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OST-1998-4706

Mesa Airlines Inc. d/b/a America West Express

Mesa Airlines, Inc. ("Mesa") hereby notifies the Department that it intends to suspend all air service at Gallup, New Mexico in 90 days from the date of filing of this notice.

By:  Steven Markhoff, Mesa Air Group, Inc., 602.685.4000

Mesa Airlines, Inc., d/b/a America West Express

Order 99-2-16, soliciting proposals from air carriers interested in providing essential air service at Gallup, New Mexico. Also, requires Mesa Airlines, Inc., d/b/a America West Express (Mesa) to continue serving Gallup for a 30-day period, through March 5, 1999, or until replacement service is secured, whichever occurs first.

By:  Charles Hunnicutt

Essential Air Service at Gallup, New Mexico

Extends Mesa's service obligations for 30 days and resolicits proposals from carriers interested in serving Gallup.

By:  John Coleman

Mesa Airlines, Inc., d/b/a America West Express

Order 99-3-25, extends Mesa' service obligation at Gallup for another 30 days, through May 5, 1999, and resoliciting Proposals from carriers interested in serving Galup. This order will be effective immediately, although petitions for review may be filed by April 5, 1999.

By:  John Coleman

Gallup, New Mexico

By:  John Coleman

Gallup, New Mexico

By:  John Coleman

Mesa Airlines, Inc. d/b/a America West Express

Extends service obligation for another 30 days, through August 5, 1999

By:  John Coleman

Mesa Airlines, Inc.

By:  John Coleman

Mesa Airlines, Inc., d/b/a America West Express

By: John V. Coleman

Mesa Airlines, Inc., d/b/a America West Express

Order 99-10-3 is extending Mesa's service obligation at Gallup for another 30 days, through November 8, 1999 Petitions due October 18, 1999. 

By:  Bradley Mims

Mesa Airlines, Inc., d/b/a America West Express

By:  John Coleman

Mesa Airlines, Inc., d/b/a America West Express 

By:  John Coleman

Mesa Airlines, Inc. d/b/a America West Express / EAS at Gallup, NM

By:  Bradley Mims

Mesa Airlines, Inc., d/b/a America West Express 

By:  Randall Bennett

Mesa Airlines, Inc., d/b/a America West Express 

By:  Randall D. Bennett

Mesa Airlines, Inc., d/b/a America West Express 

By:  Randall D. Bennett

Mesa Airlines, Inc., d/b/a America West Express

Order 2000-5-4 is extending Mesa' service obligation at Gallup for another 30 days, through June 7, 2000.

Mesa Airlines, Inc., d/b/a America West Express 

By:  Randall D. Bennett

Mesa Airlines, Inc., d/b/a America West Express 

By: Bradley Mims

Mesa Airlines, Inc., d/b/a America West Express 

By this order we are requesting proposals from carriers interested in providing essential air service at Gallup, New Mexico. By Order 2000-6-8, issued June 9, 2000, the Department selected Mesa Airlines, Inc., (Mesa), to provide essential air service at Gallup, New Mexico. Subsidy was set at an annual rate of $691,080 for the period February 3, 1999, through October 31, 2001, for eighteen nonstop round trips each week to either Phoenix or Albuquerque, with 19-seat Beech 1900-D aircraft. Mesa's two-year contract will expire on October 31, 2001, and our normal procedure at this point would be to negotiate a new rate with Mesa and issue a "showcause" order tentatively selecting the carrier for a new two-year rate term. Other carriers would have the opportunity to object to our tentative selection and to file competing proposals. The Department would then process a formal carrier selection case.

We request that any carriers interested in providing essential air service at Gallup file their proposals within 20 days of the service date of this order. We ask that carriers submit proposals for three nonstop or one-stop round trips per day, six days per week, to Phoenix or Albuquerque, with 15-19 seat aircraft, or two round trips a day with larger aircraft. We will also entertain proposals to other hubs that provide access to the national air transportation system in order to give the Department and community as broad an-array of proposals as possible from which to choose. Of course, as always, we will formally solicit the community's views on any service options we receive before making a long-term carrier selection decision. In order to assist carriers in making their traffic and revenue forecasts, we have included historical traffic data in Appendix B. We note that Mesa's last contract allowed the carrier to serve Phoenix or Albuquerque, and on November 1, 1999, Mesa switched Gallup's service hub from Phoenix to Albuquerque.

