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OST-1998-3502

http://www.dodgecity.org/content/airpremo.html - Dodge City

Mesa Air Group, Inc. d/b/a United Express

OST-1998-3502 - Dodge City, KS

February 17, 1998

Re: Ninety-day Notice of Suspension of Service at Dodge City, KS

Service List | Exhibit A - Dodge City, KS

Answers are due by March 9, 1998.

Counsel: V. Michael Strauss, 202.785.2242

Order 98-3-32 | OST-98-3521 | OST-98-3508 | OST-98-3502 | OST-98-3503 | OST-98-3496 | OST-98-3497 | OST-98-3498 | Issued March 30, 1998 | Served April 3, 1998

Order Approving Transfer of Essential Air Service Responsibilities and Prohibiting Suspension of Service

By:  Charles Hunnicutt

Order 2000-2-18 reselecting Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. d/b/a United Express, to provide essential air service from the first seven communities listed above to Denver for the two-year period beginning October 1, 1999, but terminating subsidy for Great Lakes' service at Goodland, Great Bend and Lamar and allowing the carrier to suspend service at those three communities on or about April 1, 2000. The annual subsidy rates initially total $3,884,540 for service at all seven communities, and $2,686,218 for the remaining four. The order also provides for objections or competing proposals from other interested carriers. Finally, the order dismisses the 90-day notice of intent to suspend service at Salina, Kansas, the Great Lakes filed but subsequently withdrew.

By:  Charles Hunnicutt

By:  City Manager, Ronald Pickman, 

With regard to the present Show Cause Order, the City of Dodge City has no problem with the scheduling of its Denver service through Liberal, as opposed to Garden City. Although this service pattern may increase the flight time to Denver, such increase appears to be minimal. The timing of the flights provided would appear to correspond to the bank departures and arrivals at Denver. As for the reliability of the service the carrier appears to have resolved the crew shortage difficulties which resulted in 61 flight cancellations of Dodge City in 1999.

The City, however, has serious concern with the lack of a third weekday flight. Dodge City, over the years of its participation in the EAS program, has consistently received only two weekday round trip flights to Denver, the minimum required service under the program.

Counsel:  Dodge City, Ken Strobel, 316.225.4168

By:  State of Colorado House of Representatives, Brad Young

By:  Bradley Mims

By:  Randall Bennett

Order 2002-3-29 tentatively reselects Air Midwest, Inc., d/b/a US Airways Express, and Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd., to provide essential air service at the five western Kansas communities listed in the caption for the two-year period beginning October 1, 2001, at annualized subsidy rates for both carriers combined of $5,454,914 for the first 6 months and $4,774, 171 for the following 18 months. The order also provides for objections or competing proposals from other interested carriers. Interested persons having objections to the selection of Air Midwest and Great Lakes are to file such objections or competing proposals no later than 20 days from the date of service.

Air Midwest, Inc., d/b/a US Airways Express, to provide subsidized essential air service at four western Kansas communities through September 30, 2001, by operating 12 Dodge City-Garden City-Kansas City and 12 Great Bend-Hays-Kansas City round trips a week with 19-seat Beech 1900 aircraft at subsidy rates totaling $605,800 annually.

By: Read Van de Water

Mesa Air Group on behalf of its wholly-owned subsidiary Air Midwest hereby submits commercially competitive rates below that of the incumbent in order 2002-3-39 for Essential Air Service between Dodge City. KS; Garden City, KS; Hays, KS; Liberal, KS; and Denver Colorado for the Department's consideration.

By:  Mesa Air Group, Gus Carbonell

Order 03-8-10
OST-98-3502 - EAS at Dodge City, KS
OST-98-3503 - EAS at Garden City, KS
OST-98-3496 - EAS at Great Bend, KS
OST-98-3497 - EAS at Hays, KS
OST-98-3498 - EAS at Liberal, KS

Issued August 7, 2003 | Served August 12, 2003

Order Requesting Proposals and Introducing New Carrier-Selection Procedures

By: Michael Reynolds

OST-98-3502 - EAS at Dodge City, KS
OST-98-3503 - EAS at Garden City, KS
OST-98-3496 - EAS at Great Bend, KS
OST-98-3497 - EAS at Hays, KS
OST-98-3498 - EAS at Liberal, KS

