Senator Durbin Asks Great Lakes Aviation to Begin Service Immediately

Letter

SENATOR DURBIN ASKS GREAT LAKES AVIATION TO BEGIN SERVICE IMMEDIATELY

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today sent a letter to the CEO of Great Lakes Airlines, Chuck Howell asking that the airline work to begin providing scheduled passenger air service from Decatur, Marion/Herrin, Quincy, and Springfield, Illinois to St. Louis as soon as possible. Great Lakes Airlines was awarded the Essential Air Service contracts in Marion/Herrin, Quincy and most recently Decatur, Illinois. Durbin has asked that the airline work to make sure the necessary planes, personnel and equipment are in place so that service between downstate communities and St. Louis Lambert International Airport can resume.

"Without the air service that these downstate communities have come to rely on, basic travel, tourism and economic development has been disrupted," said Durbin. "I strongly urge Great Lakes to make this a priority and begin service as soon as possible. I am pleased to see that the Department of Transportation has named a new carrier for Marion/Herrin, Quincy and Decatur flights to St. Louis, and we need to do everything possible to make sure that Great Lakes has all the help they need to get off the ground and in the air right away."

The Essential Air Service (EAS) contracts to Quincy, Marion/Herrin, and Decatur were held by Regions Air which abruptly halted service on March 8th. The two-year contract consists of a $3.5 million per year federal subsidy to operate the EAS program that was established by Congress in 1978 to ensure communities with commercial air service before airline deregulation could continue scheduled flights. Without EAS, many rural communities would have no commercial air service at all, and residents of smaller cities would have to travel significant distances for flights.

Great Lakes Airlines will officially take over service in Marion/Herrin and Quincy when Regions' contracts expire in May 2007 and July 2007 respectively. Durbin sent a letter to the President of American Eagle Airlines, Peter M. Bowler on March 19, 2007 urging that the airline work with Great Lakes to begin service immediately.

The Regions Air contract to provide service to Decatur is not scheduled to expire until June 30, 2008. In light of the recent shutdown in service, the Department of Transportation issued an emergency order to reinstate service to Decatur. Great Lakes was awarded the two-year EAS contract to begin as soon as possible and expire on May 31, 2009.

Text of letter appears below:

April 11, 2007

Mr. Chuck Howell
CEO
Great Lakes Airlines
1022 Airport Parkway
Cheyenne, WY 82001

Dear Mr. Howell:

Congratulations on the recent U.S. Department of Transportation Essential Air Service (EAS) program awards for downstate Illinois service to St. Louis Lambert International Airport. I look forward to working with you and to your airline providing reliable passenger air service to a number of communities in downstate Illinois.

I write today to strongly encourage Great Lakes Airlines to begin providing scheduled passenger air service from Decatur, Marion, Quincy, and Springfield, Illinois to St. Louis as soon as possible.

As you know, this request has become even more urgent because the previous carrier, RegionsAir, ceased operations last month. With four Illinois communities without scheduled passenger air service to St. Louis, this issue has become even more important for economic development and tourism in downstate Illinois.

I appreciate all you and Great Lakes have done to date to work with American Airlines and the U.S. Department of Transportation to restore passenger air service in downstate Illinois. I understand that you are attempting to work with the Federal Aviation Administration and the management at RegionsAir to use existing infrastructure and schedules to restore service as soon as next month. I applaud that effort and stand ready to help in any appropriate way.

I look forward to working with you and community leaders in Decatur, Marion, Quincy, and Springfield to restore passenger air service to St. Louis as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Richard J. Durbin
United States Senator

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