432-7000TableofContents:SubsidyPassengersAverageProposalServicePoint(s)Hub(s)ServedRoundTripsEquipmentRequirementForecastFare1Alamosa,ColoradoDenver31900D$2,078,67615,000$102.722Cortez,ColoradoDenver31900D$2,240,76616,000$127.98Departures: Block Hours: 

# Great Lakes Aviation, ltd. Annual Compensation Requirements for Essential Air Service at 

## Alamosa, Colorado to Denver (DEN) Three Round Trips- 81900 (at 98 percent completion)

Revenue Passenger Miles: Available Seat Miles:
Operating Revenues: Passenger: 15,000 psgrs at $102.72 $1,540,800

Other: (at 0.62% ofpassenger revenue) $9,553.
Total Operating Revenues:
Operating Expenses: 1 Direct: Aircraft and Hull Insurance Fuel and Oil Flying Operations Maintenance $365,710 $1,057,245

$317,003 $512,429 Total Direct Expenses: Total Indirect Expenses: Total Operating Expenses: Operating Loss Profit Element (5.0% ofTotal Operating Expenses) Annual Compensation Requirement: Representative Schedule **" [ALS] Alamosa, Colorado 

### *"*

-·-······-··-······- 0 E P A R T U R E S ······-······-···--· FLT TO OPT ARR EQP 7263 DEN 6:00 7:00 BE1 7263 DEN 8:00 9:00 BE1 7264 DEN 10:45 11:45 BE1 7269 DEN 16:28 17:28 BE1**·------~---····-···-** A R R I V A L S -·-···-····-········ FLT FROM OPT ARR EQP 7305 DEN 12:15 13:13 BE1 7268 DEN 15:20 16:18 BE1 7258 DEN 20:58 21:56 BE1 7258 DEN 20:58 21:56 BE1 No Upline Scheduling Restrictions FREQ 12345

6 12345 7 12345 7

FREQ 12345 12345 7 6 . 12345 7 1,840 1,810 2,685,000 6,257,840

$1,550,353

$2,252,387 $1,203,831 $3,456,218 ($1 ,905,865) $172,811 $2,078,676Departures: Block Hours: 

# Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. Annual Compensation Requirements for Essential Air Service at 

## Cortez, Colorado to Denver (DEN) Three Round Trips- 81900 (at 98 percent completion)

Revenue Passenger Miles: Available Seat Miles:
Operating Revenues: Passenger: 16,000 psgrs at $127.98 $2,047,680

Other: (at 0.62% of passenger revenue) $12,696
Total Operating Revenues:
Operating Expenses: Direct: Aircraft and Hull Insurance Fuel and Oil Flying Operations Maintenance $365,710 $1,373,084

$411,054 $586,411
Total Direct Expenses: Total Indirect Expenses:
Total Operating Expenses: Operating Loss Profit Element (5.0% of'Total Operating Expenses) Annual Compensation Requirement: Representative Schedule 

### *** [CEZ) Cortez, Colorado 

### ***

-------------------- 0 E P A R T U R E S -----------·-------· FLT TO OPT ARR EQP 7261 DEN 6:00 7:13 BE1 7261 DEN 6:45 7:58 BE1 7263 DEN 8:05 9:18 BE1 7267 DEN 16:17 17:30 BE1

--·······-------·--- A R R I V A L S --·---···--····--··· FLT FROM OPT ARR EQP 7262 DEN 8:35 21 :55 BE1 7266 DEN 14:43 16:03 BE1 7267 DEN 16:45 18:05 BE1 7270 DEN 20:56 22:16 BE1
No Upiine Scheduling Restrictions FREQ 12345



### 6 1234567 12345 7

FREQ 1234567 12345 7 

### 6 12345 7 1,840 2,347 4,448,000 9,718,880

$2,060,376

$2,736,259 $1,360,067 $4,096,326 ($2,035,950) $204,816 

### $2,240,766