Essential Air Service at West Yellowstone, Montana

Order 04-02-23
OST-03-14626

Issued February 24, 2004 | Served February 27, 2004

Order Selecting Carrier and Setting Final Subsidy Rate

After careful consideration of this matter, including the community comments, we have decided to select Sky West to continue to provide essential air service at West Yellowstone for an additional two years. As set forth in Appendix B, service is to be provided with Embraer‑120, 30‑seat aircraft, at an annual subsidy of $418,488.

Sky West is the only applicant in the case and has been providing reliable unsubsidized service in the West Yellowstone‑Salt Lake City market for a number of years with the Embraer‑120 aircraft. The service we are selecting here is a continuation of that same service for a two‑year period with subsidy. The carrier is offering service as a Delta Connection code‑share carrier to Salt Lake City, a large hub destination that offers excellent connection to the nation's air transportation system, and the community remains satisfied with SkyWest's service. Finally, we find the subsidy reasonable for the service level to be provided. Based on all of the above, we will select Sky West to provide essential air service at West Yellowstone at the service and subsidy levels described above.

By: Karan Bhatia