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OST-2005-20430 - EAS at Hagerstown, MD - Termination of Service
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Essential Air Service at Hagerstown, Maryland OST-2005-20430 - EAS at Hagerstown, MD February 16, 2005 Re: Notice of Air Midwest to Terminate Essential Air Service at Hagerstown, MD Though Air Midwest would prefer to continue providing scheduled air service in Hagerstown, Maryland the substantial costs resulting from increased federal regulations for regional carriers makes it impossible to continue without Essential Air Service subsidy. Additionally, the buildup of air service at Dulles International Airport by low cost carriers has served to further divert traffic away from Hagerstown. Since beginning service in Hagerstown, Air Midwest has seen its traffic base steadily erode to the point that it has become a tremendous financial burden. The absence of this subsidy requires Air Midwest to advise the Department that scheduled air service will be discontinued. At present, Air Midwest is the sole provider of certificated scheduled air service at Hagerstown, Maryland. Air Midwest is hereby providing public notice of its intent to terminate scheduled air service and hereby requests, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 41734 and 14 C.F.R. Part 323, a waiver of the notice requirement to the extent necessary to terminate service by March 6, 2005. Any objections to this Notice to Terminate Service must be filed within twenty (20) days from the date of this filing, in accordance with 14 C.F.R. §323.10. By: Mickey Bowman
Essential Air Service at Hagerstown, Maryland Order 2005-4-17 Issued April 15, 2005 | Served April 20, 2005 Order Reinstating Subsidy Eligibility and Requesting Proposals In our earlier findings that Hagerstown is less than 70 driving miles from Dulles, we relied on a route that essentially goes straight south from Hagerstown to the Dulles Airport. Governor Ehrlich has submitted certifications that the most commonly used route is substantially different. The Governor states that most passengers drive east on 1‑70 to 1‑270 to 1‑495, the Capital Beltway, and around the Beltway to the Dulles Access Road. We here affirm that this route is indeed longer than 70 miles. We expect proposals consisting of service with two-pilot, twin-engine aircraft with at least 15 passenger seats, and offering two round trips a day, six days a week to Pittsburgh or some other suitable hub. However, carriers may propose to provide service with more frequencies using smaller aircraft. Carriers are also welcome to propose more than one service option, if they choose; they need not limit themselves to those requirements if they envision other, potentially more attractive service possibilities with subsidy requests that remain competitive. For the year ended December 30, 2003, Hagerstown generated a total of 30,888 O&D passengers, an average of 49.3 enplanements per day. This represents a significant decrease from the prior year when there were 48,399 O&D passengers, or an average of 77.3 enplanements per day. By: Karan Bhatia May 27, 2005 Proposal of Air Midwest to Provide Essential Air Service Mesa Air Group, Inc d/b/a Air Midwest (herein Mesa) is pleased to submit two proposals to provide Essential Air Service at Hagerstown, Maryland. Mesa's proposed options would continue its current service to Pittsburgh.
We believe that continuing to subsidize service at three roundtrips is in the best interest of the DOT, the community and Mesa. The main reason for the precipitous drop in passengers over the past year has been a never ending uncertainty over the local regional carrier. Four different US Airways Express carriers have served Hagerstown in the past two years, and during each transition, it has led to the loss of more and more passengers. Also with regards to Hagerstown, we found that having three roundtrips stimulated more passengers per flight than having just the two roundtrips. Hopefully we can continue to work with the community to increase passengers, and stabilize the air carrier situation for at least the next two years. By: Air Midwest, Mickey Bowman
June 1, 2005 Proposal of Champlain Enterprises Champlain Enterprises Inc. would like to submit this letter of support for the attached proposal for air service between Hagerstown, MD and Cleveland, OH. Our proposed service pattern is to offer two non‑stop round trips to CLE each weekday and two non‑stop round trips over each weekend. The proposed annual subsidy for all this service is $1,488,649. By: Champlain, Joel Raymond Letter Soliciting Comments Regarding Service Mesa submitted two service options: Option I proposes to provide two round trips a day at an annual subsidy rate of $499,909; Option 2 proposes to provide three round trips a day at an annual subsidy rate of $649,929. Under both options, service would be provided nonstop to Pittsburgh, using 19-seat RaytheonlBeechcraft B-1900D aircraft and would be operated as US Airways Express. CommutAir proposes to provide two nonstop round trips each weekday and two nonstop round trips over each weekend between Hagerstown and Cleveland at an annual subsidy rate of $1,488,649. Although CommutAir did not specify its proposed aircraft type or make any mention of code-sharing, we note that it operates only as Continental Express, with 19-seat Beech 1900 aircraft. In addition to reviewing the brief summary provided here, I would also encourage you to review the full proposals as submitted by the carriers. My purpose in writing at this time is to request any final comments you might have on the carriers' service and subsidy proposals