Order: 2012-4-27

Served: April 20, 2012

 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

 OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

 WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

on the 20th day of April, 2012

 Docket DOT-OST-2000-7138

 

 

ORDER REQUESTING PROPOSALS 

Summary

By this order, the Department is requesting proposals from carriers interested in providing 

Essential Air Service (EAS) at Huron, South Dakota, for a new two-year period beginning 

October 1, 2012, with or without subsidy. Proposals are due May 15, 2012. (See Appendix A 

for an area map.) 

Background

By Order 2010-8-12, August 25, 2010, the Department selected Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd., to 

continue providing subsidized EAS at Huron, South Dakota, for the two-year period from 

October 1, 2010, through September 30, 2012, at an annual subsidy rate of $1,742,886. 

Request for Proposals

As the end of the current contract is approaching, in order to provide sufficient time to complete the 

carrier-selection process before the current contract expires, we are here requesting proposals from 

air carriers interested in providing EAS at Huron, with or without subsidy, for the period beginning 

October 1, 2012. Air carriers should file their proposals for Huron no later than May 15, 2012. 

After that date, our staff will docket proposals, thereby making them public, and direct each carrier 

to serve a copy of its proposal on the civic parties and other applicants. Shortly afterwards, we will 

Essential Air Service at

HURON, SOUTH DAKOTA

under 49 U.S.C. 41731 et seq.
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provide a summary of the proposals to the community and ask them to submit their final comments. 

We will give full consideration to all proposals that are timely filed.1 

Interested carriers should prepare their proposals with every expectation that their initial proposals 

will represent their final and only proposals. However, we retain the discretion to negotiate 

proposals with carriers when we deem it desirable; in such cases, of course, we will give all 

applicants the same opportunity. We also retain the discretion to reject outright all unreasonable or 

unrealistic proposals and solicit a new round of proposals. However, negotiation or rejections are 

only occasional exceptions to the rule.

We are here providing interested carriers with some basic information to serve as guidance when 

they prepare their proposals, but we will not prescribe a precise format for their proposals. We 

expect proposals to adequately describe the service being proposed and the annual amount of 

subsidy being requested. The applicants can make their own judgments as to the level of detail 

they wish to present; however, they might want to include proposed schedules as well as 

supporting data for their subsidy requests, such as projected block hours, revenues and expenses. 

We strongly encourage clear, well-documented proposals that will facilitate their evaluation by 

the affected communities and the Department.2

Proposals should offer service with sufficient capacity to accommodate historical levels of traffic, i.e.

two round trips per day (12 a week), using 19-seat, twin-engine aircraft, to Minneapolis/St. Paul, 

Denver, or any suitable large or medium hub that provides access to the national air transportation 

system. In that regard, we recently received a letter from the Huron Airport Authority indicating that 

they would prefer Minneapolis as their hub rather than the current service to Denver. If 8/9-seat 

aircraft are proposed, we would consider three round trips per day (18 a week).3 Should the 

community agree to single-engine aircraft, in effect waiving their right to twin-engine aircraft, we 

would consider the waiver to apply only to the two-year carrier-selection at hand, i.e. we would not 

assume that the community waives its rights for all time.

Of course, as always, we will formally solicit the community’s views on any service options we 

receive before making a long-term carrier selection decision. The community and air carriers are 

encouraged to work together in advance of the due date for proposals to craft a service pattern that is 

 1 Carriers should not expect the Department to accept late filings. In cases where a carrier proposes to provide 

essential air service without subsidy and we determine that service can be reliably provided without such 

compensation, we typically do not proceed with the carrier-selection case. Instead, we simply rely on that carrier’s 

subsidy-free service as proposed.

2 In selecting a carrier to provide subsidized essential air service, 49 U.S.C. 41733(c) (1) directs us to consider four 

factors: (1) service reliability; (2) contractual and marketing arrangements with a larger carrier at the hub; (3) 

interline arrangements with a larger carrier at the hub; and (4) community views. In addition, the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2008, Public Law 110-161, provides that when selecting a carrier to provide EAS, the 

Department may consider the relative subsidy requirements, thus codifying a factor that we have considered since the 

inception of the program. Interested carriers should also be aware that our general provisions governing essential air 

service will be included in the selection order as part of our authorization of subsidy for the selected service.

