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OST-99-5532

Greater Baton Rouge Airport District

OST-99-5532	April 12, 1999	Application  for Exemption Slots and Chicago O'Hare	High Density Rule - Chicago O'Hare	HTML
		Exhibit 1:  Baton Rouge Conveniently Serves a Large Catchment Area
		Exhibit 2:  Baton Rouge's Catchment Area Is Almost Two and One-Half Times Greater than Shreveport's
		Exhibit 3:  Largest ORD Markets without Nonstop or Roundtrip Single-Plane Service
		Service List

American Eagle Airlines, Inc. will terminate its nonstop service between Shreveport, Louisiana and Chicago O'Hare. As a result, the four exemption slots used for that service will be released for reallocation by the Department. American Eagle has advised Greater Baton Rouge Airport District that it would operate nonstop regional jet service, using Stage 3 aircraft, between Baton Rouge and Chicago, if the community can obtain the necessary exemption slots. Baton Rouge contends that it should be awarded the four exemption slots presently being used by American Eagle to operate nonstop service between Chicago and Shreveport, so that the residents of Louisiana may continue to have convenient access to the worldwide air travel network for which Chicago O'Hare is a primary connecting hub.  Delta Air Lines controls 57% of total traffic from Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport. Other major carriers include Continental Express and Northwest Airlines with 18% and 15% of traffic, respectively.

Counsel:  GKMG, Rick Russell, 202-342-5200

Greater Baton Rouge Airport District / Huntsville-Madison County Airport Authority

American Eagle urges favorable consideration of the Baton Rouge application on an expedited basis. Alternatively, American Eagle seeks a direct grant of exemption slots for O'Hare-Baton Rouge service, and is this day filing a parallel application for such an award. If it has access to exemption slots, American Eagle will provide nonstop regional jet service between Baton Rouge and O'Hare for the benefit of Baton Rouge, its service area, and passengers and shippers requiring service not only in the local market, but in scores of beyond markets conveniently served via American's Chicago hub.

Counsel:  American, Carl Nelson, 202-496-5647, carl_nelson@amrcorp.com

OST-99-5532 OST-99-5533	April 27, 1999	Consolidated Answer of Atlantic Coast WordPerfect Scanned Copy	High Density Rule - Chicago O'Hare	HTML
		Attachment: UAL vs. AAL RJ Status Summary

American Eagle has launched an all out assault on the integrity of the authority of the Secretary of Transportation to award slots to small and medium non-hub communities. By forsaking its commitment to the communities of Montgomery, Alabama and Shreveport, Louisiana, and importuning the communities of Eaton Rouge, Louisiana and Huntsville, Alabama to seek the slots previously awarded to Montgomery and Shreveport, American Eagle is cynically seeking to manipulate the processes of the Department to its sole advantage.

Counsel:  Bagileo Silverberg, Robert Silverberg, 202-944-3300

The Greater Baton Rouge Airport District is seeking the award of four exemption slots so that the community may obtain nonstop regional jet service between Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, Louisiana and Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Illinois. As demonstrated in its Application, the Baton Rouge community, and the surrounding communities within its catchment area, both greatly need and want nonstop jet service to and from Chicago. The letters in support provide direct evidence of the importance the Greater Baton Rouge community and the entire state of Louisiana place on obtaining such service.  In this regard, we would like to highlight that in addition to support from United States Senators John B. Breauxand Mary L. Landrieu, Governor M.J. "Mike" Foster, Jr., individual members of the state legislature of Louisiana, and city officials, port and airport authorities, trade and civic associations, businesses and individuals in the Greater Baton Rouge community, the Legislature of Louisiana has adopted House Concurrent Resolution No. 132 urging the Department to approve this application.

Counsel:  GKMG, Rick Russell, 202-342-5200

OST-99-5532 OST-99-5533	April 27, 1999	Consolidated Answer of United Air Lines	High Density Rule - Chicago O'Hare	HTML
		Attachment:  Letter from United to Bradley Mims and Patrick Murphy dated 4/16/99		HTML

Even though United has strongly supported the efforts by eligible new entrant commuter carriers to add United Express service at O'Hare, it has reluctantly been forced to oppose applications such as those filed in these dockets by Baton Rouge and Huntsville where the slot request is filed by the community itself, rather than by an eligible new entrant carrier that is willing to serve the community. As United has already explained in detail in these other dockets, the award of exemption slots directly to communities is unsound as a matter of policy and inconsistent with the terms of the statute.

Counsel:  United and Kirkland Ellis, Bruce Rabinovitz, 202-879-5116

The Community of Shreveport, Louisiana

Application of The Community of Shreveport, LA, requesting the Department withdraw the four O'Hare slots utilized by American Eagle Airlines in the Shreveport/O'Hare market and reallocate slots to the community for a period of 180 days after on of the following dates, whichever is last: when American Eagle terminates its service on June 1, 1999 or when the Department issues an order awarding the four slots to the commnity. The community believes that other carriers are willing to operate the service to O'Hare if those four slots remained with the community. If another carrier agrees to provide the service, Shreveport is prepared to accept the identical conditions on the reallocation of American Eagle's four O'Hare slots as those inspired by the Department's Orders. If the community is unable to find a carrier within a reasonable period of time (180 days) to operate that service or that carrier's operations are not viable, the slots would be returned to the Department.

