Order 02-3-19

Order 02-3-19

Air Midwest, Inc.

Order 02-03-19 OST-02-11378	Issued March 20, 2002 Served March 25, 2002	Order Prohibiting Suspension of Service and Requesting Proposals	90 Day Notice To Terminate Scheduled Air Service; Staunton, Virginia- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
		Attachments: Map, Historical O&D
		Service List

Staunton's essential air service guarantee, as defined by Order 94-5-7, May 6, 1994, requires at least two nonstop round trips each weekday and weekend to Washington providing at least 66 seats in each direction. Although Pittsburgh is not Staunton's designated hub, the Department allowed Atlantic Coast Airlines to suspend its service as of December 12, 2001, concluding that Air Midwest's service to Pittsburgh would sufficiently meet Staunton's continuing need for a link to the national air transportation system. Moreover, the Department noted that as a code-share partner of US Airways, Inc., the major carrier at Pittsburgh, Air Midwest is able to offer Staunton travelers on-line connecting service throughout US Airways' system. In fact, the Department previously relied on service to Pittsburgh to meet Staunton's essential air service requirements for nearly four years, until ACA began service to Dulles in April 2000.

In calendar year 2000, Staunton generated a total of 40,684 O&D passengers, an average of 65.0 enplanements per day. This represents a significant increase over 1999, when there were 31,734 O&D passengers, or an average of 50.7 enplanements per day.

We request that any carriers interested in providing essential air service at Staunton file proposals within 20 days of the date of service date of this order. We ask that carriers submit proposals for three nonstop round trips a day, six days a week, to Washington or Pittsburgh, with 15-seat or larger, pressurized aircraft. We will also entertain proposals to serve other hubs that provide access to the national air transportation system in order to give the Department and the communities 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.

By: Read Van de Water