Appendix C of this order contains those general provisions. 3 Previously, most EAS communities were entitled to service with 15-seat or larger aircraft. However, in the 

Department’s FY2012 appropriation (Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, P.L. 112-55, 

November 18, 2011), Congress repealed the 15-seat guarantee, although communities are still entitled to service with 

twin-engine aircraft.
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desirable to the community and meets the operational needs of the airline interested in submitting a 

proposal. 

We encourage proposals that meet these requirements in an efficient manner. Carriers are also 

welcome to propose more than one option, if they choose; they need not limit themselves to those 

requirements if they envision other, potentially more attractive service possibilities -- different hubs, 

for example -- with subsidy requirements that remain competitive.

Carrier proposals should be submitted to the Department with all materials merged into a single 

document. The document will be published on Regulations.gov and each page should be 

formatted to be viewed online. 

Service and Traffic History

In order to assist carriers in making their traffic and revenue forecasts, we have included historical 

traffic data in Appendix B for service years 2010, and 2011, the most recent periods for which traffic 

data are available for Huron, South Dakota.4 For calendar year 2011, Huron generated 3,453 O&D 

passengers, averaging 5.5 enplanements a day. 

Other Carrier Requirements

The Department is responsible for implementing various Federal statutes governing lobbying 

activities, drug-free workplaces, and nondiscrimination.5 Consequently, all carriers receiving 

Federal subsidy for essential air service must certify that they are in compliance with Department 

regulations regarding drug-free workplaces and nondiscrimination, and those carriers whose 

subsidies exceed $100,000 over the life of the rate term must also certify that they are in 

compliance with the regulations governing lobbying activities. Because the Department is 

prohibited from paying subsidy to carriers that do not submit these documents, all carriers that 

plan to submit proposals involving subsidy should be aware that the selected carrier will be 

required to complete the required certifications. Interested carriers requiring more detailed 

information regarding these requirements should contact the Office of Aviation Analysis at 

(202) 366-5903.6

Community and State Comments

The community and state are welcome to submit comments on the proposals at any time. As 

noted earlier, however, we will provide a summary of the proposals to the civic parties and ask 

them to submit their final comments shortly after May 15, 2012, the due date for proposals.

This Order is issued under authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.56a(f) and re-delegated to the 

Director, Office of Aviation Analysis. 

 4 See Appendix B for historical traffic data. Enplanements represent one-half of total origin-and-destination traffic, 

and average enplanements per day are based on 313 service days.

5 The regulations applicable to these areas are: (1) 49 CFR Part 20 – New restrictions on lobbying; (2) 49 CFR Part 

21 – Nondiscrimination in federally-assisted programs of the Department of Transportation – Effectuation of title VI 

of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; 49 CFR Part 27 – Nondiscrimination on the basis of disability in programs and 

activities receiving or benefiting from Federal financial assistance; and 14 CFR Part 382 – Nondiscrimination on the 

basis of disability in air travel; and (3) 49 CFR Part 29 – Government-wide debarment and suspension (nonprocurement) and government-wide requirements for drug-free workplace (grants).

6 The certifications are also available on the web at http://ostpxweb.dot.gov/aviation/index.html.
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ACCORDINGLY,

1. We request that carriers interested in providing Essential Air Service at Huron, South Dakota, 

beginning October 1, 2012, submit their proposals, with or without requests for subsidy, no later 

than May 15, 2012. The proposals should be e-mailed to EAS@dot.gov, with the title: “Proposal 

to Provide EAS at Huron, SD, Docket DOT-OST-2000-7138. 7

2. This docket will remain open until further order of the Department; 

3. We will serve copies of this Order on the Mayor of Huron, the airport manager of Huron

Regional Airport, Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd., and the service list for this Docket.

