Mr. Kevin Adams . 

U. S. Department ofTransportation 

Office of the Secretary of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE · 

Washington DC 20590 

RE: AIR CARRIER PREFERENCE FOR WATERLOO, IOWA 

Dear Mr. Adams: 

CRUISE A NEW ALTITUDE 

Please accept this letter as part of the process of US DOT soliciting preference for air 

carrier serving Waterloo Regional Airport (ALO) under the EAS program. 

First, I would like to add that I believe both Delta Airlines (DL) and American Airlines 

(AA) are quality airlines providing very good service. I wanted to summarize my 

thoughts, regarding which airline service ALO should support, tied to recent EAS 

bids/applications. To review, the two bids are: AA offers 2x daily regional jet service to 

Chicago O'Hare (ORD) and DL offers 2x daily regional jet service to Minneapolis-St. 

Paul (MSP). 

In summary, I recommend ALO support of AA. This is due to the following reasons: 

• AA offers better connectivity over ORD relative to DL's service over MSP. This 

is particularly true to larger markets on the coasts and international destinations. 

• ORD is a more attractive nonstop destination than MSP, and there is potentially 

much more demand to ORD than MSP. 

• AA has recently been successful in starting and growing new service in many 

smaller/BAS-type markets, such as Manhattan, KS, Joplin, MO, Grand Island, 

NE, Watertown, NY & Roswell, NM. In addition, AA just announced new EAS 

bids to: Waterloo, IA, Sioux City, [A & Garden City, KS. 

• Contnirily, DL is in the process of eliminating their exposure to EAS flying. Of 

the 24 EAS.markets that DL just pulled their EAS service, they have only won the 

r~·bidsin a very few. To summarize: AA appears to have an interest in this sort 

offlyirig &.possiblygrowing it, DL. doesn't. 

··.·· ·.·.:· 

fJ ......... "' in smaller/BAS markets has been well below what DL has recently 

·. ·... : : 

• P: 31~-291-4483 • F: 319-291-42SO • www.FiyAlO.com 
there is significant upside to the AA forecast and very little downside. DL's bid is 

their actual operating loss of flying at ALO. 

• Tied to above point, should EAS funds be eliminated, ALO has the best chance of 

retaining air service with AA, as there is the potential that that service could be 

economically viable within 1-2 years. DL has flown ALO-MSP for a number of 

years, and there is little expectation that their results are going to markedly 

improve. Without EAS fUnding, DL would likely pull service immediately. 

There are also selling points tied to the DL offer. Of these, the most relevant is that DL's 

operation (on time performance) at MSP has been better than AA's at ORD. This has 

been the case for quite some time. While there is runway development taking place at 

ORD that could alter this situation, I would work under the assumption that ORD's 

relative operational performance will continue to lag MSP. 

We do have individuals and businesses in Waterloo and the surrounding communities 

that support DL service, although I believe the majority of individuals and businesses are 

in support of AA service or are indifferent to a particular carrier. 

But, all things considered, I still believe that AA's service gives ALO the best 

opportunity to retain and even grow air service, relative to DL's MSP service. 

The Waterloo Regional Airport has formally endorsed American Airlines for the air 

carrier preference at Waterloo under the EAS program. 

Should there be any questions and/or comments, please let me know. 

Sincerely, 

~~- Airport Director