## Aberrsr longitude on life . .'- ;

.**~** 

## .... Ma yor: ·

C H- ERI BARR,Y (6 01 )48 5- 1 92'7 .:0. F AX : (6 01) 48 5 - 1911. C ouncil Members: GEORGE M THOMAS Ward 1 MARY A B . P ERRY Wa rd 2 BARBA RA HE NS O N Ward 3 June 28, 2011

Mr . l<evin Adams Industry Economist US Depart of Transportation Dea r M r . Ad a ms: .'

Thank you for submitting the Essential Air Service**propos~!!** of S i lver Airways for
. . JES S E E PALMER , SR
. . . ..**~** ·

.

### ~ _W,a!d 4 • •

### ~ comment . While I believe an airline provid i ng jet servic;e to

### M~-r.idian is best for our ' BG B B YR; S M ITI'i

W a 'rd 5 ·**OU ~**  C L ER K (6 01 ) 485- 1959 FAX: (601 ) 485 - 1 9 1 3 CITY D EPARTMENTS: C hief Admin is trat ive O ffi ce r (6 01 ) 485 - 1 929 FAX : { 6 01) 485- 1 911 C o mmun it y Development : ' (
.

6 01 ) 4 85 - 1 9 1 0 F AX ( 60 1 )484 -6 8 1 3 • F inan c e an d Record s: • (6 01) 485 - 1 '946

FAX : ( 6 0 1 ) 485 -1 97 9 

# . Fir e: (6 0 1 ) 485 - 1922 FAX< (-60.1)48 5 - 1 0 35 H o meland Securi t y : (6 0 1 ) 4 84-6890 FAX : (60 1) 484 - 68 9 5 Par k s a nd Re< : reatio n : (6 01) 4 85- 1 8 02 F AX : ( 60 1) 485 - 18 5 1 Po li ce: (6 0 1 ) 485 - 1 84 1 FAX: (60 1) 484 -6 8 32 Public \Vorks : (601 ) 485 - 1 92 0 F AX : (60 1 ) 485- 1 864 60 l 23rd A venue Post O ffi ce Box J 43 0 Merid ian, MS 393 0 2- 1 43 0 www. meridi anms .o r g citizens, I understand the proposat ofS i lver m eets the DCrf

## r~~~**ments** and

## we**~** not have a ny alternative on that i ss ue. I do have ao objection - to the schedule

## ~reposed by Silver
. 

# .. DOT data indicates 1,431 of 1 , 536 ini;>Ound passengers.(or93.2J6) rnade c9nnections in


# .**~ ~** **~** . ' .**~** . . . . 

### .. . .. • ,..-; · .. .. 

# . \ Atlanta. Th i s same. data tells us t hat 1 , 534 of 1652 - outbouncfp assengers (or 92.9 %) made a connection i n Atl a nta . Therefor e M e r i di a n is cl e arly a ma r ket that n eeds co n nect i ons over a sig n i f i c a nt hub with fl i g ht tim e s t h at me et t hese connect i ons. Enclosed are two spreadsheets, each based on our top 21 origin/destination cities. For each of these cities is the se:hedule (based upon Silver1s• proposa1)':9 f ava ilable conne cting f l i g ht s throu g h Atl anta on Del t a Air Lin es. 

### OUTBOUND SCHEDUL E COMPARISON 

# ,. ·

# . The first spreadsheet is entitled "tlUTBOUND SCHEDU LE

### COMPARISON"~ Silver proposes two flights departi ng Me r id i an e ach day except S aturd a y. Th ef irst propo se d fl ight arr ives 

# .. in Atlanta at 1 1: 40AM . Th e minimum l ega l conn e ct i on t ime in At lanta i s 55 minu te s, . t here f ore any fligh t a pas senger conne cts to mu s t l eave at l ea st 55 minute s aft er 11 :40 , which i s 12:35PM. Wh i l e thi s Si lv e r fl i ght co nne ct s to num e rou s d e s ti na t i ons, t h e ear lies t ar r ival possible is m i d-afternoon or later. The se a r rivals are sorrie 4 'h ours after the connect i o n s a llow ed by o u r curre nt ear ly morn i ng flight wh i ch p uts t he p as s

enger to the i r d estina t ion by noo n i n a lmo s t all cases . The business passenger loses a half day of work compared to an early morning (6:00AM) departure. Th e sec o n d o utbo un d f li g ht p rop os e d by Si lve r arriv e s i n At l a nta a t 8 : 1 0 PM . Ad d i n g th e 55 m inute minim u m l eg a l conne c tio n ti me mea ns tha t th e pa sse n ger m a y o n ly connect ·to f lights de p a rti ng Atl a nt a to thei r dest ina t i on aft e r 9 : 05PM .**S~ven** of our top 21

'· -·

# .... 

# . ., 

# . ·• markets have no service to connect with this Silver flight. The remaining 14 markets**-~** '· have only one flight, putting our passenger at their destination as early as i0:46PM or as late as 12:33AM. The fact a passenger cannot reach their destination 33% of the time, or only very late on the remaining flight is not suitable for our community. Also, if this flight 

# .. is 45 minutes late, only three of our top 21 markets are reachable and our passenger is stranded overnight in Atlanta.



# .. INBOUND SCHEDULE COMPARISON Silver proposes two inbound flights to Meridian each day except Saturday. The first proposed flight to Meridian departs Atlanta at 8:10AM. Subtracting the 55 minute minimum legal connection time from the 8:10 departure determines that any connecting flight must arrive in Atlanta by 7:15AM. Only two·of our top 21 O&D markets make this time. 

### Nineteen of qur 21 top O&D markets do not connect to our first daily arrival. I> ••
•, 1 ... The seco11.d:inbound flight proposed by Silver departs Atlanta for Meridian at4:40PM.