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

Regulations, 14 CFR 385.50, must file such petitions within ten (10) 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

 

 7 Questions regarding filings in response to this order may be directed via e-mail to Brooke Chapman at 

brooke.chapman@dot.gov or via phone at (202) 366-0577.
Appendix A

AREA MAP

This map is provided by Planet Profitability Forecasting System and is being used with express permission 

of the copyright holder, Sabre Airline Solutions®.
Historical Data at Huron, SD 

Year Month Origin Dest O&D 

2010 1 140 129 269

2010 2 119 132 251

2010 3 149 165 314

2010 4 121 146 267

2010 5 138 178 316

2010 6 184 190 374

2010 7 216 219 435

2010 8 172 169 341

2010 9 156 173 329

2010 10 193 190 383

2010 11 202 211 413

2010 12 207 224 431

CY 2010 Totals 1997 2126 4123

2011 1 157 152 309

2011 2 142 146 288

2011 3 168 161 329

2011 4 140 157 297

2011 5 169 174 343

2011 6 155 218 373

2011 7 149 153 302

2011 8 145 157 302

2011 9 105 119 224

2011 10 92 129 221

2011 11 100 101 201

2011 12 132 132 264

CY 2011 Totals 1654 1799 3453

Average daily enplanements for CY2011 were 5.5. 

*Source – T-100 Market Report, Passengers in Scheduled Passenger Service, includes traffic for Great 

Lakes, Ltd, only.

**Average daily enplanements is total traffic for CY2011 divided by 313 service days divided by 2

((3453/313)/2).
Appendix D

Example of General Terms and Conditions for Essential Air Service

The carrier understands that it may forfeit its compensation for any flights that it does not 

operate in conformance with the terms and stipulations of the rate order, including the 

service plans outlined in the order and any other significant elements of the required 

service, without prior approval. The carrier understands that an aircraft take-off and 

landing at its scheduled destination constitutes a completed flight; absent an explanation 

supporting subsidy eligibility for a flight that has not been completed, such as certain 

weather cancellations, only completed flights are considered eligible for subsidy. In 

addition, if the carrier does not schedule or operate its flights in full conformance with the 

order for a significant period, it may jeopardize its entire subsidy claim for the period in 

question. If the carrier contemplates any such changes beyond the scope of the order 

during the applicable period of these rates, it must first notify the Office of Aviation 

Analysis in writing and receive written approval from the Department to be ensured of 

full compensation. Should circumstances warrant, the Department may locate and select 

a replacement carrier to provide service on these routes. The carrier must complete all 

flights that can be safely operated; flights that overfly points for lack of traffic will not be 

compensated. In determining whether subsidy payment for a deviating flight should be 

adjusted or disallowed, the Department will consider the extent to which the goals of the 

program are met and the extent of access to the national air transportation system 

provided to the community.

If the Department unilaterally, either partially or completely, terminates or reduces payments for 

service or changes service requirements at a specific location provided for under this order, then, 

at the end of the period for which the Department does make payments in the stipulated amounts 

or at the stipulated service levels, the carrier may cease to provide service to that specific location 

without regard to any requirement for notice of such cessation. Those adjustments in the levels of 

subsidy and/or service that are mutually agreed to in writing by the Department and carrier do not 

constitute a total or partial reduction or cessation of payment.

Funds are not currently available for performance under this solicitation beyond [DATE]. 

The Government’s obligation for performance under this solicitation beyond [DATE], is 

contingent upon the availability of appropriated funds from which payment for services 

can be made. No legal liability on the part of the Government for any payment may arise 

for performance under this order beyond [DATE], until funds are made available to the 

Department for performance. If funds are not made available for performance beyond 

[DATE], the carrier will receive notice in writing by the Department.

Subsidy contracts are subject to, and incorporate by reference, relevant statutes and 

Department regulations, as they may be amended from time to time. However, any such 

statutes, regulations, or amendments thereto shall not operate to controvert the foregoing 

paragraph.

All claims for payment must be submitted within 60 days of the last day of service 

provided under this order.