Order 2012-4-25

Served: April 19, 2012

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

on the 19th of April, 2012

INTRA ALASKA BUSH MAIL RATES Docket OST-2003-14694

Bush Quarterly Fuel Adjustment

Summary

By this Order, the Department is making its regular quarterly adjustments to the IntraAlaska bush mail rates, Part 121 and Part 135, to reflect the most recent quarterly fuel 

costs. The new rates are to be effective on the first Saturday after the issuance of this 

Order, and reflect fuel expenses for the quarter ended December 31, 2011. We will update 

the Seaplane rate at a later time when we have reliable data from Taquan.

Background

Order 2012-2-6 updated the three intra-Alaska bush mail rates -- Part 121, Part 135, and 

Seaplane -- to reflect fuel expenses for the quarter ended September 30, 2011. This Order

is updating the Part 121 and Part 135 rates to reflect fuel expenses for the quarter ended 

December 31, 2011, the most recent data available.

The Department has stated that we would continue quarterly fuel updates until further 

notice. Since the carriers’ traffic and financial data are reported 45 days after the end of 

each quarter, we will continue to make quarterly adjustments with a one-quarter lag from 

the end of the reporting period until the beginning of the next quarter. The table below 

shows both the current and new mail rates.
- 2 -

As shown in the chart above, the Terminal Rate is unaffected by changes in fuel between 

the current rate and the new rate, and for the Part 121 class, there is a 0.03 percent decrease 

in the rate, driven by a 0.16 percent decrease in fuel expenses. The chart shows a 6.01 

percent increase in the overall Part 135 rate. This increase is driven by a 22.30 percent 

increase in fuel expenses, as shown in Appendix B-1. 

Other Matters

We have not updated the Seaplane rate. Taquan transported by far the largest volume of 

mail in the Seaplane class, but has errors in its reported traffic. The carrier is having 

problems with a new internal computer program. While it believes that it will resolve the 

problem shortly, we cannot be sure of that. We will accordingly adjust the new Part 121 

and Part 135 rates at this time, but not the Seaplane rate. We will adjust that rate when we 

have reliable data.

The next anticipated quarterly adjustment for fuel costs for the Part 135 and Part 121 bush 

carriers will be based on data for the quarter ended March 31, 2012, and will be effective 

on or about June 30, 2012.

ACCORDINGLY,

1. We fix, determine and publish the Part 121 rate to be $5.9736 per mail revenue ton mile, 

to be effective on the second Saturday after the service date of this Order; 

2. We fix, determine and publish the Part 135 rate to be $8.0986 per mail revenue ton mile 

plus a fixed charge of $403.12 per mail ton enplaned to be effective on the second 

Saturday after the service date of this Order; 

3. The terminal rate will remain fixed at $716.16 per ton enplaned;

4. This docket shall remain open until further Order of the Department; and

Current Rate Old Fuel New Fuel Rate

Class Rate Order 2012-2-6 QE 9-30-11 QE 12-31-11 New Rate New Rate

Terminal $716.16 NA NA $716.16 NA

Part 121 $5.9756/RTM $1.2617/RTM $1.2597/RTM $5.9736/RTM -0.03%

Part 135, Fixed $380.27/Ton 0 0 $403.12/Ton 6.01%

Part 135, Flexed $7.6395/RTM 0 0 $8.0986/RTM 6.01%
- 3 -

5. We will serve this Order upon all parties on the service list for this Docket;

Persons entitled to petition the Department for review of this Order under the Department’s 

regulations, 14 CFR 385.30, must file such petitions within ten (10) days after the date of 

service of this Order. The filing of a petition for review shall not stay its effectiveness.