before we submit a recommendation on the carrier selection issue to the Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs. By: Dennis DeVany June 21, 2005 Re: Hagerstown Regional Airport Comments on Proposals After reviewing the two proposals received by your office, we would like to offer our ranking of the submissions: Our first preference is for Mesa Airlines' option 2 which proposes three roundtrips a day to Pittsburgh at an annual subsidy of $649,929. We feel strongly that three trips a day are critical in order to re‑attract and hold onto the business traveler at HGR. Next we support CommutAir's proposal to provide two round trips per week and two round trips per weekend to Cleveland at an annual subsidy rate of $1,488,649. Certainly there are costs here that we think can be negotiated, particularly the station set up costs, to make the proposal more cost effective. The hub at CLE offers HGR terrific connecting opportunities and we would be happy to have this service. Finally, we feel that the last choice is Mesa's proposal for two flights a day to PIT at an annual subsidy rate of $499,909. By: Carolyn Motz Essential Air Service at Hagerstown, Maryland Order 2005-7-7 Issued July 8, 2005 | Served July 13, 2005 Order Extending Service Obligation Although we have received proposals, this case will not be completed before the end of the current hold‑in period. Therefore, in accordance with 49 U.S.C. 41734(c), we will extend Air Midwest's service obligation at Hagerstown for an additional 30 days, or until suitable replacement service actually begins, whichever occurs first. By: Randall Bennett Essential Air Service at Hagerstown, Maryland Order 2005-7-11 Issued July 12, 2005 | Served July 15, 2005 Order Extending Service Obligation | Word Although we have received proposals, this case will not be completed before the end of the current hold-in period. Therefore, in accordance with 49 U.S.C. 41734(c), we will extend Air Midwest's service obligation at Hagerstown for an additional 30 days, or until suitable replacement service actually begins, whichever occurs first. By: Karan Bhatia Essential Air Service at Hagerstown, Maryland Order 2005-8-12 Issued August 17, 2005 | Served August 22, 2005 Order Extending Service Obligation We require Air Midwest, Inc., to maintain essential air service at Hagerstown, Maryland, consisting of two nonstop round trips each weekday and weekend to Pittsburgh, for an additional 30-day period through September 16, 2005, or until suitable replacement service actually begins, whichever occurs first. By: Randall Bennett Essential Air Service at Hagerstown, Maryland Order 2005-9-7 Issued September 8, 2005 | Served September 13, 2005 Order Extending Service Obligation Although we have received proposals, this case will not be completed before the end of the current hold-in period. Therefore, in accordance with 49 U.S.C. 41734(c), we will extend Air Midwest's service obligation at Hagerstown for an additional 30 days, or until the carrier selection case is completed, whichever occurs first. We require Air Midwest, Inc., to maintain essential air service at Hagerstown, Maryland, consisting of two nonstop round trips each weekday and weekend to Pittsburgh, for an additional 30-day period through October 17, 2005, or until the carrier selection case is completed, whichever occurs first. By: Randall Bennett Essential Air Service at Hagerstown, Maryland Order 2005-9-10 Issued September 9, 2005 | Served September 14, 2005 Order Selecting Carrier and Establishing Subsidy Rates - Bookmarked After a thorough review of the proposals and community comments, we have decided to select Air Midwest’s three-round-trip-a-day option to Pittsburgh at an annual subsidy rate of $649,929 through September 30, 2007. By: Karan Bhatia October 26, 2005 Thank you for your letter supporting the application of Washington County, Maryland, seeking reinstatement of essential air service at Hagerstown Regional Airport and continuation of scheduled air service at the community. While some time has passed since you wrote of your concerns, I know the Department has recently informed your staff of our efforts to resolve this important issue. You will be pleased to know that on September 9, the Department issued Order 2005-9-10 selecting Air Midwest to provide subsidized essential air service at Hagerstown, consisting of three nonstop round-trips a day to Pittsburgh at an annual subsidy rate of $649,929, through September 2007. By: Norman Mineta
October 21, 2005 Thank you for your letter of March 21 supporting the application of Washington County, Maryland, seeking reinstatement of essential air service at Hagerstown Regional Airport and continuation of scheduled air service for the community. You will be pleased to know that on September 9, the Department issued Order 2005-9-10 selecting Air Midwest to provide subsidized essential air service at Hagerstown, consisting of three nonstop round-trips a day to Pittsburgh at an annual subsidy rate of $649,929, through September 2007. By: Norman Mineta
October 31, 2005 Thank you for your letter of March 1 supporting the application of Washington County, Maryland, seeking reinstatement of essential air service at Hagerstown Regional Airport and continuation of scheduled air service for the community. You will be pleased to know that on September 9, the Department issued Order 2005-9-10 selecting Air Midwest to provide subsidized essential air service at Hagerstown, consisting of three nonstop round-trips a day to Pittsburgh at an annual subsidy rate of $649,929, through September 2007. By: Norman Mineta |
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