### Order: 2014

- 1

- 10

Served January 14, 2014

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

on the 14 th 

### day of January , 20 1 4

Essential Air Service at

CLOVIS, NEW MEXICO

Under 49 U.S. C. § 47131 et seq. DOCKET DOT

- OST

- 1996

- 1902



## ORDER PROHIBITING SUSPENSION OF SERVICE

AND REQUESTING PROPOSALS

Summary

By this Order, the Department prohibits Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (“Great Lakes”) , from

terminating service at Clovis, New Mexico , for 30 da ys beyond the end of the air carrier’s 90

- day notice period, i.e. April 9 , 201 4 . We are also requesting proposals from air carriers

interested in providing Essential Air Service (“EAS”) at Clovis , with or without subsidy . (See

Appendix A for a map). Pro posals are due February 12, 2014

.

B a c k g r o un d

By Order 2012

- 11

- 33, issued on November 29, 2012, the Department re

- selected Great Lakes to

provide 12 weekly round trips to Denver with 19

- passenger Beechcraft B

- 1900D aircraft, for the

period from December 1 , 2012, through November 30, 2014 , at an annual subsidy rate of

$ 1,954,490

. 1



### On Dece mber 10, 2013, Great Lakes filed a 90

- day notice of its intention to terminate scheduled

air transportation service at Clovis, effective March 10, 2014. In that notice, G reat Lakes

explains that it has offered the community several service options over the years, including

different hubs, and now the community believes that Dallas/Fort Worth would most likely

provide the best air service opportunit ies for the community

. G reat Lakes agrees with the

community, but it does not currently operate a hub at Dallas/Fort Worth

, which is why the air

carrier filed notice to terminate its operations at Clovis . T herefore

, the Dep artment must initiate

a new carrier

- selection process. A copy of Great L akes’ filing , as well as the complete public

file for EAS at Clovis, may be accessed online through the Federal Docket Management System

1 

### Order 2012

- 11

- 33 also selected Great Lakes t o provide subsidized EAS at Silver City/Hurley/Deming,

New Mexico, but that service is not affected by this Order.

### 2

at http://www.regulations.gov , by entering “DOT

- OST

- 1996

- 19 02” in the SEARCH for: Rules,

Comments, Adjudications or Supporting Documents:” field.

Hold

- In

Great Lakes ’ proposed termination of service at Clovis would cause service levels to drop below

the EAS guarantee d levels established by the Department. Theref ore, in accordance with 49

U.S.C. § 41734(c), and to ensure there is no service hiatus

, the Department must prohibit Great

Lakes from terminating such service at the end of i ts 90

- day notice period , i.e. March 10, 2014

. We will require Great Lakes to cont inue to maintain its current level of service at Clovis

, as detailed in Appendix C, for successive 30

- day periods until we have completed processing this

air carrier

- replacement case and the selected air carrier has actually started service. 2



### R e qu e st f

o r P r o p osals

In order to provide sufficient time to complete the carrier

- selection process before Great

Lakes terminates its service, we are here requesting proposals from air carriers interested in

providing service at Clovis , with or without subsidy suppo rt, for a new two

- year period. Air

carriers should file their proposals no later than February 12, 2014 . After that date, our staff

will docket proposals, thereby making them public, and direct each air carrier to serve a copy

of its proposal on the civi c parties and other applicants. Shortly thereafter, we will provide a

summary of the proposals to community officials and ask them to submit their final

comments. We will gi v e full consideration to all proposals filed in a timely manner. 3



### We are here providing interested air 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, we recommend they

include information concerning proposed schedules and projected block hours. In addition

, applicants are encouraged to provide financial data supporting their subsidy requests,

including information on their projected expenses and revenues. We strongly encourage

clear, well

- documented proposals that will facilitate their evaluation by the af fected

communit y and the Department. 4



### 2 In accordance with 49 U.S.C. § 41734(c), the Department will extend Great Lakes’ service obligation for

successive 30

- day periods as necess ary until replacement service actually begins. During this process, we will

continue to compensate Great Lakes at rates pursuant to Order 2012

- 11

- 33

. 3 Air carriers should not expect the Department to accept late filings. In cases where a carrier pro poses to provide

EAS without subsidy and we determine that service can be reliably provided without such compensation, we

usually do not proceed with the carrier

- selection case. Instead, we simply rely on that carrier’s subsidy

- free service

as proposed.