By: 

TODD M. HOMAN

Director, 

Office of Aviation Analysis

(SEAL)

An electronic version of this document is available on the World Wide Web at

http://www.regulations.gov
Appendix A

Part 121

Quarter Ended September 30, 2011, Fuel

Carrier Frontier PenAir PenAir PenAir PenAir PenAir

Aircraft Name Beech 1900 Metro 23 Metro 23 Saab 340B Saab 340A Metro III

Aircraft Code Total 405 455-1 455-2 456 459 467

Fuel Expense

1 . Total Fuel Expense $3,964,504 $9,408 $0 $0 $3,533,083 $422,013 $0

2 . Total Gallons Issued 876,817 2,735 0 0 780,813 93,269 0

3 . Total Block Hours 6,471 0 0 0 5,743 728 0

4 Eligible Block Hours 2,735 0 0 0 2,727 8 0

5 . Eligible Mail RTMs 93,405 0 0 0 93,405 0 0

6 . Total Eligible RTMs 1,329,656 0 0 0 1,329,656 0 0

7 . Price per Gallon (R1÷R2) $4.52 $0.00 0 0 $4.52 $4.52 0

8 . Burn per Hour (R2÷R3) 135.5 0.0 0 0 136.0 128.1 0

9 . Costs per Block Hour (R1÷R3) $612.66 $0.00 0 0 $615.20 $579.69 0

10 Eligible Fuel Expense (R1*R4÷R12) #DIV/0! #DIV/0! 0 0 $1,677,645 $4,638 0

11 . Cost per Eligible RTM (R10÷R6) #DIV/0! $0.0000 0 0 $1.2617 $0.0000 0

12 Mail RTMs Percentage 100.00% 0.000% 0 0 100.000% 0.000% 0

13 . Cost/RTM, Wtd. By Mail RTMs $1.2617 $0.0000 0 0 $1.2617 $0.0000 0

Quarter Ended December 31, 2011

System Parameters for Each Carrier 2F KS KS KS KS KS

Totals Frontier PenAir PenAir PenAir PenAir PenAir

Aircraft Name B-1900 Metro 23 Metro 23 Saab 340B Saab 340 Metro III

Aircraft Code 405 455 455-2 456 459 467

1 . Total Fuel Expense $3,090,185 $0 $0 $2,680,767 $409,418 $0

2 . Total Gallons Issued 744,199 0 0 645,600 98,599 0

3 . Total Block Hours 5,453 0 0 4,731 722 0

4 Eligible Block Hours 2,982 0 0 2,982 0 0

5 . Eligible Mail RTMs 88,213 0 0 0 88,213 0 0

6 . Total Eligible RTMs 1,341,397 0 0 0 1,341,397 0 0

7 . Price per Gallon (R1÷R2) $4.15 0 0 0 $4.15 0 0

8 . Burn per Hour (R2÷R3) 136 0 0 0 136 0 0

9 . Costs per Block Hour (R1÷R3) $566.69 0 0 0 $566.64 0 0

10 Eligible Fuel Expense (R1*R4÷R12) $1,689,716 0 0 0 $1,689,716 0 0

11 . Cost per Eligible RTM (R10÷R6) $1.2597 0 0 0 $1.2597 0 0

12 Mail RTMs Percentage 100.00% 0 0 0 100.00% 0 0

13 . Cost/RTM, Wtd. By Mail RTMs $1.2597 0 0 0 $1.2597 0 0
Appendix B-1

Linehaul, Part 135

Page 1 of 1

INTRA-ALASKA CLASS SERVICE MAIL RATES COST ADJUSTMENT FACTORS

(1) (2) (3) (4)

Current Quarterly Inflation

Rates Fuel Update Factor

Unit Cost 

per RTM

 Fuel $3.0680 1/ $3.7523 2/ 22.30% 3/

 Nonfuel $8.3183 1/ $8.3183 1/ 0.00% 3/

 Total $11.3863 1/ $12.0706 6.01% 3/

Order Inflation

2012-2-6 1/ Factor Final Rates 4/

Fixed Cost

per Ton

Enplaned $380.27 6.01% $403.12

Variable Cost

per RTM $7.6395 6.01% $8.0986

1/ Appendix B of Order 2012-2-6.

2/ Appendix B-2 of this order.

3/ Increase of column (2) over column (1).

