& us . Departmen t o f 120 0 Ne wjerse yAvenue , S E Transportatio n Washington , D C 2059 0 Off ic e O f th e Secretar

y o f Transportatio n

Marc h24 , 201 0 Dou g Vap Airport Advisor y Commissio n P.O . Bo x 44 8 McCook , N E 6900 1 Dear Mr . Vap : I woul dlik e t o updat e yo u o n th e essentia l ai r servic e situatio n at

McCoo k an dgiv e yo u a n opportunit y t o submi t

an y comment s if

yo u wish . I n anticipatio n o f th e en dof Great Lakes ' curren t

contrac t o n Ma y 31 , 2010 , th e Departmen t issue dOrde r

2010-2-14 , February 16 , 2010 , t o solici t proposal s fro mal l intereste dai r carrier s t o provid e servic e a t McCook . In respons e t o tha t order , w e receive dproposal s fro mthre e carriers : Great Lake s Aviation , Ltd . ("Grea t Lakes") , TransportAzumah , an dAlask aJuneau Aeronautics , Inc . d/b/ aSeaPort Airline s ("SeaPort") . 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 ma y b e accesse donlin e throug hth e Department' s Docket s Managemen t Syste mat : http://www.regulations.gov / b y enterin g "DOT-OST-1997-3005 " i n th e "Ente r Keywordo r

ID " field , s o w e wil l onl y briefl y summariz e the mhere . Great Lakes ' proposa l woul dcontinu e t o offer 1 2 nonsto p roun dtrip s pe r wee k from McCoo k t o Denve r

Internationa l Airport

utilizin g 19-seat

Beec h190 0 aircraft , for

a n aimual subsid y o f

$1,796,795
. TransportAzuma hpropose s t o offe r 1 4 nonsto p roun dtrip s pe r wee k fro mMcCoo k

t o Denve r Internationa l Airpor t

usin g 30-passenge r

EMB-120E Raircraft , for a n annua l subsidy of $2,412,865
. Thi s proposa l offer s tw o mor e roun dtrip s pe r wee k tha n th e Departmen t

solicite dusin g 15-seat

o r large r aircraft . SeaPort' s proposa l offer s 1 8 nonsto p roun dtrip s pe r wee k betwee n McCoo k

an d Denver' s busines s aircraf t cente r usin g 9-seat

Pilatu s PC-1 2 aircraft , for afirs t yea r subsid y o f

$1,963,367 , an dasecon dyear subsid y o f

$1,991,516
.2 -

M y purpos e i n writin g t o yo u a t thi s tim e i s t o reques t

an y final comment s yo u migh t hav e o n th e carriers ' servic e an dsubsid y proposal s befor e w e submi t arecommendatio n o n th e carrier-selectio n issu e t o th e Assistan t Secretar y fo r

Aviatio n an dInternationa l Affairs . Pleas e not e that

th e averag e passenge r

fare s show n i n eac hproposa l d o not necessaril y reflec t th e averag e loca l fare McCoo k woul dactuall y pay , but , rather , reflec t aprorate d portio n of th e tota l ticke t

price , e.g. , th e McCoo k

- Sa n Francisc o portio n o f aMcCoo k

- Denve r - San Francisc o ticke t

tha t th e subsidize dcarrie r

woul drealize . Also , th e fare show n i s ne t

of 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 dee mappropriate , an dth e passenge r fare s presente di n thei r

proposal s hav e bee n develope dfor

subsid y rat e computatio n purpose s only . 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 dtha t

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 connectin 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 eac hproposa l an dservic e optio n an dsubmi t an y comment s yo u ma y hav e befor e w e submi t arecommendatio n t o th e Assistan t Secretary . W e as k tha t yo u submi t

an y comment s yo u ma y hav e a s soo n a s possible , but i n an y cas e n o late r tha n Apri l 23 , 2010 . W e wil l carefull y conside r you r comment s befor e w e submi t arecorrmiendatio n t o th e Assistan t Secretar y fo r

adecision . W e appreciat e that ther e ar e significan t

issue s for

yo u t o consider , s o if

yo u hav e an y question s o r if yo u find tha t yo u 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 t o m e at

th e followin g e-mai l address : EAS@dot.go v o r b y fa x t o 202-366-7638 . I

f yo u hav e an y questions , pleas e fee l fre e t o contac t Kevi n Schlemme r

of m y staf f at 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

o f McCoo k an dt o th e Cit y Manager . Sincerely ,

Dermi s J . DeVan y Chief , Essentia l Ai r

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