### Adj~sting'for c;nnection times, p.-ssengers must arrive in Atlanta from their

### p~igin 

## S>'i 3:35PIYL .o'nly one flight from Seattle (our number 10 market) meets this schedule. · Other west coast cities make the final departure with only two flights. In any event a pas.sefi'ggr I'"QU:.St**~part** their origin airport by early afternoon to make this connection. Again, 

### thibusiness t;aveler can't complete even 

## a half day of work before naving to depart for home. Silver's proposal appears to meet all DOT criteria for EAS service, but clearly does not meet the requirement in 389.7 "Timing of Flights": : · , :'To qualify as essential air service, flights must depart at 

### •' · ·**r~asonable** times, considering the needs of passengers wlth'tonnecting flights·at the hub. It is the policy of the Department to consider the reasonableness of the time in :' view of the purpose for which the local passengers are traveling. If travel is primarily to connect with other flights at the hub, local flight times should be designed to link
·**~ith** those flights. If travel is primarily local there should 

# .b;**at.leas_t~~e** morning flight

## ~ each direction and one late-afternoon or evening flight in each direction." Since more than 92 percent of Meridian passengers connect, it is clear the silver proposed schedule does not meet the requirements of the community. We hop;'e thete ·is nci nee-d to re-bid the Meridian service, but the Silver flight schedule 

### m4$tl5e adj_usted to meet the requirements of section 389.7 . ... ·'" ..**'j~**

# ..
. •. ..**~** 

# -·

.**~** .. \ .. Thank you for all of the hard work yon do to provide air service to small communities. We look forward to working with. you in the future to grow out of the EAS program I

Cheri Barry Mayor

l 

# ...

. 

## . · ...**·~**

## OUTBOUND SCHEDULE CONNECTIONS
- · ... 

# .. Silver Proposal Morning Departure Afternoon Departure Number of flights Earliest Number of Earliest Number of available in Possible connecting Possible connecting Atlanta to Arrival at flights Arrival at flights



# . City Airport Destination Destination available Destination available 1 Atlanta ATL 2 11:40AM 8:10PM

-- 2 Chicago ORD 12 2:52PM 7 10:56 PM 1

-- 3 New York LGA 15 3:02PM 9 11:29 PM 1

---- 4 San Diego SAN 6 5:07PM 4 11:40 PM 1

-- ·-··- 5 Baltimore BWI 11 2:35PM 6 N/A 0 6 Orlando MCO 15 2:25PM 9 10:46 PM 1

------ 7 Los Angeles LAX 9 3:48PM 6 11:34 PM 1 8 Boston BOS 11 3:13PM 7 12:33 AM 1

--- 

## - 9 I Norfolk ORF 7 4:45PM 4 N/A 0 

# I -···· -- 10 Seattle SEA 4 5:24PM 2 N/A 0 11 Washington DC

### D~ 15 2:59PM 9 11:37 PM 1

--- -- 12 Detroit DET 10 4:45PM 5 11:50 PM 1

·--- --- 13 Las Vegas LAS 8 2:44PM 5 11:22 PM > 1

--- 14 Denver DEN 8 2:58PM 4 N/A 0

-- ---'--:- -- 15 Jacksonville, NC
. OAJ 5 3:44PM 3 N/A 0 16 Philadelphia PHL 11 

# -**~~ci:~l** 

# :_**~**_ _11:55 PMI 1

--- ----- --- 17 San Antonio SAT 7 N/A 0

-- ·-· ·------ 18 ·Omah-a OMA 5 4:56 PMI 3 . - N/A__ 0

-- -·--· 3:10

## p~T- c,- "--'----- 19 Dallas DFW 12 7 N/A 1
-······ ---- 20 New York EWR 11 2:59 PMI 7 12:06 AM 1

-- -- 21 Fort Lauderdale 

### FLL 11 3:40 PMf 6 11:42 PM 1



# .... I ' C



## . INBOUND SCH!i.PULE CONNECTIONS .,. Silver Proposal 

# - Morning Arrival 

# I Afternoon Arrival Number of flights Latest Number of Latest Number of available in Possible connecting Possible connecting Atlanta from Departu re at flights Departure at f li ghts City Airport Dest i nation D .estination available Destination available 1 Atlanta ATL 2

.. 2 Ch icag o ORD 12 N/A 0 12:00 PM 5 3 New York LGA 

## . 15 N/A 0 12:59 PM 8 4 San Diego SAN 6 N/A 0 8:00AM 2

-- 5 Baltimore BWI 11 N/A 0 12 :45 PM 6 6 Orlando MCO 15 5:30AM 1 1:30PM 9 7 Los Angeles LAX 10 N/A 0 7 :45 AM 2

- 8 Boston BOS 11 N/A 0 12:15 PM 6 9 Norfolk ORF 7 N/A 0 12:51 PM 4 10 Seattle SEA 4 N/A 0 6 : 30AM 1 11 Washington DC DCA 15 N/A 0 1:00PM 8 12 Detroit DTW 10 N/A 0 12:05 PM 5 13 Las Vegas LAS 8 N/A 0 7:15AM 2 14 Denver DEN 8 N/A 0**~** 10:15 AM 4 15 Jacksonville, NC OAJ 5 N/A 0 1:59PM 3 16 Philadelphia PHL 11 N/A 0 1:00PM 6

--··-- 17 San Antonio SAN 7 N/A 0 12:05 PM 4 18 Omaha OMA 5 N/A 0 10:11 AM 3 19 . . Dall-as DFW . .. R N/A 0 12:15 PM 6 20 New York EWR 11 N/A 0 1:00PM 6

---·-·- ···----- 21 Fort Laud erd a l e F LL 11 N/A 0 12:45 PM 7



## •