Essential Air Service at DuBois and Franklin/Oil City, Pennsylvania and Greenbrier/White Sulphur Springs/Lewisburg, West Virginia

Order 2008-3-22
OST-2004-17617 - DuBois
OST-1997-2523 - Oil City/Franklin
OST-2003-15553 - Greenbrier/White Sulphur Springs/Lewisburg

Issued and Served March 24, 2008

Order Requesting Proposals | Word

By this order, the Department is re-soliciting proposals from air carriers interested in providing essential air service at any or all of the three communities identified above. We are requesting proposals for a new two-year period, beginning when the carrier inaugurates full service, with or without subsidy. Carriers should file their proposals no later than April 18, 2008.

With specific respect to DuBois, Franklin/Oil City, and Greenbrier/White Sulphur Springs/Lewisburg, we expect proposals consisting of service with 15-seat or larger aircraft offering three (DuBois) or two (Franklin/Oil City and Greenbrier/White Sulphur Springs/Lewisburg) nonstop round trips each weekday to Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Charlotte, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., or another suitable hub with airline connections to the national air transportation system. Such service is generally consistent with what the communities currently receive. When preparing proposals, carriers should be aware that the Department is prohibited from subsidizing service at communities where the per-passenger subsidy exceeds $200.

On May 3, 2007, Air Midwest filed 90-day notices with the Department of its intent to terminate its subsidized service at the three above-captioned communities, as well as Athens, Georgia, effective August 1. In response, the Department issued Order 2007-5-14, May 21, 2007, requiring Air Midwest to continue to serve the communities and requesting proposals for replacement service. Gulfstream International Airlines, Inc. was the only applicant, and by Order 2007-7-21, July 31, 2007, we selected Gulfstream to provide DuBois, Franklin/Oil City, and Lewisburg’s EAS to Pittsburgh and Lewisburg and Athens’ service to Charlotte, for a combined annual subsidy of $4,077,792. After Gulfstream prepared its proposal, US Airways reduced service at Pittsburgh, severely limiting the connection options available at the airport. As a result, Gulfstream explored other service options but none materialized. We have an obligation to relieve Air Midwest of its hold-in obligations as quickly as we can. As of February 2008, Gulfstream had not yet inaugurated service and could not provide the Department a date when it would do so. In response, the Department issued Order 2008-2-11, February 6, 2008, requesting another round of proposals for EAS. In response, we received only one proposal, from Gulfstream. Its proposal for these three communities was contingent upon its being selected at Watertown, New York, and on negotiating a code-share agreement with Continental Airlines to serve its Cleveland hub operation. Under Order 2008-3-15, the Department selected Hyannis Air Service, Inc. d/b/a Cape Air to serve Watertown, thus rendering the proposal to serve DuBois, Franklin/Oil City, and Lewisburg moot. To date, despite the fact that we selected Gulfstream in July 2007, the carrier did not commence EAS at any of the three communities and its subsequent proposal was not selectable. Therefore, we will issue a third round of request for proposals for these three communities.

By: Todd Homan