# fJlNTAt

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r., C O MMi S SIONERS: D ari e n ;} R . B u rn s M iC! 18 e i J . Mc Kee Mark D. Ray mond AS S ESSOR - Rol ene Ras mu ssen / \ TTOR NEY - G Ma rk T hc rnas C L E R K~A UD i TOf ~ M i c h ae l W . \N i l kl n 5 RECOR D ER - Randy J . S i m mon s TREASUREK - Wendi Lo ng S H ER!FF - J eff Me r rill S UfWE: YO F, J o n n S lau' lh 

# tT A Tf OF UTA I-f

August 

### 19, 2013
Dennis Devany A.1. Muldoon Department of Transportation ' 

### 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE Wash i ngton. D. C. 

### 20590 Re: Essential Air Service Request Dear Sirs: First, a l l ow us to express our apprec i ation for Essential Air Service (EAS) . As you are aware our community is growing . EAS is an important component of the services offered which have bolste red that growth. Ten years ago it would have been difficult to imagine we ' d be where we are today! Last Thursday, August 

# s " . Uintah County and Vernal City officials held their joint monthly meet i ng. An agenda item and discussion cente red o n the transportation needs of this area and th e part that Essent i a l Air Service plays. At the end of the discussion a vote was taken and the group unanimous l y voted to request a change from Great Lakes to Sky West for Essentia l Air Service. There are a few reasons for th i s proposed change. First, this communi ty has been working for several years now to build its enplanements to 

### 10,000 thereby triggering the m i ll i on dollar level needed to upgrade our airport and servi ce. Several years ago, when Great lakes 19 seat Beach Craft 

### 19000 was awa rded the EASfor this area it was a move in the right direct i on. But the a rea continues to grow and we expect that by offe ri ng an upg raded service t he EAS market will do the same . Sky West is w i l l i n g to serve our community with a 

### 30 seat Brasilia which for us is an incred i ble opportunity! Another consideration is a recent market study which i ndicated that 80 % of fl i ghts booked by peop l e from this z i p code, 84078, were booked out of Salt Lake City. Sky West services Salt Lake City . Previ ously there was conce rn over abandoning Denver service as many of the extract i on i nd u stry workers and executives expressed a desire to fly out of that hub. But, i n recent conversations they have stated they could be equally satisfied with a Salt Lake City conne ctio n. Finally , ove r the past couple of years, using a Great Lakes/Denver servi ce, there have been som e c h a l lenges bookin g flights that are often f u l l and t i c keti ng luggage th rough to destin at i ons . The 

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A !J JO C NCRm o V[' PNAL . lIT A/-f 84078increased reliability of Sky West would also help with our ultimate goals . It is believed that having the

Sky West/Delta/Salt lake City connection could solve much of that. Salt Lake City Airport is expanding but is nowhere near as large as Denver. In assessing the needs of our airport these are all significant factors which, if successfully addressed, will help us reach the needed 10,000 enplanemen ts . Knowing you have the best interest of our airport at heart, we trust you to carefu l ly cons i der these factors and we look forward to your dec i s i on . Please let us know should you have additional questions or concerns . Sincerely , Uintah County Commission

Darlene R. Burns, Commissioner

Michael J . McKee ornrmssrcner
Vernal City
Gary owa er, Mayor