4 In selecting a carrier to provide subsidized EAS for an eligible place not in Alaska, 49 U.S.C. § 41733(c)(1)

directs us to consider five factors: (a) service reliability; (b) contractual and marketing arrangements with a larger

carrier at the hub; (c) i nterline arrangements with a larger carrier at the hub; (d) community views, giving

substantial weight to the views of the elected officials representing the users; and (e) whether the carrier has

included a plan in its proposal to market its service to th e community. In addition, the Consolidated and Further

Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012, Public Law No. 112

- 55, and continued by the Full

- Year Continuing

Appropriations Act, 2013, Public Law No. 113

- 6, and the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014, Publi c Law No.

### 3

The Department expects proposals that are consistent with what the community currently

receives, with service to a suitable hub airport that provides numerous connecting

opportunities to the national air transportation system. We encourage proposals that meet

these guidelines in an efficient manner. Carriers are also welcome to propose more than one

service option, if they choose. They also need not limit themselves to these requirements if

they envision other, poten tially more attractive service possibilities

-- different hubs or length

of contract, for example

-- with subsidy requirements that remain competitive. 5



### Interested air carriers should prepare their propo s al with every expectation that their initial

proposa l will also be their final and only proposal. We retain the discretion to negotiate

proposals with air carriers when we deem it desirable; in such cases we will give all

applicants the same opportuni t y. We also retain the discretion to reject outright al l

unreasonab l e or unrealistic proposals and solicit a new round of proposals. However, we

anticipate that negotiation or rejection will remain on l y occasional exceptions to the rule.

In order to assist air carriers in developing traffic and revenue proje ctions for their proposals, we

have summarized historical passenge rs in Appendix B. For th e 12 months ended

September 30, 2013, the most recent time period of passenger data available, Clovis generated

3, 143 total origin and destination passengers , an av erage of 5.0 enplanements per day

.

O t h e r Air Ca rr i e r R e qu i reme n t s The Department is responsible for implementing various Federal statutes governing l obbying

activities, drug

- free workplaces and nondiscrimination

. 6 

### Consequent l y, all air carriers

receivin g Federal subsidy to support EAS must certify that they are in compliance with

Department regulations regarding drug

- free workplaces and nondiscrimination, and those air

carr i ers whose subsidies exceed $100,000 over the life of the rate term must also cert ify that

they are in compliance with the regu l ations governing lobbying activities. All air carriers that

plan to submit proposals involving subsidy should submit the required certifications along

with their proposals. Interested air carriers requiring m ore detailed infor m ation regarding

the s e requirements, as well as copies of the certifications, should contact the Off i ce of

Aviation Ana l ysis at (202) 366

- 5903. The Department is prohibited from paying subsidy to

air carriers that do not submit these doc ument s

. 7



### C o m m un i t y C o m m e n ts

113

- 46, 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.

5 Great L akes currently provides service to Denver International Airport, however the community has express ed

interest in service to Dallas/Fort Worth.

6 The regulations applicable to these areas are: (1) 49 CFR Part 20

– New restrictions on lobbying; (2) 49 CFR

Part 21

– Nondiscriminati on 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 (non

procurement) and government

- wide requirements for drug

- free workplace (grants).

7 The certifications are also available on the web at http://www.dot.gov/policy/aviation

- policy/small

- community

rural

- air

- service/essential

- air

- service

### 4

Civic officials and the State are welco m e to submit comments at any time. We encourage prospective applicants to contact the communi t y before they submit their proposals so that

they can tailor them to the communi t y’s needs, a s they will not be ab l e to amend them after

the due date. As noted earlier, we will provide a copy of the propo s als to the civic parties and

ask them to submit their final comments short l y after February 12, 2014 , the due da t e for air

carr i er proposals.

