Order 02-4-25

Order 02-4-25

Essential Air Service at Beckley and Bluefield/Princeton, West Virginia

Order 02-4-25 OST-97-2761	Issued April 30, 2002 Served May 1, 2002	Order Tentatively Reselecting Carrier and Establishing Subsidy Rate	Essential Air Service at Beckley and Bluefield/Princeton, West Virginia
		Attachment: Map, EAS Calculation
		Service List

After a thorough review of Colgan's proposal and its recent service history, we have tentatively decided to select Colgan's Option B for its service at Beckley and Bluefield/Princeton for the two-year period beginning August 1, 2002. The rate appears reasonable for the service to be provided, and Colgan's performance continues to be satisfactory. When we last selected Colgan to serve Beckley and Bluefield/Princeton for the two-year period beginning August 1, 2000, we expressed concern that traffic at the communities no longer justified four round trips a day. As we noted at the time, the communities' traffic has declined substantially since the early 1990s, when each of them generated more than 30 enplanements a day. Traffic has shown little improvement since we last reviewed the communities' requirements. During the 12-month period ended September 30, 2001, Beckley averaged just 7.2 enplanements a day and Bluefield/Princeton 9.0 enplanements a day -- a total of just 16 passengers for 76 seats.⁵ Under the circumstances, we have concluded that three round trips a day will more efficiently meet the communities' current needs.

As usual, we will allow interested parties 20 days from the date of this order to object to our decision or to file competing proposals. If no timely objections or competing proposals are filed, this order will automatically become final. We expect persons objecting to our tentative decision to support their objections with relevant and material facts. We will not entertain general, vague or unsupported objections.

By: Read Van de Water