e 

UL& Departmen t o f ) 200 New jersey Avenue, SE 

TrcmsportOtion Washington, DC 20590 

Office Of the Secretary 3 

ofTfansportation 

April 28, 2010 

David Hall 

Airport Director 

Kirksville Regional Airport 

27161 Airport Trail 

Kirksville, Missouri 63501 

Dear Mr. Hall: 

I would like to update you on the essential air service situation at Kirksville, Missouri, 

and give you an opportunity to submit any comments if you wish. In anticipation of the 

end of Air Choice One's current contract on July 31, 2010, the Department issued 

Order 2010-3-31, March 25, 2010, to solicit proposals from all interested air carriers to 

provide service at Kirksville. In response to that order, we received proposals from four 

carriers: Multi-Aero Inc. d/b/a Air Choice One (Air Choice One, the incumbent). Charter 

Air Transport, Hyannis Air Service d/b/a Cape Air (Cape Air), and Sovereign Air. 

We have directed each carrier to serve its proposal(s) on you; in addition, copies of the 

proposals may be accessed online through the Department's Dockets Management 

System at: http://www.regulations.gov/ by entering "DOT-OST-1997-2515" in the "Enter 

Keyword or ID" field, but we have sunmiarized the proposals in the attachment provided. 

My purpose in writing to you at this time is to request any final comments you might 

have on the carriers' service and subsidy proposals before we submit a recommendation 

on the carrier-selection issue to the Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International 

Affairs. 

Please note that the average passenger fares shown in each proposal do not necessarily 

reflect the average local fare Kirksville passengers would actually pay, but, rather, reflect 

a prorated portion of the total ticket price, e.g., the Kirksville-St. Louis portion of a 

Kirksville-St. Louis-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 fares presented in 

their proposals have been developed for subsidy rate computation purposes only. 
You should also note that the schedules that the carriers have submitted are illustrative 

only, and that they may make schedule changes to reflect changing conditions, e.g., to 

better meet shifting connectmg bank times at the hub. The Department expects 

subsidized air carriers to maintain well-timed and well-spaced flights in order to ensure 

full compensation. 

We request that you review each proposal and service option and submit any 

comments you may have before we submit a recommendation to the Assistant Secretary. 

As you are aware, Kirksville is well over the statutory $200 subsidy per passenger cap, 

and the community's continued eligibility remains uncertain. As a result, your comments 

should address the features of the various carrier proposals that you believe will result in 

increased passenger levels to lower the subsidy per passenger below the $200 cap. We 

ask that you submit any comments you may have as soon as possible, but in any case no 

later than May 25, 2010. We will carefully consider your comments before we submit a 

recommendation to the Assistant Secretary for a decision. We appreciate that there are 

significant issues for you to consider, so if you have any questions or if you find that you 

need additional time to draft your comments, please let us know. 

Please send your comments to me at the following e-mail address: EAS@dot.gov or 

by fax to 202-366-7638. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Kevin 

Schlemmer of my staff at kevin.schlemmer@dot.gov or 202-366-3176. 

A similar letter has been sent to the Mayor of Kirksville. 

Sincerely, 

Dennis J. DeV'Hny 

Chief, Essential Air Service Division, X-53 

Office of Aviation Analysis 
Summary of proposals for Kirksville 

Attachment 

Carrier/Option 

Air Choice One Option 1 

Air Choice One Option 2 

Air Choice One Option 3 

Air Choice One Option 4 

Air Choice One Option 5 

Cape Air 

Charter Air Transport 

Sovereign Air 

Hub (#of round trips per day) Aircraft 

St. Louis (2), Chicago O'Hare (1) Navajo/Caravan 

Chicago O'Hare (2), St. Louis (1) Navajo/Caravan 

St. Louis (3) Navajo 

St. Louis (3) Caravan 

Chicago O'Hare (3) Caravan 

St. Louis (3) Cessna 402 

Kansas City (2)* Jetstream 32 

Kansas City (2) Cessna 401 

Annual subsidy amount 

$836,605 

$739,841 

$847,618 

$899,254 

$582,938 

$1,422,110 

$1,383,015 

$371,636 

* Charter AirTransport proposes one round trip perweekt o Branson, Missouri 

that would not be subsidized