September 11, 2003

Proposal of Great Lakes Aviation

By: Great Lakes, David Thomas

September 11, 2003

Proposal of Mesa Air Group

By: Mesa Air Group, Scott Lyon

September 16, 2003

Correspondence from the Office of Aviation Analysis to the Honorable Rolland Werner

Both Great Lakes and Air Midwest plan to continue operating Beech 1900 aircraft. Mesa's proposal on behalf of Air Midwest also contains proposed local fares from the communities to Kansas City and Denver. In reviewing the subsidy calculations, however, it is important to bear in mind that that projected passenger revenues are not simply based on the average local fare that passengers would actually pay. Rather, they are based on each carrier's expected revenue per passenger, and therefore largely reflect the prorated shares of ticket prices that each carrier expects to receive for providing the local segments of through trips -- for example, the Dodge City-Denver segment of a Dodge City-Denver-Los Angeles trip.

By: Dennis DeVany

OST-98-3502 - EAS at Dodge City, KS
OST-98-3503 - EAS at Garden City, KS
OST-98-3496 - EAS at Great Bend, KS
OST-98-3497 - EAS at Hays, KS
OST-98-3498 - EAS at Liberal, KS

September 16, 2003

Certificate of Service of Great Lakes

By: Great Lakes, Dave Thomas, 307-432-700

OST-98-3502 - EAS at Dodge City, KS
OST-98-3503 - EAS at Garden City, KS
OST-98-3496 - EAS at Great Bend, KS
OST-98-3497 - EAS at Hays, KS
OST-98-3498 - EAS at Liberal, KS

October 10, 2003

Comments from the City of Dodge City

After considerable discussion, the western Kansas EAS communities have collectively decided to support a proposal which would continue the present respective air carriers' participation and the existing service pattern, with only two minor deviations. The communities would prefer to continue with Air Midwest providing two round trip flights daily to Kansas City, and the Great Lakes service to Denver. If our figures are correct, the continuation of this existing arrangement, based on the subsidy requests of the two respective carriers as presented in their proposals, would increase the total federal subsidy expenditure for all of western Kansas over the current rate by only slightly over $200,000.

By: Ken Strobel

October 9, 2003

Comments of the Community of Great Bend

By: Mike Allison

September 15, 2003

Correspondence from Dodge City Convention & Visitors Bureau

By: Andy Stanton

Order 03-10-28
OST-98-3502
OST-98-3503
OST-98-3496
OST-98-3497
OST-98-3498

Issued October 29, 2003 | Served November 3, 2003

Order Reselecting Carriers and Establishing New Subsidy Rates

By: Michael Reynolds

OST-97-2401 - EAS at Enid and Ponca City, Oklahoma
OST-98-3502 - EAS at Dodge City, KS
OST-98-3503 - EAS at Garden City, KS
OST-98-3498 - EAS at Liberal, KS

February 28, 2005

Re: Request for a Subsidy Rate (Great Lakes)

The benefits of this service will allow each Oklahoma community to have direct service to Denver with a one-stop as well as better connectivity with the hub schedules in Denver, resulting in improved access to the national air transportation network. Service for Ponca City flying through Dodge City, Kansas and End flying through Liberal, Kansas will allow this to happen which leads us to believe the service will be well received by the communities.

We have been in communication as well with the three Kansas communities we currently serve (LBL, GCK, & DDC) since they will be affected by the proposed schedule. You should have received letters from each of these communities by now authorizing this request. Dodge City and Liberal's schedules to and from Denver will be improved, with a greater number of non-stop flights as opposed to one-stop. For the time period between March 13th and March 31 Liberal will be reduced by one flight, Saturday only. We will reinstate this flight with our first of April schedule change.

Garden City will also be affected by these changes as we wish to fly the route over Liberal one time a day in a circle trip pattern. The benefits of this service to the community include better timed, nonstop service to Denver in the morning and early afternoon. All three trips from Denver will continue to be non-stop, and the morning departure from Denver, which becomes the early afternoon trip back to Denver, will no longer go on to Liberal, allowing our Garden City travelers access to more seats at this popular time. By allowing this one late afternoon trip to fly through Liberal, Kansas, which will add a total of 35 minutes to the trip, the total quality of our service will improve, which leads us to believe the service will be well received by the community.

