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OST-2004-17010 - Shuttle America - Terminate Service at Hagerstown, MD
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Shuttle America Corporation OST-04-17010 - Intent to Terminate Service at Hagerstown, MD January 30, 2004 Notice of Intent to Terminate Service Shuttle America intends to terminate all of its scheduled services atHGR on or about May 1, 2004. Shuttle America currently operates three roundtrip flights per day on weekdays and two roundtrip flights per day on weekends between HGR and Pittsburgh (PIT) using Saab 340 aircraft. 4. Order 83-6-70 defines essential air service at HGR as two daily nonstop roundtrip flights to either Baltimore or Washington, with sufficient capacity to accommodate 40 enplanements each day. No other carrier serves HGR. HGR is within 70 driving miles of Dulles International Airport, a large hub. Accordingly, the Department is prohibited from paying a subsidy for service to HGR, and may not prohibit Shuttle America from terminating service after the end of the 90‑day notice period. Counsel: Shaw Pittman, Robert Cohn, 202-663-8060 OST-04-17010 - Intent to Terminate Service at Hagerstown, MD February 19, 2004 Objection of Hagerstown Regional Airport to Notice of Intent to Terminate Service | Word The Hagerstown Regional Airport respectfully requests that the Department of Transportation prohibit the termination of service by Shuttle America Corporation and require that Shuttle America Corporation continue to provide basic air service pursuant to 49 U.S.C. §41734 until another air carrier is found. It is further requested that the Department make every effort to find another air carrier to provide such service to Hagerstown, by requesting service and subsidy proposals from carriers interested in providing essential air service for compensation in accordance with 49 U.S.C. §41733, and/or by issuing an order establishing an interim or final subsidy rate for Shuttle's continued service after May 1, 2004. By: Carolyn Motz, 240-313-2777, cmotz@washco-md.net OST-04-17010 - Intent to Terminate Service at Hagerstown, MD February 20, 2004 Answer of Shuttle America to Objection of Hagerstown Shuttle America sympathizes with Hagerstown's desire to maintain scheduled airline service. Unfortunately, market circumstances make it impossible for Shuttle America to continue to provide this service. The Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106‑69) precludes the Department from providing subsidy or "holding in" Shuttle America because Hagerstown is located less than 70 miles driving distance from a medium or large hub airport, namely, Washington Dulles International Airport. Hagerstown claims, based on driving directions from an internet website, that the HRG airport is 73.97 miles from Dulles. But, the Department previously conducted its own analysis and determined that Hagerstown is substantially less than 70 miles from Dulles: Using a 1996 Rand McNally software program, we have measured the distance from the center of Hagerstown to the entrance of Dulles International Airport as 57 miles. Counsel: Shaw Pittman, Robert Cohn, 202-663-8060 Shuttle America Corporation d/b/a US Airways Express
Order 04-3-19 Issued March 18, 2004 | Served March 23, 2004 Order Allowing Suspension of Service On January 30, 2004, Shuttle America filed a 90-day notice of its intent to suspend service at Hagerstown effective May 1, 2004. The carrier, the only one providing service at Hagerstown, currently operates four daily nonstop round trips between Hagerstown and Pittsburgh using 34-seat SAAB 340 aircraft. The Civil Aeronautics Board, by Order 83-6-70, issued June 17, 1983, defines Hagerstown's essential air service determination as at least two nonstop round trips a day to either Baltimore or Washington. On February 23, 2004, the Hagerstown Regional Airport filed an Objection to Shuttle America's notice. The airport states that, according to Mapquest.com, the airport is located 73.97 driving miles from Dulles International Airport. The Airport also states that it "...brings $50 million of economic impact to its geographical region annually. When compared with non-commercial airports of equal operations, it is evident that the difference in economic impact is tens of millions of dollars less than Hagerstown annually." The Airport further states that local, State and Federal agencies have spent millions of dollars and countless hours in air service to Hagerstown, and, should Shuttle America be permitted to terminate service without benefit of a replacement carrier to Pittsburgh or a US Airways-type hub, the community's investment and economic impact return would be lost, or, at the