4/ Taper results increased by the inflation factor.
Appendix B-2

Part 135

Page 1 of 4

Quarter Ended September 30, 2011 

A. Circle

Carrier PenAir /Frontier Bering Bering Bering

Aircraft Code Metro SD-330 Navajo B-1900 Casa 212

Scheduled + Nonscheduled Total 1/ 467 487 194 405 412

1 . Total Fuel Expense $8,370,890 $0 $121,633 $306,411 $356,748 $150,448

2 . Total Gallons Issued 1,861,553 0 34,969 53,477 73,278 30,903

3 . Total Block Hours 49,853 0 205 1,170 438 228

4 Eligible Block Hours 40,949 0 115 779 266 101

5 . Eligible Mail RTMs 656,876 0 13,807 10,219 24,842 10,417

6 . Total Eligible RTMs 2,208,934 0 21,778 49,427 51,131 14,134

7 . Price per Gallon $4.50 $0.00 $3.48 $5.73 $4.87 $4.87

8 . Burn per Hour 37.3 $0.00 170.6 45.7 167.3 135.5

9 . Costs per Block Hour $167.91 $0.00 $593.33 $261.89 $814.49 $659.86

10 Eligible Fuel Expense $6,875,806 $0.00 $68,233 $204,012 $216,655 $66,646

11 . Cost per Eligible RTM $0.00 $3.1331 $4.1275 $4.2373 $4.7153

12 Mail RTMs Percentage 100.01% 0.00% 2.10% 1.56% 3.78% 1.59%

13 . Cost/RTM, Wtd. By Mail RTMs $3.0680 $0.0000 $0.0658 $0.0644 $0.1602 $0.0750

Quarter Ended December 31, 2011 

KS 2F 8E 8E 8E

Totals PenAir Ar. Circle Bering Bering Bering

Aircraft Name Metro SD-330 Navajo B-1900 Casa 212

Aircraft Code 467 487 194 405 412

1 . Total Fuel Expense $8,404,016 $89,649 $296,027 $420,787 $124,013

2 . Total Gallons Issued 1,541,328 26,414 41,596 61,110 18,010

3 . Total Block Hours 36,988 0 169 1,036 335 172

4 Eligible Block Hours 31,207 0 73 740 284 141

5 . Eligible Mail RTMs 667,595 0 5,931 10,190 22,028 15,091

6 . Total Eligible RTMs 1,951,614 0 11,657 47,599 49,495 18,348

7 . Price per Gallon $5.45 0 $3.39 $7.12 $6.89 $6.89

8 . Burn per Hour 42 0 156 40 182 105

9 . Costs per Block Hour $227.21 0 $530.47 $285.74 $1,256.08 $721.01

10 Eligible Fuel Expense $7,046,851 0 $38,724 $211,448 $356,727 $101,662

11 . Cost per Eligible RTM $3.6108 0 $3.3220 $4.4423 $7.2073 $5.5408

12 Mail RTMs Percentage 100.000% 0 0.888% 1.526% 3.300% 2.261%

13 . $/RTM, Wtd. By Mail RTMs $3.7523 0 $0.0295 $0.0678 $0.2378 $0.1253
 

Carrier

Aircraft Code

Scheduled + Nonscheduled

1 . Total Fuel Expense 

2 . Total Gallons Issued

3 . Total Block Hours

4 Eligible Block Hours

5 . Eligible Mail RTMs

6 . Total Eligible RTMs

7 . Price per Gallon 

8 . Burn per Hour 

9 . Costs per Block Hour 

10 Eligible Fuel Expense

11 . Cost per Eligible RTM

12 Mail RTMs Percentage

13 . Cost/RTM, Wtd. By Mail RTMs

 

