Letter To The Honorable Ray Lahood, Secretary, Department Of Transportation

Letter

Durbin, Costello Urge DOT to Begin Search for New Air Carrier in Quincy, Decatur and Marion

Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Representative Jerry Costello (D-IL) today asked the Department of Transportation to begin soliciting proposals from air carriers interested in providing service in the communities of Quincy, Decatur and Marion. In a letter to the Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, the Illinois members expressed disappointment with Great Lakes Airlines - the current service provider's - inability to fulfill their original commitments.

"Quincy, Decatur and Marion breathed a sigh of relief when Great Lakes Airlines stepped in to resume service to St. Louis after the previous carrier abandoned these downstate communities," said Durbin. "But Great Lakes Airlines has not kept up its side of the bargain. As the end of their contract approaches, we need to begin the process of looking for a new service provider that will better address the needs of Illinois communities and provide quality, safe, reliable air service to St. Louis."

"We want these communities to have the quality service they were promised and is necessary for the EAS program to be effective," said Costello, Chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee. "Dependable air service is critical for economic development and keeping all regions of the country connected, and carriers have a responsibility to meet their commitments."

Great Lakes Aviation is currently providing air service without a critical codeshare agreement with American Airlines - a key component of the communities' support for Great Lakes Aviation's application to become the EAS provider in those areas. According to Durbin and Costello, this has resulted in a drop in ridership that could potentially impact these airports' federal funding.

The Essential Air Service (EAS) contracts to Quincy, Marion/Herrin and Decatur were formerly held by Regions Air which abruptly halted service on March 8th, 2007. Following the shutdown, the U.S. Department of Transportation entered into a contract with Great Lakes Airlines to resume passenger air service from downstate Illinois to St. Louis Lambert International Airport in November 2007.

The two year EAS contract signed by DOT and Great Lakes Aviation consists of a $3.5 million per year federal subsidy to operate commercial service in Decatur, Quincy and Marion, Illinois. The EAS program was established by Congress in 1978 to ensure communities with commercial air service before airline deregulation could continue scheduled flights. Without the EAS program, many communities would not receive any scheduled commercial air service. Great Lakes will continue to provide service until a new contract can be awarded. 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.

Text of the letter appears below:

July 9, 2009

The Honorable Ray LaHood
Secretary
Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave SE
Washington, DC 20590

Dear Secretary LaHood:

We are writing to request you issue a new request for proposals (RFP) to acquire improved Essential Air Service (EAS) in the communities of Quincy, Decatur and Marion, Illinois. These communities have struggled to find reliable service with their current operator Great Lakes Aviation and their previous carrier, Regions Air.

Soliciting a new RFP from other carriers may provide these communities with the opportunity to secure higher quality air service. Great Lakes Aviation is currently providing air service without a critical codeshare agreement with American Airlines. This codeshare agreement was a key component of the communities' support for Great Lakes Aviation's application to become the EAS provider in those areas.

Great Lakes' inability to fulfill their original commitments to the communities and DOT has resulted in lower enplanements at each of these airports. This drop in ridership could potentially impact these airports federal funding. We understand there is precedent for ensuring airports in these situations do not lose their airport designation or formula funding and we hope that precedent would be applied to these Illinois communities.

Steady, reliable air service to rural areas keeps communities connected to the world through major hub airports. Commercial air service also has a direct impact on communities' ability to retain and attract business.

We encourage you to do everything you can to bring high quality air service to these communities. As always, we stand ready to assist you in providing the people of Illinois with the most reliable, viable, and safe air transportation.

Sincerely,

Richard J. Durbin
U.S. Senator

Jerry F. Costello
U.S. Representative

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