Order: 2014-11-17

Served: November 25, 2014

 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

 OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

 WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

on the 25th day of November, 2014

DOT-OST-1996-1899

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE PROPOSING TERMINATION OF

ESSENTIAL AIR SERVICE ELIGIBILITY

Summary

By this Order, the Department is directing interested persons to show cause as to why the 

Department should not terminate the eligibility of Kingman, Arizona, under the Essential 

Air Service (EAS) program and allow Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (Great Lakes), to 

suspend service at the community. Objections to the Department’s tentative decision are 

due within 20 days of the service date of this Order. An area map is attached as 

Appendix A.

Background

By Order 2013-6-1 (June 3, 2013), the Department re-selected Great Lakes to provide 

subsidized EAS at Kingman utilizing 19-passenger Beech 1900D turboprop aircraft, for 

the two-year period from May 1, 2013, through April 30, 2015, at an annual subsidy of 

$1,635,180. Subsidized service currently consists of 12 weekly round trips to Denver 

(DEN) and Los Angeles (LAX).

The complete public file for EAS at Kingman may be accessed online at: 

http://www.regulations.gov by entering “DOT-OST-1996-1899” in the “SEARCH for: 

Rules, Comments, Adjudications or Supporting Documents:” field.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 

(Public Law 112-95), signed into law on February 14, 2012, amended the definition of 

Essential Air Service at

KINGMAN, ARIZONA

under 49 U.S.C. 41731 et seq.
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“eligible place” for the purpose of receiving EAS.1 The amendment, among other things, 

states that to be eligible, a community must have had an average subsidy per passenger of 

less than $1,000 during the most recent fiscal year, as determined by the Secretary of 

Transportation.

Passenger Traffic and Subsidy History

Great Lakes has served the community since April 2009. Historical traffic and annual 

subsidy rates are detailed in Appendix B, including the complete data for the most recent 

fiscal year. For FY 2014, Great Lakes transported 1,059 total passengers at an annual 

subsidy rate of $1,635,180. Thus, the corresponding average per passenger subsidy for 

FY 2014 was $1,544.07. See Appendix B, pages 1 and 2.

Decision

After careful consideration of this matter, the Department has tentatively determined that, 

pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 41731(a)(1)(C), it is required to terminate the subsidy eligibility 

of Kingman under the EAS program and allow Great Lakes to end service at Kingman at 

the end of its current contract on April 30, 2015, due to the fact that the community is no 

longer eligible to receive EAS. 

The Department will give interested persons 20 days after the service date of this Order 

to submit objections. Objections should be fully documented and contain complete 

information on the data used by the persons objecting. If the Department finalizes the 

tentative findings in a subsequent Order, the Department would make the Order effective

April 30, 2015, or 30-45 days thereafter, whichever is later, to allow for an orderly 

shutdown of service. In that event, if Great Lakes decides to suspend service upon the 

effective date of that Order, the Department will expect it to contact all passengers who 

hold reservations for flights that will be suspended to inform them of the suspension, and 

assist them in arranging alternative transportation or to provide a refund of the ticket 

price, without penalty, if requested.

This Order is issued under authority delegated in 49 CFR Part 1.56a(f).

ACCORDINGLY,

1. The Department has tentatively determined that, pursuant to

49 U.S.C. § 41731(a)(1)(C), it is required to terminate the subsidy eligibility of Kingman, 

Arizona;

2. The Department directs all interested persons to show cause within 20 days of the date 

of service of this Order why we should not make final the tentative findings and 

conclusions set forth above. Objections should be filed with Docket Operations, M-30, 

 1 See 49 U.S.C. § 41731.
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West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, 

Washington, D.C. 20590;2

3. The Department directs Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. to retain all books, records, and 

other source and summary documentation to support claims for payment, and to preserve 

and maintain such documentation in a manner that readily permits its audit and 

examination by representatives of the Department. Such documentation shall be retained 

for seven years from the service date of this Order or until the Department indicates that 

the records may be destroyed, whichever comes first. Copies of flight logs for aircraft 

sold or disposed of must be retained. The carrier may forfeit its compensation for any 

claim that is not supported under the terms of this Order;

4. The Department will afford full consideration to the matters and issues raised in any 

timely and properly filed objections before we take further action.3

5. This docket will remain open until further order of the Department; and

6. The Department will serve copies of this Order on the parties listed in Appendix C.

By:

BRANDON M. BELFORD

Deputy Assistant Secretary for

Aviation and International Affairs

(SEAL)

An electronic version of this document is available at:

http://www.regulations.gov/

 2 In addition, copies of objections may be e-mailed to kevin.schlemmer@dot.gov, 

michael.gormas@dot.gov, eas@dot.gov, or faxed to the Chief, EAS & Domestic Analysis Division, at 

(202) 366-7638. Regardless of whether copies are faxed to the EAS & Domestic Analysis Division, all 

objections should be filed with Docket Operations, M-30, at the above address.