Aircraft Name

Aircraft Code

1 . Total Fuel Expense 

2 . Total Gallons Issued

3 . Total Block Hours

4 Eligible Block Hours

5 . Eligible Mail RTMs

6 . Total Eligible RTMs

7 . Price per Gallon 

8 . Burn per Hour 

9 . Costs per Block Hour 

10 Eligible Fuel Expense

11 . Cost per Eligible RTM

12 Mail RTMs Percentage

13 . $/RTM, Wtd. By Mail RTMs

Appendix B-2

Part 135

Page 2 of 4

 Quarter Ended September 30, 2011 

Bering Frontier Grant Grant Grant Hageland

Caravan Navajo C-206 Navajo Caravan C-206

416 194 35 194 416 35

$631,202 $0 $253,618 $437,419 $272,140 $620,925

129,652 0 46,672 68,724 90,135 97,938

2,079 0 2,402 907 2,022 9,351

1,757 0 2,047 796 984 7,844

52,301 0 23,605 16,083 33,874 42,069

150,848 0 57,738 65,015 79,597 158,880

$4.87 $0.00 $5.43 $6.36 $3.02 $6.34

62.4 $0.00 19.4 75.8 44.6 10.5

$303.61 $0.00 $105.59 $482.27 $134.59 $66.40

$533,440 $0.00 $216,135 $383,887 $132,436 $520,857

$3.5363 $0.00 $3.7434 $5.9046 $1.6638 $3.2783

7.96% 0.00% 3.59% 2.45% 5.16% 6.40%

$0.2815 $0.0000 $0.1344 $0.1447 $0.0859 $0.2098

Quarter Ended December 31, 2011 

8E 2F GV GV GV H6

Bering Frontier Grant Grant Grant Hageland

Caravan Navajo C-206 Navajo Caravan C-206

416 194 35 194 416 35

$668,705 0 $249,685 $430,636 $267,920 $492,269

97,115 0 41,240 72,150 96,756 72,043

1,841 0 2,184 1,146 1,793 5,463

1,664 0 2,071 1,026 900 4,276

51,666 0 22,778 25,001 35,777 24,595

145,045 0 61,114 88,828 75,976 95,250

$6.89 0 $6.05 $5.97 $2.77 $6.83

53 0 19 63 54 13

$363.23 0 $114.32 $375.77 $149.43 $90.11

$604,413 0 $236,766 $385,543 $134,483 $385,309

$4.1671 0 $3.8742 $4.3403 $1.7701 $4.0452

7.739% 0 3.412% 3.745% 5.359% 3.684%

$0.3225 0 $0.1322 $0.1625 $0.0949 $0.1490
 

Carrier

Aircraft Code

Scheduled + Nonscheduled

1 . Total Fuel Expense 

2 . Total Gallons Issued

3 . Total Block Hours

4 Eligible Block Hours

5 . Eligible Mail RTMs

6 . Total Eligible RTMs

7 . Price per Gallon 

8 . Burn per Hour 

9 . Costs per Block Hour 

10 Eligible Fuel Expense

11 . Cost per Eligible RTM

12 Mail RTMs Percentage

13 . Cost/RTM, Wtd. By Mail RTMs

 