By:  Susan McDermott

Essential Air Service at Brownwood, Texas; El Dorado/Camden, Jonesboro, Harrison, and Hot Springs, Arkansas, Enid and Ponca City, Oklahoma; Oil City/Franklin, Pennsylvania; Gallup, New Mexico; North Platte, Nebraska

By:  Randall Bennett

Mesa Airlines, Inc., d/b/a America West Express 

On behalf of the City Council of the City of Gallup, I hereby request the following: Mesa Airlines be retained under the existing EAS authorization extension until the City Council, in special session, can meet with representative of the four interested carriers. Invitations to them will be sent immediately. We should be able to arrange these discussions in the next few weeks. It is my understanding that a new, interim subsidy rate has already been established with Mesa so this proposed extension should not be a hardship for Mesa. Following these discussions, the City of Gallup can better respond to your February 22,2002 letter. The City of Gallup stresses that the invariable response from both the business community and the discretionary travelers of Gallup and the surrounding region demonstrates both a desire and need for Phoenix service.

By:  City of Gallup, John Pena

Mesa Airlines, Inc., d/b/a America West Express 

On April 16, 2002, AEX and the other applicants for this service appeared before the Gallup City Council to present and support our proposals for service. Two of the applicants have applied for service between Gallup, NM and Phoenix, AZ. Two of the applicants, seemingly, ignored the instructions and proposed service between Gallup, NM and Albuquerque, NM. The Gallup City Council has written to your department requesting that the docket be reopened so that some carriers could apply for service between Gallup, NM and Phoenix, AZ.

By:  AEX Air, Gale Lawrence Webb Ovs

As stated in my original letter to you, Gallup's proven demand is for Phoenix service. After Mesa moved our hub from Phoenix to Albuquerque, passenger traffic has been less that one tenth of the Phoenix traffic. Our business community, the medical and business needs of the adjacent Navajo Nation and Zuni Nation and the discretionary traveler are oriented toward Phoenix. Increasing our enplanemerits will not only lower the $200 per head threshold for continuing EAS service to Gallup but will also move us toward the enplanement level at which meaningful AIP (Airport Improvement Program) funds are made available for badly needed safety and security construction projects. Mesa and Rio Grande Air both expressed their willingness and interest in providing Phoenix service even though their proposals to you were for Albuquerque service.

By:  City of Gallup, John Pena

Mesa Airlines, Inc., d/b/a America West Express

If the docket were reopened, it would give Mesa and Rio Grand and unfair bidding position. Arizona Express negotiated rate agreements in confidence and without knowledge of our competitor's numbers. By reopening the docket, Mesa and Rio Grand would have knowledge of our confidential rate agreements while preparing their new proposals. This arms them with confidential knowledge and undermines the competitive nature of the bidding process. This is one of the reasons that we request the Docket be kept closed.

It is our request that you do not reopen the docket for the reasons outlined above. In addition to the reasons above, Arizona Express has been negotiating and working for this service for and extended amount of time. There are carriers who are waiting, at great expense, for the Departments decision on Gallup service. Substantial delays and expenses to the carriers would result by allowing the Docket to be reopened. Please accept our request to not reopen the docket, and preserve the spirit of closed bidding.

By:  Arizona Express, Daniel Hall

Mesa Airlines, Inc., d/b/a America West Express 

On September 17, 2001, Mesaba filed 90-day notices of its intent to suspend its subsidy-free service at Thief River Falls and Watertown effective January 1, 2002. Subsequently, on September 21, 2001, Mesaba filed 90-day notices to suspend service at Fort Dodge and Mason City, also effective January 1, 2002. By Order 2001-12-26, December 31, 2001, the Department prohibited Mesaba from suspending either service beyond the end of its 90-day notice period, through January 31, 2002, and requested proposals, with subsidy if necessary, from carvers interested in providing replacement service. As required by 49 U.S.C. 41734, we have extended Mesaba's service obligation for additional 30-day periods, the latest through June 3, 2002, by Order 2002-4-22.