Having determined this overall improved service to Denver is very attractive for each of these cites and with their full support, we request the DOT allow the transition from Dallas service to Denver for the same subsidy rate as agreed in the Order issued 2005-1-14, as well as the changes of service mentioned above far the three Kansas points

By: Charles Howell IV

OST-98-3498 - EAS at Liberal, KS
OST-98-3502 - EAS at Dodge City, KS
OST-97-2401 - EAS at Enid and Ponca City, OK

February 4, 2005

Re: Comments of The City of Enid

We have been in communication with Great Lakes regarding Denver service. Upon our request, Great Lakes reviewed their current financial proposal for Dallas service and determined they can offer equivalent or better service to their Denver hub for the same subsidy amount as their proposal to the Dallas/Fort Worth airport.

The benefits of this service would include code shares with United and Frontier Airlines as well as connectivity with their hub schedules in Denver, resulting in improved access to the national air transportation network. Great Lakes' proposal would provide our community one-stop service to the Denver hub. Our city would have an overnight aircraft with an early morning departure with Enid flying through Liberal, Kansas.

By: Ernie Currier

February 9, 2005

Re: Comments of The City of Liberal

Recently, we have been in communication with Great Lakes Airlines regarding their request to change our Denver service pattern. They have informed us that in order to provide service between Enid, Oklahoma and Denver, they wish to flow the route over Liberal.

The benefits of this service for our community include well-timed, direct service to Denver, with only one one-stop flight between Denver and Liberal, down from the current three. Improved connectivity with their hub schedules in Denver will result in improved access for Liberal to the national air transportation network. By allowing this service for Enid to fly through Liberal, Kansas, the quality of our service will improve, which leads us to believe the service will be well received by the community.

By: Debra Giskie

February 14, 2005

Re: Comments of The City of Dodge City

Based on the information provided, it appears that the Great Lakes proposal will maintain Dodge City's current schedule of two round trips Monday through Friday and three round trips over the weekend, with only minor adjustments in departure and arrival times. It further appears, however, that all but one weekend flight will provide Dodge City with non‑stop service to and from Denver. It is also our understanding that Great Lakes is forecasting that Ponca City will have about 2.5 passengers per flight for the Ponca/Dodge City/Denver connection, which should not adversely impact seat availability for Dodge City, at least at the present time.

By: Ken Strobel

February 3, 2005

Re: Comments of The City of Ponca City

Ponca City has been in recent communication with Great Lakes regarding service to Denver. Upon our request, Great Lakes reviewed their current financial proposal for Dallas service and determined they can offer equivalent or better service to their Denver hub for the same subsidy amount as their proposal to the Dallas/ Fort Worth airport.

The benefits of this service would include code shares with United and Frontier Airlines as well as connectivity with their hub schedules in Denver, resulting in better and improved access to the national air transportation network. Great Lakes' proposal would provide our community one-stop service to the Denver hub. Great Lakes Airlines will have an overnight aircraft in Ponca City with an early morning departure from Ponca City flying through Dodge City, Kansas and on to Denver.

By: Richard Stone

Order 2005-03-12
OST-97-2401 - EAS at Enid and Ponca City, Oklahoma
OST-98-3502 - EAS at Dodge City, KS
OST-98-3503 - EAS at Garden City, KS
OST-98-3498 - EAS at Liberal, KS

Issued March 8, 2005 | Served March 11, 2005

Order Approving Alternative Service Pattern

In a letter dated February 28, Great Lakes requests that it be permitted to implement an alternate service pattern for Enid and Ponca City by operating their services to Denver, rather than Dallas/Ft. Worth as originally proposed, at the subsidy rate authorized by Order 2005‑1‑14. Great Lakes intends operating Enid's service to Denver via Liberal, Kansas, and Ponca City's service to Denver via Dodge City, Kansas. Great Lakes' service at Garden City, Kansas, would also he affected.2 Great Lakes intends to implement the alternate service pattern on March 13.

We will approve Great Lakes' proposal, which meets the three conditions necessary for approval under authority assigned under 14 CFR 395.12(k)(3) of the Department's Regulations: (1) the alternate service pattern is equal to or greater than that determined to be essential; (2) the communities do not object to the alternate service pattern; and (3) the alternate service pattern will not increase Great Lakes' subsidy.

