CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY OFFICE OF THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE Gerace Office Building- 3N. Erie 51.

- Mayville, NY 14757-1007 (716) 753-4211

- FAX (716) 753-4756

- horriganv@co.chautauqua.ny.uswww.co.chautauqua.ny.us
VINCENT W. HORRIGAN County Executive

Mr. Michael Gonnas Office ofAviation Analysis U.S. Department ofTransportation 1200 New Jersey Ave, SE Washirigton, DC 20590 Dear Mr. Gonnas, June 6, 2014


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Recently, ameeting was held atthe Jamestown Airport toreview the results ofthe recent (original) Request for Proposals forproviding scheduled airline service for our community under the Essential Air Service program. That meeting was attended bymany ofthe most important and influential members ofour business, community, political and travel leaders including our County Executive, the CEO ofthe County ofChautauqua Industrial Development Agency (CCIDA), Chainnan ofthc Board ofthe CCIDA, Chautauqua County Chamber ofCommerce, Executive Director ofthe Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau, owners and CEOs oftwo ofthe major manufacturing companie.s in our community, the District Manager ofthe American Automobile Association, the Manager ofthe \\Tarren,PA AAA Club, and all ofthe Airport Commission Members. Eilch.ofthe attendees had received acopy ofthe two proposals, along with alist ofpossible advanta&es and disadvantages ofeach. After reviewing the proposals, the committee decided unanimously that the airline ofchoice for serving Chautauqua County Airport

-Jamestown, is Sun Air International. Upon receiving the second round ofproposals that included anew proposal from City Link, theirs, along with the amended proposals from SunAir and Boutique, were forwarded to all members ofthe committee. After much discussion, particularly among the members ofthe Chautauqua County Airport Commission, the original decision to support Sun Air's proposal was affirmed. The reasons for this selection are as follows: 1. Aircraft

-There were numerous inputs from representatives ofvarious local businesses and corporations that their employees were forbidden to fly on single-engine aircraft when travelling on business. 2. Length of Contract

- Sun Air International's bid forfour years is strongly supported, as it will give both the airline and the community anopportunity to invest significant time andmoney to build up the enplanements that we allbelieve are still available. (As recently as

the '90s, our enplanements were inexcess of50,000/year). We feel that their asking for a four year contract speaks positively to their stated goal ofregaining lost ridership. 3. Schedule

- Sun Air's proposed schedule of24 flights/week versus both ofthe other airlines limiting their service to 18flights/week, results in avery significant increase of 33%
..We strongly believe that one ofthe key factors in increasing enplanements to the point ofnot needing EAS subsidy isincreasing flight frequency. 4. Fares

- Sun Air's proposed fare schedule is another ofthekey factors we believe is critical to the success ofrebuilding our enplanements. Every poll that has been taken in

.the past seven years related to reasons our citizens arenot flying from the Jamestown Airport shows one ofthe prime reasons ishigh fares. We feel that combining lower fares with increased frequency will provide the impetus to stop the leakage to more distant airports. 5. Reliability

-amajor factor! We found that since the current ownership/management took over Sun Air, their reliability inthe Lancaster and Hagerstown markets has proven to be exemplary. As ofmid-April, their controllable completion factor was 100%. The manager ofthe Lancaster, PA airport commented that there had been a significant improvement inreliability since the ownership change. 6. Scheduled Airline Experience

-the management team at Sun Airhas many years of experience operating ascheduled airline, both under FAR Part 121 and Part 135. Boutique Air, on the other hand, has only operated aschedule to one destination (Las Vegas), and only for two days/week. City Link has no scheduled airline experience. 7. Interline Opportunity

- Sun Air has established interline agreements with numerous airlines, whereas both Boutique and City Link have not. This is an absolute MUST for our businessmen and women. The airline consultant working with many ofthe airports affected by the EAS proposals now under consideration inNew York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia has confirmed that, although both Boutique and City Link have stated they are working to achieve Interline status with the larger carriers, that process generally takes many months, or longer. We do not feel that we can riskthe uncertainty ofnot having Interline agreements inplace as ofthe beginning ofour new airline's operations. 8. Marketing Partnership

- Sun Air's owner has pledged significant marketing dollars and efforts to developing the market believed tobe lying dormant in our surrounding communities. Inhis presentation to our Airport Commission, he iterated his belief that community involvement is absolutely essential for the development ofincreasing enplanements. 9. Regaining Passenger Trust

- Ifwe are ever to gain back agood percentage ofthe 1980s & 90s 4000+/month passengers we cannot afford another failure inreliability and inadequate flight schedules. Sun Air, since its recent ownership change, has demonstrated outstanding reliability. While we wish Boutique and City Link well, we do not feel itwould be wise to invest our future intheir unproven ability toprovide the reliability in air service that we so desperately need.Our community has suffered high fares, unreliable service, and connections to ahub airport

(Cleveland) thatjust didn't work for most ofour citizens. Ourbusinessmen and women have stated over and over again the importance ofhaving easy access to the cities and states along the eastern seaboard. The Pittsburgh hub will undoubtedly provide much more access to those areas. We're optimistic and confident that we can return Chautauqua County's enplanements significantly with Sun Air International as ourpartner. Respectfully yours, 

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Vincent W. Horrig Chautauqua County ecutive