1/3/2014 

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JAMESTOWN REGIONAL AIRPORT 

-ADMIRAL DON WEISS FIELD - PO Box 1560, Jamestown, North Dakota 58402-1560 

Phone: 701-252-6466 Fax: 701-252-2919 

Website: www.flyjamestown.net 

Mr. Kevin Schlemmer 

Chief, BAS & Domestic Analysis 

Room 6401 

Office of Aviation Analysis 

1200 New Jersey Ave, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Dear Mr. Schlemmer, . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . ·.·· . . . . . . 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ··. 

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The JamestownRegiorialAirport ~uthority w~icomes the opportunity to respond to our proposed 

2013 DOT Essential.Air-Ser\rice contract, Docket OST-1997-2785. As you know, our sole air 

carrier service is currently provided by Great:Lakes Airlines with a 19-seat Beech 1900D, 

· operating twice daily to Minneapolis/St. Paul (KMSP). Our present service is operated on a 

partial-code share with D_elta Air Lines, which omits many crucial-elements Weigh~d by _ . 

prospective travelers, namely frequent flyer programs such as Delia'sSk:yMiles. t)nfortUnately, ~ . . . 

this present service structure has not provided our coinmunit)r with.any sort of advan:tage when · . . . . . . . .. . .. 

juxtaposed with our competitors, namely Fargo and Bismarck We've suffered extensively from 

very expensive through-fares and poor service for travelers connecting with oth~r airlines atMSP. 

Moreover, Great Lakes has exhibited dismal reliability for the duration of their contract. 

To illustrate, over 40% of their flights for the Jamestown mark,et were cancelled in November 

2013 as a consequence of operationai issues. This is very indicative of a general lack of . . . . . . . 

reliability, which has had a profound adverse impact on our boarding numbers. We've gone 

down from an averagemonthly passenger boarding figure of 474 back in 2011, when we were 

served by Pinnacle Airlines d;b.a. Delta Connection, to an average monthly figure of 223 with 

Great Lakes; a staggering loss of 53% of our market share. To proceed with the bid offered by 

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Great Lakes would be conducive to a furtherance of the present situation, which is untenable. 

With respect to the bid proffered by Sovereign Air; we believe that air service in Jamestown 

would be fatally compromised if the DOT were to award our EAS contract to Sovereign Air. 

Sovereign Air has been deficient in providing us with any substantive information about their 

company regarding issues of paramount importance to us including, but not limited to; fare 

metrics, marketing arrangements with major carriers, and their acquisition and operation of 

suitable aircraft. 

The bid for air service submitted by SkyWest in partnership with United Airlines with one JMSdedicated daily flight to and from Denver International Airport utilizing a CRJ-200, 50 passenger 

jet, is most decidedly our selection. We feel very strongly that a relationship with United Airlines 

in the form of a seamless and integrated marketing agreement which allows us to participate in 

their global network would be very conducive to our success. We've received community 

feedback from ewer 100 individuals, members of businesses, and organizations who've 

overwhelmingly and emphatically recommended the selection of Sky West as our commercial air 

carrier. Please see the attached passenger boarding data chronicling service providers and aircraft 

and appendix of letters. 

Over the. last several years, we have worked extremely hard to increase our passenger 

enplanements, improve our airport image and infrastructure, and increase the quality of air 

service to our community. Our community is presently experiencing large-scale economic 

growth and commercial development and we are supremely confident that this trend will not only 

continue, but rapidly intensify. Being able to offer commercial air service consistent with the 

needs of our burgeoning market is imperative and we feel Sky West is the best and only solution 

at this very critical juncture. To reiterate, we're fully aware that the Sky West bid does not meet 

the 12 round-trip/week requirement as stipulated in the RFP, but still affirm that this is our best 

and only option. We thank you very much in advance and look forward to working with your 

office to accomplish our goals. 
Respectfully, 

Mr. James Boyd 

Chairman, Jamestown Regional Airport Authority 

Vice Chairman, Jamestown Regional Airport Authority 

Mr. Matthew Leitner 

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Manager, Jamestown Regional Airport