July 10, 2014

Mr. Michael FMartin United States Department ofTransportation Office ofAviation Analysis EAS 

### & Domestic Ana lysis Division 1200 NewJersey Ave., SE Washington, DC 20590 RE: Docket DOT-OST-1999-5173 Dear Mr. Martin: . [:-' '**~** 

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## Mayor's Office
211 West Third Street NorthPlatte, Nebraska 69101 (308) 535-6724 Fax: (308) 535-6720

North Platte, Nebraska has reviewed the Essential Air Service (EAS) bids thatwere submitted on June 12, 2014. The Department ofTransportation has requested our comments regarding the merits ofthe proposals by Monday, July 14,2014.This letterwill constitute the comments ofthe City of North Platte

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.We have carefully reviewed the bid proposals ofGreat Lakes Aviation. Our comments regarding the

Great Lakes bid(s) are below. Great Lakes Aviation submitted three proposals for North Platte. The first is three round trip service most days ofthe week on 9 seat B1900 aircraft. This proposal forecasts 10,000 annual passengers. This is roughly halfthe level of historictraffic in North Platte. This bid is for $2.8 million in annual subsidy. This scenario will produce halfthe traffic at a cost to the EAS program ofover $1.1 million more annually than in the previous EAS period. While this bid helps Great Lakes with pilot staffing it has asignificant downside of halving traffic in North Platte. The second bid is on 19 seat B1900 aircraft with traffic forecasted at 20,000 annual passengers for a subsidy of$2.1 million annually. This bid is similarto the previous EAS period with a400k higher annual subsidy. This scenario is certainly betterfor both the DOT and the communitythan the 9 seat bid. However, there is great uncertainly on whattimeline this scenario would come to pass. As a result the community needs greater clarification on the timing ofthis bid. The third and final bid from Great Lakes is on 37 seat or largerjets with 12 trips per week. This bid would maintain the higher subsidy of$2.8 million butwould offer potential ofthe highest number of passengers ofall ofthe presented scenarios. North Platte sees this as the most desirable option from Great Lakes. However, there are a number of unclear items with this bid. Great Lakes requests the "full marketing support ofthe communities" forthis option. North Platte requires agreaterqualitative and quantitative understanding ofwhatthis would require. Additionally North Platte needs much greater clarification on when thejets would be available for service and what level of reliability the service would offer. If North Platte is to market and promote newjetservice it must be consistently reliable for the communityto use and trustthe service.Page 2
After careful consideration we would like to reject the Great Lakes Aviation bid and request that the Department ofTransportation commence a re-bid process for our market. Our reasons are listed below;**~** The 9 seat bid will greatly diminish passenger traffic. This is directly contrary to the goals ofthe community and the airport. It is unclear whetherthe communitywould see increased reliability in air service in this scenario from today's reduced level of reliability.**~** The community needs much greater clarification on both the jet bid and the 19 seat B1900 bid. Understanding the marketing requirements ofthe community, the timeline ofwhen service would start, the reliability ofsuch service, and other pertinent details must be spelled out in much greater detail for North Platte to get comfortable with these alternative bids. We do very much appreciate the interestthat Great Lakes Aviation has shown in our market and we urge them to submit bids in a rebid process. We hope that Great Lakes and other carriers will, at the time of rebidding and in the comment period thereafter, be able to more fully demonstrate whattheir final operating plans and timelines are in much greater detail. We appreciate the Department ofTransportation working with us to find the most effective EAS solution for North Platte. Our air service is very importantto us and we wantto use this bidding process to find an air service solution that can be awin for both the airline and the community. Best regards, /); /

## /-C~**;\.J(/l£//~-~--** Dwight

## Livingst~ Mayor- City of North Platte