By: Randall Bennett

Order 2005-5-10
OST-1998-3502 - EAS at Dodge City, KS
OST-1998-3503 - EAS at Garden City, KS
OST-1998-3496 - EAS at Great Bend, KS
OST-1998-3497 - EAS at Hays, KS
OST-1998-3498 - EAS at Liberal, KS

Issued May 19, 2005 | Served May 24, 2005

Order Requesting Proposals

We expect proposals consisting of service, at a minimum, with two-pilot, twin-engine aircraft with at least 15 passenger seats, and offering 12 round trips a week from Dodge City, Garden City, Great Bend and Hays to Kansas City, 12 round trips a week from Dodge City, Garden City and Hays to Denver, and 18 round trips a week from Liberal to Denver. Such service is generally consistent with what the communities currently receive, and fully satisfies their essential air service requirements.4 We encourage proposals that meet those requirements in an efficient manner.5 Carriers are also welcome to propose more than one service option, if they choose; they need not limit themselves to those requirements if they envision other, potentially more attractive service possibilities different hubs, for example - with subsidy requirements that remain competitive.

Air Midwest has served the communities for many years, at first independently. In 1991, however, Air Midwest became a subsidiary of Mesa Air Group, Inc. The following year, Mesa began operating the communities' westbound services to Denver as United Express, while Air Midwest continued operating their eastbound services to either Kansas City or Wichita as USAir (now US Airways) Express. Great Lakes replaced Mesa on the westbound routes in 1998, following the termination of Mesa's code-share arrangement with United Airlines

During the year ended March 31, 2005, Dodge City averaged 11.4 enplanements a day (6.3 to Kansas City and 5.1 to Denver), Garden City 27.8 (10.0 to Kansas City and 17.8 to Denver), Great Bend 2.3, Hays 23.5 (9.5 to Kansas City and 14.1 to Denver) and Liberal 10.1. These figures represent improvements of 23 to 63 percent over the previous 12‑month period.

By: Karan Bhatia

OST-1998-3502 - EAS at Dodge City, KS
OST-1998-3503 - EAS at Garden City, KS
OST-1998-3496 - EAS at Great Bend, KS
OST-1998-3497 - EAS at Hays, KS
OST-1998-3498 - EAS at Liberal, KS

June 23, 2005

Proposal of Big Sky Transportation

The Big Sky proposal meets the requirements set forth in the Request for Proposals. The service pattern includes 12 weekly flights between Dodge City and Denver, 18 weekly flights between Liberal and Denver, 12 weekly flights between Garden City and Denver, 12 weekly flights between Great Bend and Denver and 12 weekly flights between Hays and Denver. Our proposal changes the hub for Great Bend from Kansas City to Denver. Big Sky proposes to offer code-share service with its partners, Alaska/Horizon, America West and Northwest.

Big Sky recently simplified its fare structure throughout its other EAS communities with EASYFARES. These fares represent a substantial reduction, ranging from 25% to 45% in fare from that previously charged and contain no travel restrictions. Big Sky has accompanied these fare changes with a program of advertising. Big Sky is pleased to report that passenger traffic has increased between 45% and 60%. Big Sky has seen similar market growth in the Sheridan ‑Denver market based on year over year traffic data supplied by the airport. Big Sky is firmly committed to providing safe, reliable and cost effective transportation to the EAS markets we serve. We are hopeful that these marketing and pricing efforts will ultimately reduce the requirement for EAS subsidy.

By: Big Sky, Fred deLeeuw, 406-247-3912, fred.deleeuw@bigskyair.com

June 23, 2005

Proposal of Great Lakes Aviation

Hereby submits attractive alternative proposals per the requirements of Order 2005-5-10 for the provision of Essential Air Service between Dodge City, Garden City, Great Bend, Hays and Liberal, Kansas for the Department of Transportation's consideration.

By: Great Lakes, Nick Wangler, nwangler@greatlakesav.com

June 23, 2005

Proposal of Mesa Air Group

All operations proposed would utilize our modem fleet of RaytheonlBeechcraft B‑1900D airliners. These aircraft offer a very comfortable 19‑seat, pressurized cabin with two turboprop engines. Mesa has a long history of offering Essential Air Service throughout the country, from New Mexico to New York. Mesa is the incumbent carrier in four of the communities. We propose that the service will continue to be served as US Airways Express, also with a Midwest Airlines codeshare, allowing for convenient and cost‑effective service to not only Kansas City, but to the entire country. The service to Denver would be as Mesa Airlines, however Mesa plans on trying to put the service under our current codeshare relationship with America West and/or US Airways if awarded the contract.