This Order is issued under authority delegated in 49 CFR Part 1. 25a(b)

.

ACCORDI N G L Y,

1. We request that air carriers interested in providing E ssential A ir S erv i ce at Clovis, New

Mexico , submit their proposals, with or without subsidy requests, no later than February 12,

2014 . The proposals should be emailed to: EAS@dot.gov with the title “Proposal to Provide

Essential Air Service at Clovis, New Mexico ; ” 8



### 2. The Department prohibits Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd.

, from suspending service at Clovis,

New Mexico

, at the end of its 9 0

- day notice period and require it to maintain its current level

of service, as specified in Appendix C

, through April 9, 2014 , or until an air carrier capable of

providing Essential Air Service actually begins service, whichever comes first;

3. We direct Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. , to retain all books, 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 Department. 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 carrier may forfeit its compensation for any claim that is not supported

under the terms of this O rder;

4. Docket DOT

- OST

- 1996

- 1902 will rem ain open until furt her Order of the Department; and

8 Questions regarding filings in response to this Order should be directed to Mr. Scott Faulk at scott.faulk@dot.gov

or (202) 366

- 9967.

### 5

5

. The Department will serve cop i es of this Order on the civic offic i als of Clovis, New

Mexico

, the Manager at Clovis Municipal Airport, Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd.

, and the service

list for this docket

.

By:

SUSAN L. KURLAND

Assistant Secretary for

Aviation and International Affairs

(SEAL)

An electronic version of this document is available online at

www.regulations.gov

### Appendix A



## A R EA M AP OF CLOVIS, NEW MEXIC O

M ap s g ene r a t e d b y t h e G r eat Ci r cle M appe r

- c op y r i g h t © Ka r l L. S w a r t z

.

### Appendix B



## Clovis, New M exico 1

1 Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics; Schedule T

- 100.



### Year Quarter Outbound

Passengers Inbound

Passengers Total

2009 1 471 498 969

2009 2 492 520 1012

2009 3 540 552 1092

2009 4 5 25 513 1038

Total 2028 2083 4111

2010 1 441 517 958

2010 2 545 539 1084

2010 3 588 640 1228

2010 4 590 582 1172

Total 2164 2278 4442

2011 1 505 569 1074

2011 2 527 577 1104

2011 3 514 537 1051

2011 4 487 509 996

Total 2033 2192 42 25

2012 1 379 497 876

2012 2 440 519 959

2012 3 472 517 989

2012 4 403 415 818

Total 1694 1948 3642

2013 1 293 401 694

2013 2 370 440 810

2013 3 373 448 821

Total 1036 1289 2325

### Appendix C

Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd.

Essential Air Service to be Provided at Clovis, New Mexico

Effective Period : March 10, 2014, through April 9, 2014

Scheduled Service : 12 weekly round trips to Denver International Airport

Aircraft : 19

- Seat Beechcraft B

- 1900D

Rate per Eligible Flight: $1, 592 1



### Weekly Ceiling for each community : $ 38,208 2

Note: The air c a

rr i e r un d er st a nds t h a t it m a y f o rfe it its c omp e ns a tion f or a n y f li g hts th a t it do e s not op era te in

c o n f o r m a n c e with the t er ms a nd stipul a tions of the ra te Order

, i n c luding the s er vi c e pl a ns outlin e d in the Order a nd

a n y oth e r s i g ni f

i c a nt e l e m e nts of the re qui re d s er vi ce , without p r ior a p p r ov a l. The air c arr i e r und e r st a nds th a t a n

a i r cr a f t t a k e

- o f f a nd l a nding a t its s c h e du l e d d e stin a tion c onstitut e s a c ompl e t e d f li g ht; a bs e nt a n e x pl a n a tion

suppo r ting subsi d y e li g i b ili t y f o r a f l i g ht th a t h a s n ot b ee n c ompl e t e d, su c h a s cer t a in w ea th e r ca n ce ll a tions, o n l y

