Essential Air Service at Grand Island and McCook, Nebraska, El Dorado/Camden, Harrison, Hot Springs and Jonesboro, Arkansas and Columbia/Jefferson City, Joplin and Kirksville, Missouri

Order 2008-2-2
OST-2002-13983 - Grand Island
OST-1997-3005 - McCook
OST-1997-2935 - El Dorado/Camden, Harrison, Hot Springs and Jonesboro
OST-2006-23931 - Columbia/Jefferson City
OST-2006-23932 - Joplin
OST-1997-2515 - Kirksville

Issued February 1, 2008 | Served February 6, 2008

Order Prohibiting Termination of Service and Requesting Proposals | Word

By this order, the Department is (a) prohibiting Air Midwest from terminating its subsidized service at the nine, above-captioned communities for 30 days beyond the end of its 90-day notice period, and (b) requesting long-term proposals from carriers interested in providing essential air service at any or all of the communities, with or without subsidy, by February 29.

On January 22, 2008, Air Midwest filed 90-day notices with the Department of its intent to terminate its subsidized service at all nine of the above-captioned communities, plus Manhattan and Salina, Kansas, effective April 21, 2008. Air Midwest’s parent company, Mesa Air Group, Inc. in its 4Q2007 Revenue and Earnings statement, said that it has incurred “significant losses (at Air Midwest),” and “with little prospect of future profitability we have reluctantly begun to liquidate those assets and operations.”

With respect to each community, we expect proposals consisting of service with 15-seat or larger aircraft to a suitable hub airport, with airline connections to the national air transportation system. Service levels should be comparable to those in the table on page 2 and in Appendix D. Grand Island has specifically requested that we solicit standalone service (not connected with another city) to Kansas City (18 weekly round trips) or a combination of Kansas City (12 weekly round trips) and Denver (6 weekly round trips) service. Communities and air carriers are encouraged to work together in advance of the due date for proposals to craft a service pattern that is desirable to the community and meets the operational needs of the airline interested in submitting a proposal. In addition, carriers should be very clear as to whether a specific community’s proposal is on a stand-alone basis, or whether it is part of a larger, inseparable package with other communities.

By: Michael Reynolds