# ooT-osT - R^'^ - 8^ss r 

# o ULS . Daportnwn t o f 120 0 Ne w Jerse y Avenue , S

E TtanSportOtlo n '. ; q Woshington , D C 2059 0 OffioeoftheSecfBiar

y Jun e 22 , 201 0 o f Transportatio n Jac k Skinne r Airpor t Manage r Larami e Regional Airpor

t 55 5 Genera l Bree s Road Laramie , W

Y 8207 0 Dea r Mr . Skinner , I woul d like t o updat e you o n th e essential air servic e (EAS ) situatio n a t Larami e Regiona l Airport

and Worlan d Municipal Airpor t an d giv e yo u a

n opportunity t o offe

r an y comment s o n th e record befor e w e submi t

arecommendatio n t o th e Assistan t Secretary fo

r Aviatio n an d International Affairs . A s yo u know . Grea t Lake s Aviatio n Ltd. , operatin g a s bot

h aUnite d Airline s and Frontie r Airline s cod e share partne r (Great Lakes) , i s th e current

EA S provider

a t your community , an d thei r

contrac t expire s Septembe r

30 , 2010 . I n anticipatio n of that , w e issue d Orde r

2010-5-14 , May 12 , 2010 , solicitin g proposal s fromcarrier s intereste d i n providin g subsidize d EA S fo r anew , two yea r period , beginnin g Octobe r 1 , 2010 . I

n respons e t o ou r

request , tw o carrier s responded : Great

Lake s an d Sovereig n Air , Inc . (Sovereig n Air) . Yo u shoul d hav e receive d acop y of th e proposal s fro meac h carrier , an d the y ca n b e accesse d a

t www.regulations.go v b y enterin g th e number s DOT-OST-1997-295 8 fo r Larami e an dDOT-OST-1997-298 1 fo r Worlan d i n th e searc h block . A s aresult , w e wil l onl y briefl y summariz e the mhere . Grea t Lake s ha s propose d on e servic e optio n fo r eac h community t o b e considere d as stand-alon e bids , bot

h usin g 19-sea

t Beechcraf

t 190 0 aircraft . Th e servic e t o Larami e woul d b e thre e nonsto p roun d trip s eac h weekda y an d four roun d trip s eac h weeken d (1 9 aweek ) to Denve r

fo r a n annual subsidy o f

$1,181,572 . Th e servic e t o Worlan d woul d b e tw o roun dtrip s eac h weekda y and weeken d (1 2 aweek ) ove r aWorland-Cheyenne

Denver , Worland-Laramie-Denver , o r Worland-Denve r

routin g for

$1,770,336 . At Worland , Sovereig n Air

woul d provid e thre e roun d trip s Monday-Friday , and fou r weeken d rovm

d trip s (1 9 aweek) ove r

aWorland-Laramie-Denve r routin g fo

r a n annua l subsidy of $2,151,671 . A

t Laramie , Sovereig n Ai r

woul d provid e th e 1 9 roun d trip s a weefcdescribe d above , plu s 16-adfHtidna l nonsto p roun d trip s aweek fo r atotal o f 5 dail y nonsto p roun d trip s (3 5 aweek) fo r an annua l subsidy o f

$2,361,671 . Under

it s Optio n 1 , al l servic e woul d b e wit

h 9-sea t Kin g Ai r aircraft . Under

it s Optio n 2 , Sovereig n woul d us e a19-sea

t Beechcraf

t 1900-on th e Larami e flight s tha t d o no t servic e Worlan d and a9

- sea t Kin g Ai r aircraf t o n al l other

flights . W e not e tha

t th e 9-sea t Kin g Ai r aircraf t doe sno t meet the 15-or-more-passenger-sea t standard require d b y ou

r governin g statue s (4 9 U.S.C . § 41732(b)(3 ) an d (b)(6)) . I f th e communitie s indicat e thei r willingnes s to waiv e thei r right t o receiv e EA S wit

h 15-sea t o r larger aircraft , w e wil l conside r th e waiver

to appl y onl y to th e new two-yea r ter munder consideratio n a

t thi s tim e (i.e. , w e woul d no t assum e tha

t th e communitie s waiv e thei r right s i n perpetuity. ) Further , Sovereig n Air doe s no t currentl y hav e th e requisit e operatin g authorit y fromeithe r

th e Departmen t

or th e Federal Aviatio n Administratio n t o provid e schedule d ai r service , althoug h i

t ha s submitte d applications . Th e schedule s tha

t th e carrier s hav e propose d ar e illustrativ e onl y an d the y ma y make schedul e change s t o reflec t changin g conditions , e.g. , t o bette r meet shiftin g connectin g I ban k time s a t th e hub . However , th e Departmen t doe s expec t

asubsidize d ai r

carrie r t o I maintai n well-time d an d well-space d flight s in orde r t o ensur e ful

l compensation . W e reques t

tha t yo u revie w th e proposal s an d submi t any comment s you ma

y hav e a s soo n a s possible , bu t

n o late r than Jul y 21 . W e wil l carefull y conside r your comment s before w e submi t

arecommendatio n t o th e Assistan t Secretar y fo r adecision . Pleas e send you

r conunent s vi ae-mai l t o EAS@dot.go v o r b y fa x t o 202-366-7638 . I

f you hav e any questions , pleas e fee l fre e t o contac t

Michae l Marti n of

m y staf f a t michael.f.martin@dot.go v o r 202-366-6494 . Sincerely , Denni s J . D6Vany , Chie f < ^ Essential Ai r

Servic e Divisio n Offic e o f Aviatio n Analysi s cc : Michae l Matthews , Grea t Lake s Aviation , Ltd . Jo n Payne , Sovereig n Air , Inc .