Order 2013

- 10

- 6 Served : October 18, 2013



### UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on the 18 th day of October , 201 3

Essential Air Service at

GLASGOW, MONTANA GLENDIVE, MONTANA HAVRE, MONTANA SIDNEY, MONTANA WOLF POINT, MONTANA

under 49 U.S.C. § 41731 et seq

. Docket DOT

- OST

- 1997

- 2605

ORDER EXTENDING SERVICE OBLIGATION

Summary By this Order, the Department prohibits Silver Airways (“Silver”) , from terminating Essential Air Service (“EAS”) operations at Glasgow, Glendive, Havre, Sidney, and Wolf Point, Montana

, for 30 days, through November 2 5 , 2013

.
Background By Order 2011

- 1

- 27, serv ed on February 3, 2011, the Department selected Gulf stream International Airlines , subsequently re

- named Silver Airways, to provide subsidized EAS with 19

- passenger Beechcraft B

- 1900D aircraft at Lewistown, Miles City, Glasgow, G lendive, Havre, Sidney, and Wolf Point, Montana , fo r a two

- year period beginning when the carrier inaugurated service through the end of the 24 th month thereafter. The carrier inaugurated full EAS at the Montana communities on May 15, 2011, thus setting an expiration date of May 31, 2013.

Subsequently, by Order 2013

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- 3, issued on June 4, 2013, the Department extended that contract until further Departmental action to ensure that Silver will continue to receive EAS subsidy for its service and to prevent a service hiatus at the above communities

. By Ord er 2013

- 6

- 13, issued

on June 12, 2013, the Department finalized the termination of eligibility of Lewistown and Miles City, and allowed Silver to suspend service at both communities, if it chose to, effective July 16, 2013. 1 That Order also solicited proposals for a new contract period for the remaining five Montana communities.

1 In addition to Order 2013

- 6

- 13, see Order 2013

- 3

- 13, issued on March 28, 2013, for a complete discussion of legislative changes that affected Lewiston and Miles City’s eligibility in the EAS program.2

The complete public file for EAS for the Montana communities may be accessed online through the Federal Dockets Management System at: http://www.regulations.gov by entering “DOT

OST

- 1997

- 2605” in the “SEARCH for: Rules, Comments, Adjudications or Supporting Documents:” field.

Notice of Silver to Terminate S ervice and S ubsequent D evelopments On June 28, 2013

, Silver filed a 90

- day notice of its intent to terminate its subsidized service at Lewistown, Miles City, Glasgow, Glendive, Havre, Sidney, and Wolf Point effective September 26, 2013. On July 19, 2013, the Department issued Order 2013

- 7

- 16, prohibiting Silver from terminating service for 30 days beyond the end of the 90

- day notice period, until October 26, 2013

.
Proposals and Selection Order As noted above, by Order 2013

- 6

- 13, the Department requested proposals from air carriers interested in providing EAS at Glasgow, Glendive, Havre, Sidney, and Wolf Point. In response to that Order, the Department received three proposals

, and b y Order 2013

- 9

- 4, issued on September 5, 2013, the Department selected Hyannis Air Service, Inc., D/B/A Cape Air (“Cape Air”), to provide EAS with 9

- passenger Cessna 402 aircraft at Glasgow, Glendive, Havre, Sidney, and Wolf Point, Montana, for a two

- year period begin ning when Cape Air begins full EAS operations at all five of the above communities through the end of the 24 th month thereafter.

Hold

- In Cape Air intends to start providing EAS at Glasgow, Glendive, Havre, Sidney, and Wolf Point on December 10, 2013. T herefore

, in accordance with 49 U.S.C. § 41734(c), we must extend the service obligation of Silver for an additional 30 days, through November 25, 2013, or until Cape Air actually begins service at all five of the above communities

, which ever occurs first

. 2

This Order is issued under the authority delegated in 49 CFR Part 1.25a(b)

.
ACCORDINGLY,

1. The Department prohibits Silver Airways from suspending its service at Glasgow, Glendive, Havre, Sidney, and Wolf Point, Montana

, for an additional 30 day s and require s it to maintain its current level of service, as specified in Order 2011

- 1

- 27 , through November 25 , 2013 , or until Hyannis Air Service, Inc., D / B / A Cape Air actually begins EAS operations , whichever comes first;

2. We direct Silver Airways to retain all book s , records, and other source and summary documentation to support subsidy claims for payment, and to preserve and maintain such documentation in a manner that readily permits its audit and examination by representatives of the Dep artment. Such documentation shall be retained for seven years from the date of service of this Order, or until the Department indicates that the records may be destroyed, whichever comes first. Copies of flight logs for aircraft sold or disposed of must be retained. The air

2 In accordance with 49 U.S.C. § 41734(c), the Department will extend Silver ’s service obligation for successive 30

- day periods as necess ary until replacement service actually begins. During this process, we will continue to compensate Silver at rates pursuant to Order 2013

- 6

- 3

.3

carrier may forfeit its compensation for any claim that is not supported under the terms of this O rder.

3

. Th is Docket will remain open until further o rder of the Department; and

4. We will serve copies of this Order on the mayors of Glasgow, Glendive, Havre, Sidney, and Wolf Point, Montana, and the airport managers of Wokal Field/Glasgow International Airport, Dawson Community Airport (Glendive)

, Havre City

- County Airport, Sidney

- Ric hland Municipal Airport, L.M. Clayton Airport ( Wolf Point ) , and the service list for this docket.

Persons entitled to petition the Department for review of this Order under the Department’s Aviation Economic Regulations, 14 CFR Part 385.31(a), must file s uch petitions within seven (7) days after the date of service of this Order.

This Order will be effective immediately, and the filing of a petition for review shall not preclude its effectiveness.

By:

TODD M. HOMAN
Director Office of Aviation Analysis (SEAL)

An electronic version of this document is available at http://www.regulations.gov