By: Mesa, Mickey Bowman

June 24, 2005

Re: Outline of Proposals - Letter to Mayor Terry Lee of Dodge City, KS
Re: Outline of Proposals - Letter to Mayor Juana Perkins of Garden City, KS
Re: Outline of Proposals - Letter to Mayor Mike Allison of Great Bend, KS
Re: Outline of Proposals - Letter to Mayor Kent Steward of Hays, KS
Re: Outline of Proposals - Letter to Mayor John Smith of Liberal, KS

In response to our request, we received timely-filed proposals from three carriers: Big Sky Transportation Co., Great Lakes Aviation, Inc., and Mesa Air Group, Inc. Copies of the carriers' proposals are enclosed. We would appreciate receiving your final comments on the carriers' proposals before we make our recommendation to the Acting Assistant Secretary. We ask that you submit your comments within three weeks of receipt of this letter.

By: EAS and Domestic Analysis, Dennis DeVany

OST-1998-3496 - Great Bend, KS
OST-1998-3497 - Hays, KS
OST-1998-3498 - Liberal, KS
OST-1998-3502 - Dodge City, KS
OST-1998-3503 - Garden City, KS

August 2, 2005

Requesting an Extension Regarding Carrier Selection

Upon receipt of your letter of June 24, 2005, outlining the various options as submitted by the respective carriers, representatives from the western Kansas communities met and reviewed your summary of proposals as presented. As a result of that meeting, it was the unanimous consensus of all of the communities that (1) We express our strong desire to maintain not less than our current service schedule at all communities and (2) We obtain additional information which will impact our ultimate observations and recommendations.

By: Ken Strobel

Order 2005-8-6
OST-1998-3496 - Great Bend, KS
OST-1998-3497 - Hays, KS
OST-1998-3498 - Liberal, KS
OST-1998-3502 - Dodge City, KS
OST-1998-3503 - Garden City, KS

Issued August 9, 2005 | Served August 12, 2005

Order Resoliciting Proposals

We will therefore give the three carriers an opportunity to revisit their proposals and address their shortcomings. We urge the carriers, in revising their proposals, to include options that are responsive to the communities' interest in maintaining their current service levels and patterns. In this regard, the carriers may submit options concerning the Denver portion only, the Kansas City portion only, or both. As we stated in Order 2005-5-10, we expect proposals consisting of service with two-pilot, twin-engine aircraft with at least 15 passenger seats, and offering 12 round trips a week from Dodge City, Garden City, Great Bend and Hays to Kansas City, 12 round trips a week from Dodge City, Garden City and Hays to Denver, and 18 round trips a week from Liberal to Denver. Such services are generally consistent with what the communities currently receive, and fully satisfy their essential air service requirements. We encourage proposals that meet those requirements in an efficient manner.

We resolicit proposals from Air Midwest, Inc., and Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd., and Big Sky Transportation Co. for essential air service at Dodge City, Garden City, Great Bend, Hays and/or Liberal, Kansas, no later than 15 days after the date of service of this order.

By: Karan Bhatia

OST-1998-3496 - Great Bend, KS
OST-1998-3497 - Hays, KS
OST-1998-3498 - Liberal, KS
OST-1998-3502 - Dodge City, KS
OST-1998-3503 - Garden City, KS

August 29, 2005

Big Sky Transportation, Co. d/b/a Big Sky Airlines Proposals to Provide Essential Air Service - Bookmarked

Big Sky Transportation Co. is pleased to provide proposals to provide Essential Air Service to Dodge City, Garden City, Hays and Liberal, Kansas. It is our belief that the proposal being made herein offers the Kansas communities substantially better service than is being provided by the incumbent carrier based on price and schedule.

