Venango County 

Courthouse Annex 

1174 Elk Street Franklin, PA 16323 

Phone: 814/432-9512 FAX 814/432-4741 

Website: www.co.venango.pa.us 

July 18, 2014 

The Honorable Anthony Foxx 

Secretary of Transportation 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Board of Commissioners 

Timothy S. Brooks 

Vincent L. Witherup 

Bonnie S. Summers 

Solicitor 

Richard Winkler 

Chief Clc•·k!Administrator 

Denise W. Jones 

Re: Support for Petition of Franklin/Oil City I 0 enplanement statute waiver, Docket No. 1997-2523 

Dear Mr. Foxx: 

On June 24,2014, the communities of Franklin/Oil City and the Venango County Regional Airport were 

served with the Department of Transportation Order 2014-6-6, Terminating EAS Eligibi I ity and 

Establishing Waiver Procedures for possible continuation or reinstatement of commercial air service to 

the region. 

We, the Commissioners of the County of Venango, owner and operator of the Venango Regional Airp011, 

write today in support of a waiver request submitted by the Airport Manager on behalf of Franklin/Oil 

City so that these communities and the Oil Heritage Region which are served by the Venango Regional 

Airp01t, may have reliable commercial air service that is so vital to the area's economy. 

The decline in the numbers of commercial passengers using the local air service began a freefall in 2005, 

when the flights were reduced to 12 weekly. Prior to that we saw significant gro\\1h during the fomth 

qumter of2004 and were on track to board 4,000 passengers as 2005 began with a strong showing 

through three quatters until the flight levels were reduced eliminating viable connections. Dming this 

period, the carrier, Mesa, Dba US Airways Express had significant struggles due to its financially 

strapped codeshare pm1ner, the downsizing and ultimate elimination of that partner's hub airport and 

spiking oil prices that dramatically impacted operating costs. Service was unreliable and many potential 

passengers made the long drives to Pittsburgh or Cleveland rather than risk missed connections. The 

airline, burdened by the then extraordinary fuel costs and pressures in the hub airport, filed a 90 day 

notice with the USDOT on May 3 of2007 to terminate its subsidized service to Franklin/Oil City and 

bids were requested by DOT for a replacement carrier while the incumbent was held in. 

This delay was difficult for the community as the service that had deteriorated greatly from 2004 through 

2006 became even worse in 2007 while the incumbent airline grappled with few viable connections 

remaining and many flight cancellations due to maintenance and crew issues. The Airline actually went 

out of business in May of 2008 with a two week notice. The community was without air service for over 

three months until September of2008 when Gulfstream International, (now Silver Airways) began 

operations. This airline, based in Florida, had no experience operating in northern climates. Only two of 

their B 1900D aircraft had anti skid brakes, a condition that hampered the ability to operate on Franklin's 

5200 ft runway dming winter conditions. Beginning in December of2008 the airline averaged 22.8 % 
cancellations during the winter months of December, January and February. Hundreds of passengers 

were affected by the delays and cancellations during those months. The cascading effects rendered 

airport marketing and promotional expenditures virtually useless as the unreliability stories spread. The 

results were evident as potential passengers avoided the uncertainty of flying from Franklin and 

enplanements declined further. 

Rebuilding the customer base became the sole responsibility of the local Airport as the airline did not 

participate in or cooperate with marketing and promotional effmts. In fact, the airline senior management 

would not authorize a local phone number to be published and therefore the Airport became the default 

local contact for the airline. Additionally, the Airpmt has provided ground transpmtation for passengers 

affected by airline flight irregularities many times over the past 5 years in an effmt to promote customer 

goodwill for the future. We considered the expense for those effmts, which averaged $7,000 annually, to 

be an investment in the future, anticipating restoration of service to Pittsburgh. The negative press and 

headlines during the past few years about the possible loss of funding for the EAS program, and most 

recently the airline's notice to depart the market altogether has further exacerbated the problems faced by 

the Airport and the Community in trying to attract customers back to the local air service. 

In an effort to improve the air service in the Franklin/Oil City area, the Venango Regional Airport 

Manager has served on the Pennsylvania Air Service Committee (PASC) since its inception in 2007 and 

has worked with airport colleagues, the Pennsylvania Depa1tment of Transportation- Bureau of Aviation 

(PennDOT) and representatives of the Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) to restore service to PIT 

which is the preferred and natural connector for air passengers from this region. The PASC, PIT and 

PennDot contracted the services of a consulting finn in 20 II to conduct a multi- year study to determine 

the viability of restoring intrastate service to PIT from both EAS and Non EAS communities. There is an 

opportunity now to regain service to PIT with an air carrier committed to this community operating a 

business model that has proven successful in many small communities, relatively high frequency, a 9-

passenger aircraft, reasonable fares and viable connectivity to major airlines as well as low cost carriers, 

(LCCs). This is a different business model from what we've had and we are aware of the positive results 

experienced in many small markets. 

The three airlines that bid on Franklin/Oil City service to PIT all presented essentially that same 

business model as the most viable solution to improve passenger traffic and allow the community to 

satisfy EAS minimum requirements of not only the I 0 enplanements per day but also to attain and 

maintain the $200 subsidy per passenger rule. We look forward to reconnecting with Pittsburgh with the 

service to be provided by Sun Air International. We look to the US DOT to allow Franklin/Oil City to 

start service to PIT under a waiver in order to provide reliable, timely air service to the region through 

the restoration of the connection to PIT. Thank you. 

0 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS 

~d-4___ 

Cc: Senator Bob Casey 

Congressmen Glenn Thompson 

Governor Tom Corbell 

PennDot Secretary Barry Schoch 

File