3 Since the Department is providing for the filing of objections to this Order, we will not entertain petitions 

for reconsideration.
Appendix A

AREA MAP

Copyright © 1996-2014 Karl L. Swartz. All rights reserved. 

The Great Circle Mapper name and logo are trademarks of the Great Circle Mapper.
Appendix B

Page 1 of 2

Passenger Totals and Subsidy per Passenger for

Essential Air Service Subsidy at Kingman, AZ1

Summary2

Enplaned + Annual Subsidy

Year Enplaned Deplaned Deplaned Federal Per 

Ended Passengers Passengers Passengers Subsidy Passenger

9/30/2012 1,026 1,037 2,063 $1,168,390 $566

9/30/2013 805 856 1,661 $1,362,886 $821

9/30/2014 541 518 1,059 $1,635,180 $1,544

 1 For Year Ended 9/30/2013, Annual Federal Subsidy was calculated by pro-rating 7 months from 10/1/12-4/30/13, 

plus, 5 months from 5/1/13-9/30/13, for an annual subsidy rate of $1,362,886. 2 See Appendix B, page 2 for passenger traffic by month in each of the fiscal years (2012, 2013, and 2014).
Appendix B

Page 2 of 2

Apt Year Month Air Carrier Enplaned Deplaned Totals

IGM 2011 10 Great Lakes Airlines 87 88 175

IGM 2011 11 Great Lakes Airlines 71 71 142

IGM 2011 12 Great Lakes Airlines 107 122 229

IGM 2012 1 Great Lakes Airlines 109 86 195

IGM 2012 2 Great Lakes Airlines 75 78 153

IGM 2012 3 Great Lakes Airlines 105 104 209

IGM 2012 4 Great Lakes Airlines 80 92 172

IGM 2012 5 Great Lakes Airlines 97 111 208

IGM 2012 6 Great Lakes Airlines 73 75 148

IGM 2012 7 Great Lakes Airlines 65 69 134

IGM 2012 8 Great Lakes Airlines 91 65 156

IGM 2012 9 Great Lakes Airlines 66 76 142

1,026 1,037 2,063

IGM 2012 10 Great Lakes Airlines 65 76 141

IGM 2012 11 Great Lakes Airlines 42 28 70

IGM 2012 12 Great Lakes Airlines 52 49 101

IGM 2013 1 Great Lakes Airlines 65 61 126

IGM 2013 2 Great Lakes Airlines 90 75 165

IGM 2013 3 Great Lakes Airlines 90 119 209

IGM 2013 4 Great Lakes Airlines 74 80 154

IGM 2013 5 Great Lakes Airlines 82 101 183

IGM 2013 6 Great Lakes Airlines 68 66 134

IGM 2013 7 Great Lakes Airlines 66 80 146

IGM 2013 8 Great Lakes Airlines 55 50 105

IGM 2013 9 Great Lakes Airlines 56 71 127

805 856 1,661

IGM 2013 10 Great Lakes Airlines 91 93 184

IGM 2013 11 Great Lakes Airlines 52 49 101

IGM 2013 12 Great Lakes Airlines 73 74 147

IGM 2014 1 Great Lakes Airlines 75 46 121

IGM 2014 2 Great Lakes Airlines 39 32 71

IGM 2014 3 Great Lakes Airlines 32 34 66

IGM 2014 4 Great Lakes Airlines 24 38 62

IGM 2014 5 Great Lakes Airlines 35 41 76

IGM 2014 6 Great Lakes Airlines 44 32 76

IGM 2014 7 Great Lakes Airlines 29 27 56

IGM 2014 8 Great Lakes Airlines 24 32 56

IGM 2014 9 Great Lakes Airlines 23 20 43

541 518 1,059

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics: Schedule T-100
Appendix C

SERVICE LIST

Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd., Chuck Howell

Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd., Doug Voss

Kingman, Mayor Janet Watson

Kingman Airport Authority, Inc. David C. French, Executive Director