Aircraft Name

Aircraft Code

1 . Total Fuel Expense 

2 . Total Gallons Issued

3 . Total Block Hours

4 Eligible Block Hours

5 . Eligible Mail RTMs

6 . Total Eligible RTMs

7 . Price per Gallon 

8 . Burn per Hour 

9 . Costs per Block Hour 

10 Eligible Fuel Expense

11 . Cost per Eligible RTM

12 Mail RTMs Percentage

13 . $/RTM, Wtd. By Mail RTMs

Appendix B-2

Part 135

Page 3 of 4

 Quarter Ended September 30, 2011 

Hageland Hageland Hageland Hageland PenAir PenAir

Navajo B-1900 Caravan C-406 PA-32 Caravan

194 405 416 417 79 416

$502,027 $871,350 $1,160,806 $178,214 $150,640 $301,873

78,910 251,200 321,667 51,587 23,034 63,141

2,502 3,226 8,358 789 1,389 1,214

1,846 2,293 7,470 699 1,246 1,112

22,042 117,769 119,669 11,926 8,484 30,481

71,767 248,070 398,740 45,266 31,970 98,898

$6.36 $3.47 $3.61 $3.45 $6.54 $4.78

31.5 77.9 38.5 65.4 16.6 52.0

$200.65 $270.10 $138.89 $225.87 $108.45 $248.66

$370,400 $619,345 $1,037,476 $157,885 $135,131 $276,510

$5.1611 $2.4967 $2.6019 $3.4879 $4.2268 $2.7959

3.36% 17.93% 18.22% 1.82% 1.29% 4.64%

$0.1734 $0.4477 $0.4741 $0.0635 $0.0545 $0.1297

Quarter Ended December 31, 2011 

H6 H6 H6 H6 KS KS

Hageland Hageland Hageland Hageland PenAir PenAir

Navajo B-1900 Caravan C-406 PA-32 Caravan

194 405 416 417 79 416

$408,563 $1,301,998 $1,613,227 $283,447 $82,056 $233,031

59,600 230,153 285,850 50,533 13,791 50,073

1,629 2,483 6,115 647 764 894

1,381 1,813 5,488 533 675 818

26,352 135,777 133,963 16,063 4,847 29,954

66,421 235,759 417,321 51,795 16,156 72,197

$6.86 $5.66 $5.64 $5.61 $5.95 $4.65

37 93 47 78 18 56

$250.81 $524.36 $263.81 $438.09 $107.40 $260.66

$346,363 $950,674 $1,447,815 $233,504 $72,497 $213,221

$5.2147 $4.0324 $3.4693 $4.5082 $4.4873 $2.9533

3.947% 20.338% 20.067% 2.406% 0.726% 4.487%

$0.2058 $0.8201 $0.6962 $0.1085 $0.0326 $0.1325
 

Carrier

Aircraft Code

Scheduled + Nonscheduled

1 . Total Fuel Expense 

2 . Total Gallons Issued

3 . Total Block Hours

4 Eligible Block Hours

5 . Eligible Mail RTMs

6 . Total Eligible RTMs

7 . Price per Gallon 

8 . Burn per Hour 

9 . Costs per Block Hour 

10 Eligible Fuel Expense

11 . Cost per Eligible RTM

12 Mail RTMs Percentage

13 . Cost/RTM, Wtd. By Mail RTMs

 

Aircraft Name

Aircraft Code

1 . Total Fuel Expense 

2 . Total Gallons Issued

3 . Total Block Hours

4 Eligible Block Hours

5 . Eligible Mail RTMs

6 . Total Eligible RTMs

7 . Price per Gallon 

8 . Burn per Hour 

9 . Costs per Block Hour 

10 Eligible Fuel Expense

11 . Cost per Eligible RTM

12 Mail RTMs Percentage

13 . $/RTM, Wtd. By Mail RTMs

Appendix B-2

Part 135

Page 4 of 4

 Quarter Ended September 30, 2011

Warbelow Warbelow Wings Wright Yute

Navajo B-1900 C-208 Caravan C-206

194 405 416 416 35

$640,881 $143,870 $213,178 $637,228 $420,279

124,926 38,400 51,732 171,050 60,158

3,388 385 1,554 3,419 4,827

3,295 300 1,263 2,591 4,145

29,292 10,402 7,200 46,451 25,943

212,509 41,964 96,464 225,007 89,731

$5.13 $3.75 $4.12 $3.73 $6.99

36.9 99.7 33.3 50.0 12.5

$189.16 $373.69 $137.18 $186.38 $87.07

$623,289 $112,106 $173,259 $482,907 $360,898

$2.9330 $2.6715 $1.7961 $2.1462 $4.0220

4.46% 1.58% 1.10% 7.07% 3.95%

$0.1308 $0.0422 $0.0198 $0.1517 $0.1589

Quarter Ended December 31, 2011

4W 4W K5 8V 4Y

Warbelow Warbelow Wings Wright Yute

Navajo B-1900 C-208 Caravan C-207

194 405 416 416 35

$483,587 $122,630 $89,793 $364,924 $381,069

92,021 39,600 17,894 121,450 53,929

2,757 391 536 2,432 4,201

2,702 371 449 2,290 3,512

23,378 10,899 2,845 43,787 26,673

148,630 45,150 27,761 194,340 82,772

$5.26 $3.10 $5.02 $3.00 $7.07

33 101 33 50 13

$175.40 $313.63 $167.52 $150.05 $90.71

$473,940 $116,357 $75,218 $343,617 $318,570

$3.1887 $2.5771 $2.7095 $1.7681 $3.8488

3.502% 1.633% 0.426% 6.559% 3.995%

$0.1117 $0.0421 $0.0115 $0.1160 $0.1538