The first Big Sky proposal, “Proposal One” meets the requirements set forth in the Order Resoliciting Proposals. The service pattern includes 18 weekly flights between Dodge City and Denver, 18 weekly flights between Liberal and Denver, 18 weekly flights between Garden City and Denver, and 12 weekly flights between Hays and Denver. A copy of the proposed schedule is included as Exhibit 1. A summary of the proposed EASYFARES is included as Exhibit 2. Details of the economics are included in Exhibit 3. Exhibit 4 provides details of outbound and inbound connecting opportunities with our code share partners.

The second Big Sky proposal, “Proposal Two” satisfies the Departments request to provide a proposal that meets the minimum service levels. Proposal Two meets these minimum requirements. We have included it to allow the Department the ability to reduce the service level from its current operations. As the Department is aware, this is a very complex case, particularly as a result of the current service patterns in the market, which combines service from Enid and Ponca City, Oklahoma with Dodge City and Liberal, Kansas. The combination of EAS markets has resulted in service levels which appear to be higher than the minimum requirement.

The second proposal includes 12 weekly flights between Dodge City and Denver, 12 weekly flights between Garden City, Hays and Denver and 18 weekly flights between Liberal and Denver. A copy of the proposed schedule is included as Exhibit 5. A summary of the proposed EASYFARES is included as Exhibit 6. Details of the economics are included in Exhibit 7. Exhibit 8 provides details of outbound and inbound connecting opportunities with our code share partners.

By: Big Sky Air, Fred deLeeuw, 406-247-3912, fred.deleeuw@bigskyair.com

August 29, 2005

Great Lakes Aviations, Ltd. Proposals to Provide Essential Air Service - Bookmarked

Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. hereby submits updated proposals per the requirements of Order 2005-8-6 for the provision of Essential Air Service at Dodge City, Garden City, Great Bend, Hays and Liberal, Kansas for the Department of Transportation’s consideration.

Great Lakes in its June 23,2005 bid submission had provided a large number of options due to the company not knowing which Federal budget and set of eligibility rules would be in effect during the term of this rate selection. That bid was essentially hedged assuming that the Presidents proposed budget ($50 million) and his proposed eligibility rules were implemented.

It is important to recognize the increases in our current bid compared to the bid DOT awarded Great Lakes in 2003 are generated by an increase in the cost of fuel from $950,000 to $1,788,000 annually. Fuel costs account for just over $2,000,000 of the increase in subsidy requirement should DOT reselect Great Lakes’ current pattern of service.

In addition, beginning in late February of this year the company through several ticket price revisions over the course of the summer has effectively passed though a significant portion of the fuel cost increases. The new proposals have increased fares that reflect the higher rate of fuel cost recovery the Company has been able to recently achieve.

With our attempt to simplify our service proposal options we hope to help to provide the communities with a clearer set of options to work from, especially the status quo scheduling package, we are anticipating that inevitably more questions will need to be answered. To that end we are most anxious to make ourselves available to provide explanations.

By: Great Lakes, Nick Wangler, 307-432-7000, nwangler@greatlakesav.com

August 29, 2005

Mesa Air Group d/b/a Air Midwest Proposals to Provide Essential Air Service - Bookmarked

Mesa Air Group, Inc d/b/a Air Midwest is pleased to submit seven proposals to provide Essential Air Service at Dodge City, Garden City, Great Bend, Hays, & Liberal, Kansas. Mesa’s proposed options have varying levels of service to Kansas City and/or Denver.

All operations proposed would utilize our modern fleet of Raytheon/Beechcraft B-1900D airliners. These aircraft offer a very comfortable 19-seat, pressurized cabin with two turboprop engines. Mesa has a long history of offering Essential Air Service throughout the country, from New Mexico to New York. Mesa is the incumbent carrier in four of the communities. We propose that the service will continue to be served as US Airways Express, also with a Midwest Airlines codeshare, allowing for convenient and cost-effective service to not only Kansas City, but to the entire country. We are in talks with America West to extend our current codeshare relationship to the service to Denver, and although we do not have a deal signed, we fully expect to have the codeshare in place if we were awarded service to Denver.

