BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, DC

Essential Air Service at

 JOPLIN, MISSOURI DOCKET DOT-OST-2006-23932

Under 49 U.S.C §41731 et seq.

AMERICAN AIRLINES’ PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ESSENTIAL AIR SERVICE AT 

JOPLIN, MISSOURI

American Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines Group, Inc. respectfully 

submits its proposal to continue subsidized Essential Air Service to Joplin, MO. American 

Airlines seeks to continue service between American’s largest hub, Dallas/Fort Worth 

International Airport (“DFW”), and the Joplin Regional Airport (“JLN”), with two daily 

roundtrips. The service would be operated by American Airlines’ regional brand, American 

Eagle, using 50 seat regional jet aircraft. 

American Airlines regional feed is operated under the American Eagle and US Airways Express

brands. American Airlines customers have access to 339 cities, 56 countries, and more than 

6,700 daily departures. Through our oneworld alliance, customers have access to more than 700 

destinations and 140 countries. 

The service proposed by American Airlines continues existing service to American’s largest hub, 

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. At DFW, American and American Eagle offer more 

than 850 daily departures to over 160 destinations, making it one of the largest hubs in the world. 

This direct access to so many places has helped stimulate traffic to and from Joplin with 

significantly easier connecting options than what had been offered to Joplin travelers prior to our 

first award of the current Essential Air Service bid.

Joplin has performed well under subsidized Essential Air Service since American’s EAS renewal

in April 2013. We have made great progress in developing air-service in Joplin, bringing new 

business and industry to the Southwest Missouri region. Our current bid reflects our belief that 

the Essential Air Service subsidy is vital, and the market is on a trajectory to one day be selfsustaining. 

Our bid is based on the 50 seat ERJ-145. This is the most commonly used type on this route 

currently. American’s intent is to operate the route with 50 seat aircraft. American would like to
request that the DOT and Joplin allow us flexibility in substituting 50 seat Bombardier CRJ200 

and 44 seat Embraer ERJ-140 regional jets when needed for the same rate as the ERJ-145. This 

will provide operational flexibility, which will improve reliability. American also requests that 

the DOT and Joplin waive the right to hold-in American Airlines service upon issuance of 120 

days-notice to terminate service. Although our intent is to remain in the JLN market for the long 

term, we cannot be operationally constrained and kept in a market indefinitely without the ability 

to adapt to changing circumstances. 

We look forward to serving the Joplin area for many years to come and appreciate the 

community’s and the Department of Transportation’s consideration of continued American 

Airlines service.

Sincerely,

Charles Schubert

Vice President

American Airlines Network Planning
Essential Air Service Market DFW-JLN Prepared: 10/27/2014

A/C Type EMB145 Seats 50

Weekly Round Trips 14 Annual Onboard Pax 51,881 

Mileage 327 Average Fare $114.78

Annual Deps (98% completion factor) 1431 RPMs 16,965,093 

Block per Dep 1.26 ASMs 23,393,580 

Estimated Load Factor 72.5% Subsidy per Departure $363

Estimated Fuel Price $3.245 Subsidy per Pax $10.01

Revenue Annualized Per Departure

Passenger $5,954,990 $4,162

Ancillary $566,062 $396

Cargo $1,431 $1

Total $6,522,482 $4,559

Expense

Pax Variable Expense $619,854 $433

Direct Expense (ex Pax) $4,643,024 $3,245

Indirect Expense (ex Pax) $630,742 $441

Ownership Expense $345,350 $241

Fixed Expense $450,630 $315

Total $6,689,599 $4,675

Segment Profit (167,117) (117)

Segment Profit Margin (FAC) (2.6%) (2.6%)

Subsidy Requirement $519,201 $363

New Segment Revenue $7,041,683 $4,922

New Segment Profit $352,084 $246

New Segment Profit Margin (FAC) 5.0% 5.0% 

Proposed Schedule

Segment Depart Arrive Frequency

JLN-DFW 7:00 8:20 Daily

JLN-DFW 14:45 16:05 Daily

DFW-JLN 12:45 14:05 Daily

DFW-JLN 19:35 20:50 Daily

* Schedule is shown for illustrative purposes only and American Airlines reserves the right to change without notice