us , Ocpartmcn t o f Assisfan t Secretar y 120 0 Ne w Jerse y Avenue , S

E Transportatio n Washington , D C 2059 0 Offic e o f th e Secretar

y ofTtonsportotio n 

### JA N 

### 7 201 D
Ms
. Elizabet

h Ree d 52 4 Ludingto n Stree t Suit e LL-10 3 Escanaba , Michiga

n 4982 9 Dea r Ms
. Reed : ^ ^ Thank you fo r Senato r Levin' s letter

enclosin g correspondenc e fromon e o f hi s constituent s regardin g ou r selectio n o f

SkyWes t Airlines , Inc. , d/b/aUnite dExpress , t o replac e Mesab aAirlines , Inc. , d/b/aDelt aConnection , t o provid e Essential Ai r Servic e (EAS ) a t Houghton
. I a

mrespondin g o n behal f

o f th e Department
. Thi s EA S cas e wa s triggere db y Mesaba' s filin g a90-day notic e o f it s inten t to suspen d servic e a t Houghton
. A s aresult , w e issue da n orde r holdin g Mesab ain plac e unti l replacemen t

servic e coul db e secured
. In response , w e receive dproposal s fro mMesab aan d SkyWest
. Fo r

your convenience , you ma

y vie w tha

t orde r b y goin g t o Regulations.gov , an d enterin g "Orde r

2009-10-8 " i

n th e searc h box , s o I wil l onl y briefl y summariz e i t here
. Under Mesaba' s Optio n 1 , it

woul dprovid e 1 9 nonsto p roun dtrip s pe r wee k t o Minneapoli s wit

h 34-sea t Saa b 34 0 turboprop s fo

r $1,532,51 5 annual subsidy
. Mesaba' s Optio n 2 wa s fo

r atotal o f 2 1 nonsto p roun dtrip s per week t o Minneapoli s an dDetroi t fo r $2,085,022

. SkyWes t

propose d1 4 nonsto p roun dtrip s per wee k t o Chicag o O'Har e wit h 50-sea t regional jet s fo

r $1,404,71 4 annua

l subsidy
. Despite tw o Request s fo

r Proposal s tha

t explicitl y state dth e maximu mservic e level s tha t DO T woul db e willin g t o subsidize , Mesaba , nonetheless , submitte dtw o proposal s tha t exceede dthos e well-define dlevels
. O n th e othe r hand , SkyWest' s proposal complie d wit h th e reques t

fo r proposals , h i tha

t regard , SkyWes t

ha s aful l code-shar e relationshi p wit h Unite dAirline s a

t O'Hare , th e secon dlarges t airpor t i n th e country . Nonsto p je t servic e to O'Har e o n aUnite dExpres s carrie r clearl y meet s th e core objectiv e of th e EA S program , namel y t o kee p communitie s an dpassenger s connecte dt o th e national ai r transportatio n system . Th e upsid e potential fo r traffi c a t Houghto n i s significant , an d DO T anticipate s SkyWest' s nee dfo r subsidy wil l significantl y decreas e whe n th e two
yea r contrac t expires
. I

n addition , SkyWes t

request s $255,60 2 les s subsid y tha n Mesab a ove r th e two-yea

r contrac t period
. W e appreciate your

constituent' s concer

n tha t passenger s strande dovernigh t i n Chicag o migh t hav e les s convenien t

accommodations , andtha t they migh

t los e thei r accumulate d frequen t flye r mile s on Delta
. A s acode-share partne r o f Unite dAirlines , passenger s o n SkyWes t are afforde dth e sam

e accommodation s a s th e res t o f United' s passengers .Finally , w e hav e mad e SkyWes t aware o f th e los t frequent flier mile s an dthe y are reviewin g th e issu e wit

h Unite dAirlines
. W e strongl y encourag e th e communit y t o wor k togethe r wit h SkyWes t

t o ensur e tha

t th e ne w service , schedule dt o begi n o n o r abou t Marc h 1 , i s asuccess . A s i s ou r normal practice , w e are placin g acop y o f your lette r an dthi s respons e in Docke t OST-2009-0302
. Sincerel y yours ,

^ ^ Denni s J
. DeVany , Chief , EA S an dDomesti c Analysi s