U.S.Departmentof Transportation OfficeoftheSecretory otTronsportatton 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 ...

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### ..**~~** ..

# Memorandum~

Date: July 5, 2012

OAAMemo No.2012-67 Kevin Adams, X-53 Ext. 61047



### The Fort Dodge airporthas indicated (see attachment) that the airport will be closedfrom July 6 to July 20, 2012. It

### has been our policy, on a case-by-casebasis, to pay carriers their usual subsidyrate when airports have been closed onthe grounds that circumstances are beyond the carriers' control and that only minimal cost savings are availableto the carriers wlrile they would lose all ofthe revenue. (The carriers would only save onfuel and a portion of maintenancebecausethey would be unable to tumback aircraft orlay offpersonnel.) 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 GreatLakes states on its billings fortn that the flight was cancelledbecause o(airp.ort closure. · ·**'"~** 

### . ·. By this memo we are also directing Great Lakes to indicate "AirportClosure" onthe monthly subsidy billings it files with you for flights that cannotbe completed for that reason. Thank you,

# ~~~ )(rDennis DeVany, Chief, EAS and Domestic Analysis

cc: Rhonda Chambers Doug Voss, Great Lakes Chuck Howell, Great Lakes #

### FO~T 

### DODGER}.iGIONALAIRPORT :><".

__.. -._.-**~.** 

## 1639 NelsonAvenue, Suite 2 • FortDodge, IA 50501 515.573.3881 / Ext. 3• fdairport@fortdodgeiowa.org 

# Runway 12/30 Rehabilitation Project 

# 14-DAVAIRPORT CLOSURE: CLOSE: Friday, JULY 

### 6TH afterthe 

### 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 ofthe airport. The reason we<:an't leave it open is because the design ofthe airport's two runways cross like an offset letter "X". On April 

### 16th we closed runway 

### 12/30forthe 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 forthe airline to land !1Q!would aircraft be able to taxi to the terminal because ofthe work on the runway where the taxiway crosses to get to the end ofthe open runway. In May, all ofthe flights duringthe closure period were "blocked" so new reservations could not be made. From what Iwas told by the airlines, the passengers who had aflight booked duringthis 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 itto close until emergency repairs could be performed. This project must be completed because the base ofthe original runway constructed in 

### 1953 has failed in various locations causing safety issues with the integrity ofthe 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 ofthis project is the runway intersection to tie the two ends together. All of the elements ofthe rehab project such as removing the 6" ofasphalt, 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 14days. 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 withoutthe airport being open to aircraft landing. 

### Rhonda Chambers Directorof Aviation. . . 

# FOD AIRPORT IMPROVEMENT PROJECT-Summer 2012 Runway 12/30 Rehabilitation Project 

### -$5.5 Million Runway 

### 12/30Constructed in 

### 1953 

### 'Y 7" Concrete 

## .>- 4" GranularCompacted 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
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## >- Two Pavement Blowups-Closed the Runway in 

### 2010 until emergency repairs could be performed. This project has to be completed because the base ofthe original runwayfrom 

### 1953 has failed in various locations causing safety issues with the integrityofthe pavement on top. 

### Project Scope lO • Mill offAsphalt 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 Signage • Backup Generator for Runway/Taxiway Lighting • New Paint on Runway Markings

Runway 12/30Closed All Summer ooginning April16111 ' '