least, sorely diminished. Shuttle America takes issue with Hagerstown Airport's claims that the airport is 73.97 miles from Dulles. While sympathizing with the community's desire to maintain scheduled air service, the carrier notes that the Department previously conducted its own analysis and determined that Hagerstown is substantially less than 70 miles from Dulles. Although we have no authority to require Shuttle America to continue to serve Hagerstown after May 1, we note that the community generated a total of 34,844 O&D passengers for the year ended September 30, 2003. With traffic levels close to 100 passengers a day, we would encourage other carriers to examine the feasibility of providing service to the community. By: Karan Bhatia OST-04-17010 - Shuttle Express Ninety-Day Notice to Terminate Service at Hagerstown, MD March 25, 2004 Regional Aviation Partners respectfully petitions the Department to reconsider and vacate Order 2004-3-19 and defer action on the notice of Shuttle America to terminate service at Hagerstown, Maryland until the Department determines whether Hagerstown intends to pursue the review guaranteed by section 409 of the recent Vision 100 legislation' and, if Hagerstown does request such review, until that review is complete. Congress was concerned enough about DOT mileage calculations in EAS matters that it passed section 409 to rectify inequitable applications of discretionary review by the DOT. It is the Department's obligation, notwithstanding the Administration's policy views on EAS subsidies, to implement section 409 fairly. By: RAP, Maurice Parker, 602-685-4454 OST-02-11448 - Chautauqua - Notice of Intent to Terminate Service Hagerstown, MD April 5, 2004 Re: Answer of Shuttle America to Petition for Reconsideration of Regional Aviation Partners Pursuant to 14 C.F.R. 302.14, Shuttle American Corporation hereby answers in opposition to the Petition for Reconsideration submitted by the Regional Aviation Partners contesting (i) the Department's approval of Shuttle America's notice of intent to terminate service at Hagerstown (Order 2004-3-19), and (ii) the Department's prior determination that Hagerstown did not qualify for EAS subsidy because it was located less than 70 highway miles from Dulles International Airport (Order 2002-3-22). There is no merit to RAP's Petition, which should be dismissed. First, as a preliminary matter, Shuttle America notes that US Airways has announced that Allegheny Airlines will begin service between HGR and Pittsburgh on May 2, 2004. Allegheny will provide three flights a day with 37 seat deHavilland Dash 8 aircraft, thereby maintaining uninterrupted service to the community. Thus, the circumstances giving rise to this case have largely been overtaken by events. Second, the Department's determination in Order 2004-3-19 allowing Shuttle America to terminate service, as well as the Department's prior determination in Order 2002-3-22 that Hagerstown was less than 70 miles from Dulles Airport, were entirely correct and fully consistent with existing law, including the recently enacted provisions of Vision 100. Try as it might, RAP's Petition cannot change the fact that Hagerstown is located less than 70 miles from Dulles Airport - and that the law precludes payment of EAS subsidy in such circumstances.
Counsel: Shaw Pittman, Alexander Van der Bellen, 202-663-8060 Essential Air Service at Hagerstown, Maryland Order 04-05-21 Issued May 24, 2004 | Served May 27, 2004 Order Granting Motion for Leave to File and Denying Petition for Reconsideration | Word By this order, the Department is granting the motion of Regional Aviation Partners for leave to file a petition for reconsideration of Order 2004-3-19, issued March 18, 2004, and, upon review, denying RAP’s petition. We note that no changes to Dulles’s hub classification or the highways have occurred that would change our finding in Order 2004-3-19. Dulles is still a large hub airport and the highways remain the same. As noted earlier, the community argues in their objection that, according to Mapquest.com, the airport is located 73.97 driving miles from Dulles, more than the 70 miles that would disqualify it. However, the community erred by computing the driving mileage between the airport and Dulles airport. The point of a mileage standard is clear: how far would people have to drive if there were no air service at their local airport? As a result, our longstanding program practice has been to measure from the center of the EAS community to the entrance of the nearest large or medium hub airport. That measurement, even using Mapquest.com, is clearly less than 70 driving miles. By: Karan Bhatia |
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