By: Mesa Air Group, Mickey Bowman

OST-1998-3496 - Great Bend, KS
OST-1998-3497 - Hays, KS
OST-1998-3498 - Liberal, KS
OST-1998-3502 - Dodge City, KS
OST-1998-3503 - Garden City, KS

October 3, 2005

City of Dodge City, Kansas in Support of Great Lakes Aviation and Mesa/Air Midwest

Using the above factors as a matrix for our evaluation of the various options as submitted, the western Kansas communities unanimously submit the following recommendations:

Denver service for Dodge City, Garden City, Liberal and Hays be provided by Great Lakes utilizing options 2,3 and 9 at a subsidy cost of $3,796,554.00.

Kansas City service for Garden City, Dodge City, Hays and Great Bend be provided by Mesa/Air Midwest utilizing option 1 at a subsidy cost of $2,487,781.00.

With regard to both Great Lakes and MesafAir Midwest, we encourage and anticipate an increased marketing effort in all of the western Kansas communities, as well as proactive and realistic fare reductions where possible. The western Kansas comtnunities reiterate our continued desire to improve the lines of communication and look forward to close working relationships with both carriers to further develop quality air services for the region.

By: Dodge City, Ken Strobel

Order 2005-10-20
OST-1998-3496 - Great Bend, KS
OST-1998-3497 - Hays, KS
OST-1998-3498 - Liberal, KS
OST-1998-3502 - Dodge City, KS
OST-1998-3503 - Garden City, KS

Issued and Served October 20, 2005

Order Establishing Carriers and Establishing New Subsidy Rates

By this order, the Department is reselecting Air Midwest, Inc., d/b/a US Airways Express, and Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd., to provide essential air service at the five western Kansas communities listed above for the two-year period from October 1, 2005, at subsidy rates totaling $6,284,334 annually.

By: Michael Reynolds

Order 2007-4-13
OST-1998-3496 - Great Bend, KS
OST-1998-3497 - Hays, KS
OST-1998-3498 - Liberal, KS
OST-1998-3502 - Dodge City, KS
OST-1998-3503 - Garden City, KS

Issued April 13, 2007 | Served April 18, 2007

Order Requesting Proposals

By this order, the Department is requesting proposals from carriers interested in providing essential air service at the five western Kansas communities listed above for the two-year period beginning October 1, 2007, with or without subsidy.

With specific respect to the Kansas markets at issue here, we expect proposals consisting of service with two-pilot, twin-engine aircraft with at least 15 passenger seats, and offering 12 round trips a week from Dodge City, Garden City and Hays to Denver, 18 round trips a week from Liberal to Denver, as well as 12 round trips a week from Dodge City, Garden City, Great Bend and Hays to Kansas City. Such service is generally consistent with what the communities currently receive, and fully satisfies their essential air service requirements. We encourage proposals that meet those requirements in an efficient manner. Carriers are also welcome to propose more than one service option, if they choose; they need not limit themselves to those requirements if they envision other, potentially more attractive service possibilities -- different hubs, for example -- with subsidy requirements that remain competitive.

By: Todd Homan

OST-1998-3496 - Great Bend, KS
OST-1998-3497 - Hays, KS
OST-1998-3498 - Liberal, KS
OST-1998-3502 - Dodge City, KS
OST-1998-3503 - Garden City, KS

May 18, 2007

Proposals of Air Midwest

Mesa Air Group, Inc. d/b/a Air Midwest cordially submits a proposal to provide Essential Air Service from Dodge City, Garden City, Great Bend and Hays, Kansas to Kansas City, Missouri. Mesa proposes to submit a single option consisting of flights operating on a round robin basis of Kansas City-Dodge City-Garden City-Kansas City and Kansas City-Great Bend-Hays-Kansas City. All flights will be operated with a pressurized, turboprop, Beech 1900D aircraft with 19 seats. It is our intent to continue to operate these flights under both a US Airways codeshare as US Airways Express and a Midwest Airlines codeshare as Midwest Connection.

Mesa Air Group Inc. d/b/a Air Midwest has been a long term service provider on these routes. We have a good understanding of these markets and believe our offer of safe, reliable service with a concerted marketing focus will continue to stimulate traffic growth. Illustrated below you will find our proposed frequencies with subsidy request.

Garden City-Dodge City-Kansas City	Two Roundtrips	$ 2,949,959
Hays-Great Bend-Kansas City	Two Roundtrips

By: Mesa, Mickey Bowman

May 18, 2007

Proposals of Great Lakes Aviation

This document contains the response of Great Lakes Aviation to Order 2007-4-13 for the provision of EAS at Dodge City, Garden City, Great Bend, Hays and Liberal, KS.