Although we have received proposals from Corporate Airlines, Great Lakes Aviation and Mesaba, these cases will not be completed before the end of the current 30-day hold-in period. Thus, in accordance with 49 U.S.C. 41734(c), we will extend Mesaba's service obligation at the four communities listed above for an additional 30 days, or until replacement service actually begins, whichever occurs first.

By:  City of Gallup, John Pena

Mesa Airlines, Inc., d/b/a America West Express 

By this order, the Department is tentatively terminating the subsidy eligibility of Gallup, New Mexico, under the essential air service (EAS) program because the subsidy per passenger exceeds the $200 per passenger statutory ceiling and the community is less than 210 highway miles from the medium hub airport at Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The Department is prohibited from subsidizing service at communities where subsidy amounts to more than $200 per passenger, unless they are more than 210 miles from the nearest large or medium hub. Because Gallup's subsidy per passenger exceeds the statutory cap of $200 per passenger, and Albuquerque is well within 210 miles, we find that it is ineligible for continued subsidy support and have tentatively decided to terminate Mesa's subsidy rate for serving the community effective on the 21S^t day following the date of service of this order. Mesa would be free to discontinue service at that time.

By:  Read Van de Water

Essential Air Service at Gallup, New Mexico and Mesa Airlines, Inc.

It does not appear that The Department of Transportation has considered the entire population of the Navajo Nation in its calculations. Gallup Municipal Airport is a regional airport serving the Navajo Nation, Zuni Nation, Hopi Nation and smaller minority users desperately needing medical and economic support from the Phoenix area. The lengthy connection time through Albuquerque to Phoenix is not viable, as historical data shows. We have requested formal action by the Navajo Tribal Council but this action cannot be available in time to meet the D.O.T. twenty (20) day appeal limit.

The D.O.T. show cause order quotes a newspaper article listing subsidy of "about $1,000 for every passenger it (Mesa) flies out of Gallup". The Department of Transportation should be using verifiable data in their determinations and Show Cause Orders, not newspaper articles. The City of Gallup, New Mexico, by and through the Mayor and City Council hereby request that the Show Cause Order concerning Gallup, New Mexico be rescinded until such time as the actual passenger count for Albuquerque, Phoenix and Farmington can be verified using figures provided by Mesa Airlines as distributed in July, 2002; the response form the Navajo Nation can be received and considered as a germane part of the Gallup passenger traffic; The Department of Transportation can show how many other communities of Gallup's size and service area have had subsidy elimination considered for the same reasoning as applied to Gallup.

By:  John Pena, Mayor

Essential Air Service at Gallup, New Mexico and Mesa Airlines, Inc.

Essential air service definitions at Central and Circle require at least three round trips each week to Fairbanks. Small aircraft (10 or fewer seats) may be used and there should be no more than two intermediate stops between Central or Circle and Fairbanks. In recent selection orders, we have authorized a service level of five round trips a week to ensure that seasonal and other fluctuations in each community's traffic would be accommodated. It remains our conclusion that the five-flights-per-week service pattern is necessary to accommodate all of Central and Circle's traffic at reasonal load factors across the critical first flight segment outbound from Fairbanks, given the directional imbalance of mail and freight.

We request that any carriers interested in providing essential air service at Central and Circle, Alaska, file their proposals within 20 days of the service date of this order. Carriers proposing service with aircraft comparable to Warbelow's 5-seat Cessnas should submit proposals for five round trips a week to Fairbanks. Proposals with larger aircraft may contemplate fewer frequencies. In order to assist carriers in making their traffic and revenue forecasts, we have included historical traffic data in Appendix A

By:  US Congress, Honorable Tom Udall

Essential Air Service at Gallup, New Mexico and Mesa Airlines, Inc.

The current Gallup, New Mexico Essential Air Service provider, Mesa Airlines, has indicated an interest in providing Phoenix service for Gallup under the existing certificate until a determination can be made by The Department of Transportation on the existing Request for Proposals. It is our understanding that this determination process may take several months yet. Mesa Airlines has suggested beginning Phoenix service under the existing subsidy with no cost increase to either the community or the EAS program. This community has proven historically that the demand for Phoenix service exists both in the business community and the discretionary traveler community. The Mayor and City Council of Gallup enthusiastically support Mesas' immediate beginning of Phoenix service, understanding that no increase in subsidy will be requested and that this action will have no effect on The Department of Transportation's service case presently being reviewed.