c ompl e t e d f

li g hts a r e c onsid ere d e l i g ible f or su b si d y

. I n a ddition, if the air carr i e r d o e s not s c h e dule or o p era t e its

f li g hts in f ull c on f o r m a n c e with the Orde r f o r a s i g ni f

i ca nt p e r iod, it m a y j e op ar di z e its e nti r e subsi d y c l a im f or t he

p er iod in qu e stion. I f the air c a rr i e r c ont e mpl a t e s a n y su c h c h a ng e s b e y ond the s c ope o f the Order du r ing the

a ppli ca ble p e r iod of th e se ra t e s, it must f i r st noti f y the O ff i c e of Avi a tion An a l y sis in w r iti n g a nd r ece ive w r itt e n

a pp r o v a l f

r om the D e p a r tm e nt to be e nsu re d o f f ull c omp e ns a tion. S hould c i rc umst a n ce s w ar r a n t , the D e p ar tm e nt

m a y l o c a te a nd s e l e c t a re pl a ce m e nt air c arr i e r to p r ovide s er vi c e on th e se r out e s. The air c a rr i e r must c ompl e te a ll

f li g hts th a t ca n b e s a f

e l y op era t e d; f

l i g hts th a t ov e rf

l y points f

o r l ac k of t r a f

f ic will not be c omp e ns a t e d. I n

d e t er m i ning wh e t h e r subsi d y p a y m e nt f o r a d e v i a ting f

l i ght should be a djust e d or dis a llow e d, t he D e p a r tm e nt will

c on sid e r the e x t e nt to whi c h the g o a ls of the p r og ra m a r e m e t a nd the e x t e nt of acce ss to the n a tion a l a ir

t ra nspo r t a tion s y s t e m p r ovid e d to the c ommuni t y

.

I f the D e p ar tm e nt unil a t e ra l l y

, e ith e r p a r ti a l l y or c ompl e t e l y , t er min a t e s or re du ce s p a y m e nts f or s e r vi c e or c h a ng e s

s er vi c e r e qui re m e nts a t a sp ec i f ic lo c a tion p r ovid e d f

or und e r this Order, th e n, a t the e nd of the p e r iod f or whi c h the

D e p ar tm e nt d o e s m a ke p a y m e nts in the stipul a t e d a mounts or a t the stipul a t e d s er vi c e l e v e ls, the air c a rr i e r m a y

cea se t o p r ovide s er v i c e t o th a t sp ec i f ic lo c a tion without re g a r d to a n y r e qui re m e nt f or noti c e of su c h c e ss a tion.

Those a djustm e nts in the l e v e ls of subsi d y a nd/or s er vi c e th a t ar e mutu a l l y a g r ee d to in w r iting b y the D e p ar tm e nt

a nd air ca r r i e r do not c on s titut e a tot a l or p ar ti a l re d u c tion or ce ss a tion of p a y m e nt.

S ubsi d y c ont r a c ts ar e su b j ec t to, a nd in c o r po r a te b y r ef e re n c e

, r e l e v a nt st a t ut e s a nd D e p ar tm e nt r e g ul a tions, a s th e y

m a y be a m e nd e d fr om time to tim e . How e v er

, a n y su c h st a tut e s, r e g ul a tions, or a m e ndm e nts th ere to sh a ll not

op era te to c ont r o v er t the f o r e g oi n g p ar a g r a ph.

Funds may not be available for performance under this Order beyond January 15, 2014. The Government’s

obligation for performance under this Order beyond January 15, 2014, is subject to the availability of 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 January 15, 2014, until funds are made available to the Department for

performance. If sufficient funds are not made available for performance beyond January 15, 2014, the Department

will provide notice in writing to the carrier.

All claims for payment, including any amended claims, must be submitted within 90 days of the last day of the

month for which compensation is being claimed. For example, claims for service provided in July must be filed by

October 31 st ; August claims must be submitted by November 30 th , and so on.

1 Annual compensation of $ 1,954,490 divided by 1,22 7 annual departures (313 service days x 4 flights per servi ce day x 98 percent completion).

2 24 arrivals and departures per week multiplied by $ 1,592 per flight.