U.S. Department of 

Transportation 

Office of the Secretory 

ot Tronsportatton 

Subject: Payout Procedures for Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. 

At Fort Dodge, lA, Docket 2001-10682 

From: Dennis J. DeVany, Chief 

EAS and Domestic Analysis, X-53 

To: Gregory Frazier, S-3.6 

Reference: Orders 2011-11-30 

Airport Closing 

... -.. · .... · .. ~~ .. 

Memorandum~ 

Date: July 5, 2012 

OAA Memo No.20 12-67 

Kevin Adams, X-53 

Ext. 61047 

The Fort Dodge airport has indicated (see attachment) that the airport will be closed from 

July 6 to July 20, 2012. 

It has been our policy, on a case-by-case basis, to pay carriers their usual subsidy rate 

when airports have been closed on the grounds that circumstances are beyond the carriers' 

control and that only minimal cost savings are available to the carriers wlrile they would 

lose all of the revenue. (The carriers would only save on fuel and a portion of 

maintenance because they would be unable to tum back aircraft or lay off personnel.) 

Consistent with that precedent, we ask you to compensate Great Lakes for flights that it 

could not operate, from July 6 through July 20, where Great Lakes states on its billings 

fortn that the flight was cancelled because o(airp.ort closure. · · '"~ . ·. 

By this memo we are also directing Great Lakes to indicate "Airport Closure" on the 

monthly subsidy billings it files with you for flights that cannot be completed for that 

reason. 

Thank you, 

)(r Dennis 

~~~ DeVany, 

Chief, EAS and Domestic Analysis 

cc: 

Rhonda Chambers 

Doug Voss, Great Lakes 

Chuck Howell, Great Lakes 

# 
FO~T DODGE R}.iGIONAL AIRPORT :><". __ .. -._.- ~. 

1639 Nelson Avenue, Suite 2 • Fort Dodge, IA 50501 

515.573.3881 / Ext. 3 • fdairport@fortdodgeiowa.org 

Runway 12/30 Rehabilitation Project 

14-DAV AIRPORT CLOSURE: 

CLOSE: Friday, JULY 6TH after the 6 am Great Lakes flight departs 

REOPEN: Friday, JULY 20TH around 7 am 

To understand why we have to close the airport, I have enclosed an aerial photo of the airport. The 

reason we <:an't leave it open is because the design of the airport's two runways cross like an offset letter 

"X". On April 16th we closed runway 12/30 for the project which is scheduled to be completed in August. 

The other runway 6/24 is the one we are using for operations so we must maintain the FAA required 

safety areas to keep this open. But when this rehabilitation reaches the ilrea where the two- runways 

cross, the airport will be forced to close. Due to FAA requirements for safety zones, there won't be 

enough runway remaining for the airline to land !1Q! would aircraft be able to taxi to the terminal 

because of the work on the runway where the taxiway crosses to get to the end of the open runway. 

In May, all of the flights during the closure period were "blocked" so new reservations could not be 

made. From what I was told by the airlines, the passengers who had a flight booked during this period 

should have received a notification that this flight had been cancelled so they needed to make other 

arrangements. • 

Obviously, closing the airport isn't something we don't do. However, in 2010 we had two pavement 

blowups on this runway which forced it to close until emergency repairs could be performed. This 

project must be completed because the base of the original runway constructed in 1953 has failed in 

various locations causing safety issues with the integrity of the pavement on top. This is a very positive 

$5.5 million dollar airport improvement and will bring this runway back to excellent condition upon 

completion. 

Again, a major component of this project is the runway intersection to tie the two ends together. All of 

the elements of the rehab project such as removing the 6" of asphalt, repairing the concrete base with 

full depth patches where needed, installing the drainage, grading, new lighting system, switch over the 

lighting system to the new electrical vault will have to be completed within a short 14 day time frame. 

Working 24/7 with different crews may be needed to complete the work in just 14 days. 

During the airport closure, our offices will be open. Our airport maintenance employees have a unique 

opportunity to complete pavement maintenance such as crack sealing and re-painting the runway 

pavement markings without the airport being open to aircraft landing. 

Rhonda Chambers 

Director of A vi at ion 
. . . 

FOD AIRPORT IMPROVEMENT PROJECT-Summer 2012 

Runway 12/30 Rehabilitation Project -$5.5 Million 

Runway 12/30 Constructed in 1953 

'Y 7" Concrete 

.>- 4" Granular Compacted sub base 

>- 12" Selected Compacted sub grade 

'Y 3" Asphalt Overlay in 1972 

'Y 3" Asphalt Overlay in 1993 

FAA 95% - 5.25 Million 

Local 5%- $270,000 

t .... 

>- Two Pavement Blowups-Closed the Runway in 2010 until emergency repairs could be performed. This project 

has to be completed because the base of the original runway from 1953 has failed in various locations causing 

safety issues with the integrity of the pavement on top. 

Project Scope lO 

• Mill off Asphalt Down to Original Concrete Runway 

• Full Depth Patches Where Needed 

• Add 6" of New Asphalt 

• Groove the Entire Length/Wide of Runway 

• New Airport Runway/Taxiway Lighting & Signage 

• Add Sub Drainage Entire Length of Runway-Both Sides 

• New Electrical Regulators for Runway & Taxiway Lighting 

. • New Sign age 

• Backup Generator for Runway/Taxiway Lighting 

• New Paint on Runway Markings 

Runway 12/30 Closed All Summer 

ooginning April16111 

' '