County of Jefferson

Office of the County Administrator

lIistoric Courthouse

195 Arsenal Street, 2

nd floor

Watertown, NY 13601-2567

PhDne:(315) 785-3075 Pax: (315) 785-5070

March 17,2014

Kevin Adams

Essential Air Service Division

Office of Domestic Analysis

U. S. Department of Transportation

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S. E.

Washington, D. C. 20590

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RE:

Dear Mr. Adams:

EAS ConU11UnityResponse

Revised Docket DOT-OST-1-997 28n

'J017- DigS

As you know, a significant number of commercial airline routing patterns are in a state of

evolutionary change as the result of the recently completed merger of legacy air carriers U. S.

Airways & American Airlines. Among the communities that find themselves "on the front end" of

that important process is our northern New York community and the Watertown Ilitcrnational

Airport. Therefore, on behalf of the Jefferson COlmtyBoard of Legislators and the entire northern

NY region they represent I would like to offer a few comments relative to American Airline's

proposed mid-term flight adjustments under the existing essential air service (EAS) program.

Enclosed with this correspondence you will find a copy of the letter just received from American

Airlines that outlines it's proposed alternate flight service pattern. Upon close review of that

proposal you will find that departure & arrival times at each end of the day remain quite similar to

what is currently taking place at our airport. The airline is suggesting a change to its late afternoon

arrival/departure schedule by moving that sequence to early afternoon as a way to bolster the one

weak leg of the four to/from flights a day to the Watertown International Airport. Additionally,

subsequent to the most recent EAS award to American Airlines last fall, the 12 federally subsidized

flight schedule was increased by a Sunday evening flight at the total expense of the airline. Thus far,

that move has proven to be successful. The reason for bringing that point to your attention is that

under the revised flight schedule program now being offered by American Airlines it is again taking

the initiative of adding a second airline sponsored flight on Saturday, bring the commercial air

service coverage to a total of 14 or two flights a day to/from the Watertown International Airport.

..""'-
With both of these proposed adjustments the County is very supportive of what the airline is

proposing.

The most significant adjustment being proposed by American Airlines and likely critical to the

continuing ridership success that we have been enjoying since this legacy air carrier began providing

service to the Watertown International AirpOli, is that the national airport hub servicing our area is

going to switch to the Philadelphia International Airport. Additional opportunity, because of the

recent airline merger, to stay connected to a national airtransportation network via a major hub much

closer to our region at a time when a combination of negative factors are impacting the entire

commercial airline industry ......is what is taking place with this proposed operational change by

American Airlines. Along with the equally efficient but shorter travel time c01l1lectivityto

Philadelphia comes the availability of an upgrade in commercial service to a 50 seat CRJ200

regional jet. Again, with the pending retirement of 44 seat RJ's in the foreseeable future, the type

of jet currently servicing our airport, the timing of this hub relocation couldn't be better. Finally,

understanding some of the complexities of what is happening throughout the airline indlistry and,

in particular with our current legacy carrier, coupled with the success already demonstrated in the

first three years of service to the Watertown International Airport, this modification will provide us

with an opportunity to stay connected to convenient national and international travel when many

other communities are facing the stark reality of simply losing their current commercial airline

carrier service altogether. With this last but most significant change to our current airline service,

Jefferson County remains supportive of the proposal being brought forth by American Airlines.

One important "side note" that does need to be acknowledged is the fact that our immediate plans

call for one of our runways to be expanded by 1,000 feet by the end of 2015 to better accommodate

the soon to be assigned to our airpOliCRJ200 during all four weather seasons. For the late 2014 and

early 20 15winter season, however, when weather conditions are more challenging for flights coming

& leaving our airport the airline intends to utilize a Dash 8 turboprop. While our preference would

be otherwise, from a safety factor perspective the reason for a short term switch during this

upcoming winter season is understood.