Counsel:  Ungaretti Harris, Edward Faberman

Greater Baton Rouge Airport District / Huntsville-Madison County Airport Authority

We are not sure why United also chose to revisit the Department's procedural mechanism in Order 98-4-21, April 24, 1998, for awarding exemption slots to American Eagle to serve Duluth, Fayetteville, Montgomery, and Shreveport by linking such an award to American Eagle's EAS slots at Bloomington, Champaign, and La Crosse. If the Department chooses to grant slots to the communities of Huntsville and Baton Rouge, there is no reason for the Department to link them to EAS slots. And if the Department makes an award directly to American Eagle, it can again use the procedural device employed in Order 98-4-21, if such action is deemed necessary. There is of course no reason why such a device is proper for slot awards to Montgomery and Shreveport, but would not be for awards to Huntsville and Baton Rouge.

Counsel:  American, Carl Nelson, 202-496-5647, carl_nelson@amrcorp.com

Baton Rouge hereby responds to the foregoing answers by showing that the award of exemption slots to Baton Rouge is consistent with Department policy, and that its proposed service not only is operationally and financially feasible, but also has a demonstrable traffic demand in excess of 76,000 annual passengers – which is greater than or at least on par with any other small or medium-sized community seeking exemption slots at O’Hare.

Counsel:  GKMG, Rick Russell, 202-342-5200

By:  Richard Tucker, Executive Director

Greater Baton Rouge Airport District

Although ACA does not conceptually oppose the award of exemption slots to any deserving community, it is the duty of the Department to award slot exemptions only to those carriers or communities that will procure maximum public transportation benefits. Orders 98-4-21, 99-3-12. Charleston and Mobile have proven their intrinsic worth and while Baton Rouge may have a need for O'Hare service the need is not so compelling as to overcome the advantages enjoyed by Charleston and Mobile.

Counsel:  Bagileo Silverberg, Robert Silverberg, 202-944-3300

American Eagle Airlines, Inc.
Mobile Airport Authority-Atlantic Coast Airlines
Huntsville-Madison County Airport Authority
Greater Baton Rouge Airport District
Charleston County Aviation Authority-Atlantic Coast Airlines
National Airlines, Inc.

By this order the Department is amending its actions in Orders 98-4-21 and 98-9-24 by reallocating eight of the Chicago O'Hare Airport slot exemptions that were authorized to American Eagle in those orders. Specifically, slot exemptions that were previously designated for American Eagle to provide nonstop regional jet service to Montgomery, AL, and Shreveport, LA, are withdrawn and are redesignated for implementation of nonstop regional jet service between O'Hare and Baton Rouge, LA (two slot exemptions for American Eagle), Huntsville, AL (three slot exemptions for American Eagle) and Mobile, AL (three slot exemptions for Atlantic Coast Airlines). The reallocation of these slot exemptions is conditioned on their being used solely for implementation of service in the designated markets.

By:  Brad Mims

American Eagle Airlines, Inc. Greater Baton Rouge Airport District, The Community of Savannah, GA/Hilton Head, SC

We will grant American Eagle's petition for reconsideration of Order 99-7-17 and, on reconsideration, we will increase its reallocation of O'Hare slot exemptions for service to Baton Rouge from two to four. We noted previously that we accepted American Eagle's marketplace assessment that Baton Rouge will support regional jet service to O'Hare based on historical traffic data for Baton Rouge and other cities within its catchment area.' American Eagle stated in a document filed May 12, 1999, where it discussed its decision to end its Chicago service at Shreveport and Montgomery, that "we fully expect demand to be far stronger at Baton Rouge and Huntsville." American Eagle has implemented its slot exemptions to serve Huntsville, augmenting those exemptions with one additional slot of its own, thus providing the market two daily round trips. With the newly available exemptions occasioned by Great Lakes' aforementioned return of unused slots, and given the fact that only two exemptions could be allocated earlier for this market, we find it in the public interest to authorize two additional exemptions for American Eagle's proposed service between Baton Rouge and O'Hare?

We also will reallocate two more slot exemptions for O'Hare-Savannah/Hilton Head service. The experimental slot exemptions that we awarded for that market in Order 99-3-12 are being implemented by ACA, with impressive results. ACA is operating two daily round trips with the combination of the three experimental slot exemptions plus one slot that it acquired on its own. The Savannah-O'Hare market has responded extremely well with load factors on the nonstop services averaging 73 percent over the first seven months (May through November). ACA informs us that at these traffic levels it is unable to accommodate all who seek to use its nonstop service. ACA and the community have thus made a compelling case that the market will support additional frequencies. Moreover, ACA has had a record of supplementing any slot exemptions though self-help measures to increase the number of frequencies it provides for designated O'Hare markets, which we consider a positive factor in making allocation determinations.

By:  Bradley Mims

Establishment of Slot Exemptions Proceedings 

By:  Bradley Mims

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