Essential Air Service at Cordova, Gustavus, Petersburg, Wrangell and Yakutat, Alaska

Order 2006-1-16
OST-1998-4899

Issued and Served January 20, 2006

Order Requesting Proposals

By this order, the Department is requesting proposals from carriers interested in providing essential air service at Cordova, Gustavus, Petersburg, Wrangell, and Yakutat, Alaska, for a new two-year period, with or without subsidy.

As the end of the current rate term approaches, we are here requesting proposals from carriers interested in providing service at Cordova, Gustavus, Petersburg, Wrangell, and Yakutat, with or without subsidy, for the two-year period beginning May 1, 2006. Carriers should file their proposals within 30 days of the date of service of this order.

Proposals should provide sufficient capacity to accommodate historical traffic levels. We note that overall traffic for year ended September 30, 2005, as shown in Appendix C, increased by 13.8 percent from that for year ended September 30, 2003, as shown in Appendix D of Order 2004-5-5.

Essential Air Service for Cordova, Petersburg, Wrangell, and Yakutat, requires seven round trips per week with large aircraft having 60 seats or more. Essential air service for Gustavus requires that level of service only during the peak season, and only three round trips per week with small aircraft (up to 10 seats) during the rest of the year, and that service is provided subsidy free. Specifically, we request proposals consistent with the essential air service determinations, including the designated hubs, shown below, but note that Alaska Airlines has provided dual-hub service to all of the communities except Gustavus. Alaska Airlines’ linear service pattern is not required, but it appears to minimize aircraft positioning costs the carrier would otherwise incur and thus is less expensive than a nonlinear system.

Eligible Points	Designated Hubs
Cordova	Anchorage
Gustavus	Juneau
Petersburg	Juneau or Ketchikan
Wrangell	Juneau or Ketchikan
Yakutat	Juneau or Anchorage

By: Todd Homan