Swanson, Brian (OST) DtfT' O&T- jC^^f *Z(^OS 

From: 

Sent: 

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Subject: 

Attachments: 

Swanson, Brian (OST) 

Friday, December 10, 2010 12:32 PM 

'All<e, Debbie'; Aageson, Christopher; Adam Gartner; Bill Henderson; Bill Scott; Brad Schmidt; 

Bret Carpenter; Brett Berry; Chuck Howell; Dan Fevold; Darryl McKenzie; Devany, Dennis 

(OST); Doug Voss; Elmer Egli; Fred Larl<; Gerry Berry; Gerry Grabofsky; Hill County 

Commission; J. T. Korkow; Jan Falstad; John Ostlund; Kassi Mohlenkamp; Kevin Ploehn; 

Kirby Campbell-Rierson; Larry Mires; Leslie Messer; Ching, Elizabeth; Penny Zimmerman; 

Pete Pederson; Rachel Court; Rick Isle; Robb Bergeson; Tom Binford; Tom Hanel; Tom 

Lynch; Valley County Airport Commission/Dora Jean Beil; Virginia Sloan; Walt McNutt 

'Gulfstream Internation, Mickey Bowman' 

Soliciting Comments on Proposals for EAS in Montana 

Great Lakes MT EAS Bid - Dec 2010.pdf; Gulfstream MT EAS Bid - Dec2010.pdf 

All: 

T ^ 

I would like to update you on the Essential Air Service (EAS) situation in Montana and give you am:q^)OTtunity 

to submit comments if you wish. X) >~5^—* 

In anticipation of the end of Great Lakes' current contract on April 30, 2011, the Department4ssued5 

Order 2010-11-6 on November 5, 2010, to solicit proposals from all interested air carriers to ^ovide EAS at 

Glasgow, Glendive, Havre, Lewistown, Miles City, Sidney and/or Wolf Point, for a new two-year term, 

beginning May 1, 2011. In response to that Order, Great Lakes and Gulfstream International Airlines submitted 

inseparable package bids for EAS service at all 7 Montana communities. 

Great Lakes, the incumbent carrier and operating as a Frontier and United Airlines code-share partner, proposed to 

continue its existing one-stop or nonstop service and schedule between each of the seven Montana EAS communities and 

either Denver or Billings utilizing 19-seat Beech 1900D (or 30-seat Embraer 120 Brasilia aircraft at its discretion), for a 

combined annual subsidy of $10,697,409. The level of service at each community is provide in the table below 

EAS Community 

Glasgow 

Glendive 

Havre 

Lewistown 

Miles City 

Sidney 

Wolf Point 

Weeldy Round Trips 

12 

12 

12 

12 

12 

17 

12 

Gulfstream, under its independent marketing identity, submitted a proposal for service between each EAS community and 

Billings utilizing 19-passenger Beech 1900D aircraft, for a combined annual subsidy rate of $10,903,854. The carrier 

proposed the same exact level of service as detailed in the table above. Lewistown, Miles City and Sidney would receive 

nonstop service, while Glasgow and Wolf Point would receive a mixture of one-stop and nonstop service. Glendive and 

Havre would receive one-stop service. Gulfstream has maintained ticketing and baggage interline agreements with legacy 

carriers in several large airports. 

A copy both proposals are attached and may also be accessed online through the Federal Docket Management System 

(FDMS) at: http://www.regulations.gov/ by doing a simple search on Docket Number DOT-GST-1997-2605. 

Please note that the average passenger fare shown its proposal does not necessarily reflect the average local fare 

passengers would actually pay, but, rather, reflect a prorated portion of the total ticket price (e.g., the Glasgow -

Denver portion of a Glasgow - Denver - Washington, D.C. ticket) that the subsidized carrier would realize. 
Also, the fare shown is net of certain charges such as Federal transportation security fees, excise or ticket taxes, 

and Passenger Facility Charges. Of course, carriers have the discretion to charge fares they deem appropriate, 

and the passenger fare presented in the proposal has been developed for subsidy rate computation purposes 

only. Based on the cost elements incorporated in the carrier's computation summary, the carrier would have to 

realize passenger fares comparable to the averages shown in their proposals in order to achieve break-even or 

profitable operations without subsidy. 

You should also note that the carriers' schedules may change to reflect changing conditions (e.g., to better meet 

shifting connecting bank times at the hub). The Department does expect subsidized air carriers to maintain 

well-timed and well-spaced flights in order to ensure full compensation. 

We request that you submit any comments you may have as soon as possible, but in any case no later than 

January 5, 2010. Please send your comments by fax to 202-366-7638 or by email to both 

dennis.devany@dot.gov and brian.swanson@dot.gov. Our rules require that you send your comments to Great 

Lakes as well. If you have any questions, or need more time to reply, please feel free to contact Brian Swanson 

of my staff at 202-366-5392. 

Sincerely, 

Dennis J. DeVany 

Chief, Essential Air Service Division, X-53 

Office of Aviation Analysis