Order 2002-2-15 - EAS at Northwest Alabama Regional Airport

Order 2002-2-15 - EAS at Northwest Alabama Regional Airport - Extending Service Obligation

Express I, Inc. d/b/a Northwest Airlink

Order 2002-2-15
OST-2000-7856

Issued February 20, 2002
Served February 25, 2002

Order Extending Service Obligation

Terminate Air Service at Northwest Alabama Regional Airport

On August 24, 2000, Express Airlines I, Inc., d/b/a Northwest Airlink filed a 90-day notice of its intent to suspend its subsidy-free service at Owensboro, KY, Muscle Shoals, AL, and Jackson, TN, effective November 22, 2000. By Order 2000-10-3, October 2, 2000, the Department prohibited Northwest Airlink from suspending service at the communities for an initial 30-day period, through December 22, 2000, and stated that we would issue subsequent 30-day hold-in orders until we could secure replacement service. We issued

Order 2001-3-21, selecting Corporate Airlines to provide service at Jackson and Owensboro. That service began on May 1, 2001. At Muscle Shoals, we have extended Northwest Airlink's service obligation for additional 30-day periods, the latest through February 21, 2002, by Order 2002-1-1.

Corporate has submitted a proposal to replace Northwest Airlink at Muscle Shoals. However, since this case will not be completed before the end of the current hold-in period, and as required by 49 U.S.C. 41734, we must continue to hold Northwest Airlink in at Muscle Shoals for an additional 30-day period.

By: Randall Bennett