Proposal Part	Service Point(s)	Hub(s) Served	Round Trips	Equipment	Subsidy Requirement
1	HYS	Denver	Status Quo	1900D	$1,007,719
2	DDC-GCK-LBL	Denver	Status Quo	1900D	$3,247,770
3	DDC-GCK-HYS-GBD	Kansas City	Status Quo (Mesa Schedule)	1900D	$2,997,740
4	DDC-GCK-HYS-GBD	Dallas/Ft. Worth	2	1900D	$2,979,786

By: Great Lakes, Michael Matthews, 307-432-7000

May 21, 2007

Requests for Community Comments of:

• Mayor of City of Dodge City
• Mayor of City of Garden City
• Mayor of City of Great Bend
• Mayor of City of Hays
• Mayor of City of Liberal

OST-1998-3496 - Great Bend, KS
OST-1998-3497 - Hays, KS
OST-1998-3498 - Liberal, KS
OST-1998-3502 - Dodge City, KS
OST-1998-3503 - Garden City, KS

August 1, 2007

Comments of City of Dodge City

As you are aware, for several years, the communities of Garden City, Dodge City and Liberal have expressed an interest in exploring the possibility of our eastbound service being provided by way of Dallas, as opposed to Kansas City. In that regard, several months ago the three communities commissioned a study of the current air service program, which included various potential options for enhancing existing service. Based on the results of that study, as supplemented by locally conducted surveys within the communities, it would appear that service to a Dallas hub could provide a more beneficial and accommodating service pattern for Garden City and Dodge City, than currently exists through Kansas City. Although Liberal continues to maintain an interest in Dallas service, none of the current carrier proposals would involve such service for that community.

Even though Dodge City and Garden City believe a carrier change for the Kansas City service is justified, and called for in light of the potential market demand service benefits, we make that recommendation with some reservation. First, we share to some extent the Hays concern regarding the fare situation, and would anticipate and encourage Great Lakes to work closely with all the communities to provide the most appealing fare program possible. Second, our recommended carrier change was difficult given the longstanding relationship we have had with Air Midwest over the past 35 years. Our recommended change should not be viewed as evidence of any dissatisfaction with the past or current Air Midwest management or staff personnel, who have consistently provided exceptional service for our respective communities.

Counsel: City Attorney, Ken Strobel

Order 2007-8-5
OST-1998-3496 - Great Bend, KS
OST-1998-3497 - Hays, KS
OST-1998-3498 - Liberal, KS
OST-1998-3502 - Dodge City, KS
OST-1998-3503 - Garden City, KS

Issued August 6, 2007 | Served August 9, 2007

Order Selecting Carrier and Establishing New Subsidy Rates

By this order, the Department is selecting Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd., to provide essential air service at the five western Kansas communities listed above for the two-year period beginning October 1, 2007, at subsidy rates totaling $7,253,229 annually.

After a thorough review of the carriers’ proposals, their recent service histories, and the communities’ comments, we have decided to select Great Lakes’ Options 1 and 2 to Denver plus Great Lakes’ Option 3 to Kansas City. Our decision is consistent with the communities’ general preferences, the rates are reasonable for the services at issue, and Great Lakes’ performance continues to be satisfactory.

The decision in this case is straightforward. First, Great Lakes submitted the only proposal for the routes to Denver, and the communities endorse it. Second, there are just minor subsidy differences among the three choices for the other routes (Air Midwest to Kansas City at $2,949,959 annually, Great Lakes’ Option 3 to Kansas City at $2,997,740 annually, or Great Lakes’ Option 4 to Dallas/Ft. Worth at $2,979,786 annually), so we will defer to the communities. They are not unanimous in their preference, but they lean toward Great Lakes’ Option 3. We will therefore select it.

In addition, Dodge City and Garden City ask that we authorize a potential alternate service pattern to Dallas/Ft. Worth in lieu of Kansas City, and Great Lakes has indicated an interest in operating such service. We will authorize the alternate service pattern, provided that such service will require no more subsidy than we are here authorizing for Great Lakes’ service to Kansas City, and provided that the affected communities continue to support the change in hub if Great Lakes is later in a position to implement it.

By: Michael Reynolds

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