& U. & Departmen t o f 120 0 Ne wjerse yAvenue , S E Transportatio n Washington , D C 2059 0 Offic e O f th e Secretor

y o f Transportatio n

February 16 , 201 0

Debbi e Alk e Administrato r Montan aDepartmen t

o f Transportation , Aeronautic s Divisio n P.O

. Bo x 20075 0 Helena , Montan a5962 0 Dea r Ms

. Alke : I woul dlik e t o update yo u o n th e essentia l ai r servic e situatio n a

t Wes t Yellowston e an dgiv e yo u an opportunit y t o submi t an y comment s i

f yo u wish , A s yo u know , b y Orde r 2010-1-1 , Januar y 4 , 2010 , th e Departmen t solicite dproposal s fro mal l intereste d ai r carrier s t o provid e servic e a t Wes t Yellowstone

. In respons e t o that order , w e receive dproposal s fro mtw o carriers , SkyWes t Airline s d^/ aDelt aConnectio n ("SkyWest") , an dSovereig n Air, Inc

. ("Sovereig n Air")

. W e hav e directe deac hcarrie r t o serv e it s proposal(s ) o n you ; i n addition , copie s of th e proposal s mayb e accesse donlin e throug hth e Government' s docketin g syste ma t www.regulations.go v b y enterin g "2003-14626 " i n th e "Ente r keywor do r

ID " field

. SkyWes t proposes t o continu e it s historica l leve l o f subsidize dservic e o f

tw o dail y nonsto p roun dtrip s t o Sal t Lak e Cit y a s Delt aConnectio n for th e nex t tw o summers , fromJun e 1 , 2010 , throug hSeptembe r 30 , 2010 , an ddurin g th e sam e month s i n 2011 , utilizin g 30-passenge r

Embrae r Brasili aaircraf

t for an annual subsid y of

$427,757

. Sovereig n Ai r

ha s propose dt o operat e four dail y nonsto p roun dtrip s flight s t o Sal t Lak e City usin g 16-passenge r Metroline r

II I aircraf

t for a n annua l subsid y o f

$497,935

. Pleas e not e that

th e average passenge r

fare s show n i n th e proposa l d o not necessaril y reflec t th e average local fare Wes t Yellowston e passenger s woul dactuall y pay , but , rather , reflec t

aprorate dportio n o f

th e tota l ticke t

price , e.g. , th e Wes t

Yellowston e - Sal t Lak e Cit y portio n o f

aWes t Yellowston e - Sal t

Lak e City - Lo s Angele s ticke t that SkyWes t woul drealize

. In addition , th e far e show n i s ne t o f certai n charge s suc ha s Federa l transportatio n security fees , excis e o r ticke t taxes , an dPassenge r

Facilit y Charges

. O f

course , carrier s hav e th e discretio n t o charg e fare s the y deemappropriate , an dth e passenge r

fare s presente di n thei r

proposal s hav e bee n develope dfor subsid y rat ecomputatio n purpose s only

. Base do n th e cos t element s incorporate di n th e carriers ' computatio n summaries , th e carrier s woul dhav e t o realiz e passenge r fare s comparabl e t o th e average s show n i n thei r proposal s i n orde r

t o achiev e break-eve n o r profitabl e operation s withou t

subsidy

. Yo u shoul dals o not e tha t th e schedule s tha t

th e carrier s hav e submitte dar e illustrativ e only , an dthat

the y ma y mak e schedul e change s t o reflec t changin g conditions , e.g. , t o bette r mee t shiftin g cormectin g ban k time s at th e hub

. Th e Departmen t expect s subsidize dai r

carrier s t o maintai n well-time dan dwell-space dflight s i n orde r t o ensur e full compensation

. W e reques t

tha t yo u revie w bothcarriers ' proposal s an dsubmi t an y comment s yo u may hav e befor e w e submi t arecommendatio n t o th e Assistan t Secretary

. W e as k

that yo u submi t

an y comment s yo u ma y hav e n o late r tha n Marc h16 , 2010

. W e wil l carefull y conside r you r comment s befor e w e submi t areconmiendatio n t o th e Assistan t Secretary for adecision

. Shoul dyo u hav e an y question s o r nee dadditiona l tim e t o draf t you r comments , pleas e le t

u s know

. Pleas e sen dyou r

comment s emai l at

EAS@dot.go v o r

b y fa x t o 202-366-7638

. I

f you hav e an y questions , pleas e feel fre e t o contac t Kevi n Schlemme r

o f my staf f a t kevin.schlemmer@dot.go v o r 202-366-3176

. A similar lette r ha s bee n sen t

t o th e Mayo r

an dOperation s Manage r o f th e Tow n o f Wes t Yellowstone

.

Sincerely , 

# J.A^

^
Dermi s J

. DeVan' y Chief , Essentia l Ai r

Servic e Division , X-5 3 Offic e o f Aviatio n Analysi s