By:  City of Gallup, John Pena

Essential Air Service at Gallup, New Mexico / Mesa Airlines, Inc. d/b/a America West Express

By:  David Ruiz

Essential Air Service at Gallup, New Mexico and Mesa Airlines, Inc. d/b/a America West Express

The Essential Air Service (EAS) program was put into place to guarantee that small communities that were served by certificated air carriers before deregulation maintain a minimal level of scheduled air service. The Department's mandate is to provide the EAS communities with access to the national air transportation system. As a general matter, this is accomplished by subsidizing two to four round trips a day with 19-seat aircraft to a major hub airport". Most notably, the DOT has embarked on a pattern of community eliminations, using a very narrow and strict interpretation of the rules that we find most disturbing. The City of Gallup is only the latest victim in what appears to be a wholesale abandonment of any efforts to maintain minimal levels of scheduled air service in small and rural communities.

RAP argues that the DOT has not completed a thorough analysis of the "enplanement projections" by the carrier, or the community. It is clear that if a thorough analysis had taken place, compensating for other factors not mentioned in the Order to Show Cause, the DOT could not have reasonably reached this same result to eliminate the EAS subsidy at Gallup, NM. There are clearly other alternatives that should have been evaluated more closely with the community and the interested carriers. RAP requests that the DOT take a "proactive" approach toward continuing the subsidy at Gallup and reexamine both the numbers and the rationale used to make their determination to eliminate subsidized service at Gallup, NM.

By:  Regional Aviation Partners, Maurice Parker

Essential Air Service at Gallup, New Mexico

As with many important services the rest of the country takes for granted, convenient access to air transportation is challenging since reservation residents often live in remote areas far from major airports and in many cases, major highways. Mesa Airlines is the only reliable method of air transportation for hundreds of miles. I hesitate to contemplate the scenarios created if this service is discontinued due to the many environmental challenges we are experiencing.

As you. are aware, the Navajo Nation and the southwest region are experiencing a one hundred year drought, exacerbated by a series of wildfires. The Navajo Nation's fire and drought situation increases daily, in a region that in normal conditions receives too little rainfall. The climatic and environmental conditions continue to deteriorate, threatening the lives of humans, domesticated livestock and wildlife. Convenient air service is essential in our efforts to receive federal and state assistance as well as to transport emergency personnel. I respectfully request that the Department of Transportation reconsider this decision. The loss of air service to this part of the county would severely hinder our ability to deal with our current emergency situations and impede the normal governmental and commercial endeavors that require convenient air transport to and from these remote regions.

By:  The Navajo Nation, Kelsey Begaye

Essential Air Service at Gallup, New Mexico

After carefully considering the additional Gallup airport data and the objections we have received from and on behalf of the Gallup community, the Navajo Nation, and RAP, we have decided to affirm our tentative decision to terminate Gallup’s subsidy eligibility.  The community has essentially made two arguments:  first, the passenger data that the Department relied on are not accurate and, second, the Department did not fully assess the breadth of the negative consequences of the community’s losing air service.

Thus, there is no alternative under which we could continue to secure air service for Gallup at a subsidy-per-passenger even close to the $200 ceiling.  The Department is prohibited from subsidizing service at communities where subsidy amounts to more than $200 per passenger, unless they are more than 210 miles from the nearest large or medium hub.  Moreover, the Department does not have the discretion to waive the objective standards set by Congress for continued EAS program eligibility.

By:  Randall Bennett

Essential Air Service at Gallup, New Mexico

Ex Parte Letter to the Honorable Pete V. Domenici from Secretary Norman Y. Mineta re Gallup Subsidy Eligibility.

By: Norman Mineta

Essential Air Service at Gallup, New Mexico

Memorandum from Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs submitting letter re: Meeting regarding EAS Subsidy at Gallup, New Mexico.

By: Read Van de Water

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