Yom endorsement of the commercial flight program adjustments being proposed by "the new"

American Airlines is officially being requested. The increased growth in commercial ridership at

the Watertown International Airport through om successful partnership with American Airlines

speales for itself. The exciting thing that "our air transportation partner" is offering now is an

opportunity for our airport to continue to grow and, in so doing, offer more economic development

potential for all of nOlihern New York to take advantage of in the years to come by helping to

efficiently connect a more rural area of New York State with the entire country.

Should you have any questions or comments regarding this request I would be happy to respond.

Thank you for yow' assistance and continuing suppOli of all of our efforts over the past several years

to provide quality commercial air service to our region and the Wateliown International Airport.
Sincerely, r.g£

County Administrator

,

I

c Kevin Schlemmer, EAS Division

Jefferson County Board of Legislators

Watertown International Airport Manager
Chuck Schubert

Vice President

American Airlines Network Planning

March 12th, 20 I4

Mr. Robert M. Hagemann, 1II

County Administrator

Jefferson County

195 Arsenal Street

Watertown, NY 13601

Re: Alternate Service Pattern to PHL

Dear Mr. Hagemann:

American Airlines ~.

For over two years we've been providing Essential Air Service (EAS) from Watertown International Airport to

Chicago O'Hare International Airport with American Eagle Airlines, Inc. We are currently serving Watertown with

a 44-seat Embraer ERJ-I40 jet, a fleet type that we are rapidly retiring. Due to the runway length at the Watertown

airport and FAA regulations, this is the only j et aircraft in our fleet that can operate the longer Watertown to

Chicago stage length witbout substantial weight penalties. In addition, new FAA regulations have created challenges

for network carriers to recruit and retain regional pilots. Our regional partners are encountering difficulties staffing

flights and some have had to park aircraft in response to the new requirements. This pilot shortage has left many

EAS communities. without service. We are consequently left with only two options: exercise our 120-day-aut clause

or use our other regional brand, US Airways Express, with service to the Philadelphia International Airport.

American Airline sees value in continuing service to Watertown and that option is our preferred solution.

Our proposal for the alternate service pattern will aiiow Watertown to stay connected to the national transportation

system through a large hub airport operated by the world's largest airline. Compared to the more distant O'Hare, the

shorter stage length to Philadelphia offers enhanced connectivity. Philadelphia's shorter stage length and its superior

location for Watertown passengers will offer enhanced omni-directional routing and may help to increase the

number oflow fares available to Watertown. We propose serving the community with twice daily service for a total

of fourteen weekly roundtrips, two more than the twelve weekly round trips currently required. The service will

primarily be conducted by US Airways Express operators Piedmont and Air Wisconsin, with either 37 seat Dash 8

turboprops or 50 seat CRJ200 regional jets. While any ofthe many American/USAir code-share partners would be

eligible to provide the service, we commit to serving Watertown with either of those two aircraft. Appendix A

highlights the alternate service pattern. We remain confident that this is the best option for the community and the

airline.

American Airlines is committed to providing EAS at Watertown. We ask that Jefferson County support our request

for an alternate service pattern to Philadelphia.

Thank you for your attention toward this matter,

Sincerely.

Chuck Schubert

Vice President

AmerIcan Airlines Network PlannIng
AmericanAirlines'i..

Appendix A

Market:

Aircraft

Frequency

Mileage

Annual Deps (Factored)

Completion Percentage

Watertown, NY to Philadelphia

CRJ200and DH8

2x daily rlt

287

1,431

98.0%

Proposed Schedule

Fit Desg Freq Dept DeptTime Arvl ArrvTime

US 3779 1234567 ART 07:30 PHL 08:40

US 4028 1234567 ART 13:15 PHL 14:25

US 4028 1234567 PHL 11:30 ART 12:48

US 3922 ..... 6. PHL 18:24 ART 19:58

US 3922 12345.7 PHL 20:55 ART 22:15

* Schedule is shown for illustrative purposes only and American Airlines reserves the right to

change without notice.

Dne to Watertown's runway limitations, we intend to operate the 50 seat CRJ200 regional jet from

May to early September.

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