Essential Air Service at Crescent City, California

Order 2006-6-15
OST-1997-2649

Issued and Served June 12, 2006

Order Reselecting Carrier

By Order 2004-7-29 the Department selected SkyWest to provide essential air service to Crescent City, California, through July 31, 2006, at an annual subsidy rate of $816,025. The carrier was selected to provide six nonstop round trips per week to San Francisco and twelve one-stop round trips per week to Sacramento with 30-seat Brasilia aircraft. Because the contract for SkyWest is due to expire on July 31, we requested proposals to provide subsidized service by Order 2006-3-32, April 4, 2006

SkyWest. d/b/a United Express, was the only the carrier to submit a bid, which had three options. All three were based on 30-seat Brasilia aircraft.

We have decided to select Option C, the community's first choice. We have reviewed SkyWest's proposal and find it reasonable. SkyWest's proposal calculated a subsidy-need of $ 1,325,658 for this service, but requested only $957,025, the same as Option A, the current service pattern, and only $41,522 more than Option B, the least expensive option. Crescent City is one of the top two or three traffic-generating communities in the EAS program. We note too, that if fuel prices had remained stable, the subsidy need at Crescent City would have decreased. Based on the high passenger levels, community's support for Option C, and the small additional subsidy this option requires, we will select Option C.

By this order, we are reselecting SkyWest Airlines, Inc., d/b/a United Express, to provide subsidized essential air service at Crescent City, California, for the two-year period from August 1, 2006, through July 31, 2008, at an annual rate of $957,025.

By: Michael Reynolds