Salina Community Comments Concerning Air Carrier Proposals 07-17-2023City of
!i
Salina
City-County Building
300 West Ash Street
P.O. Box 736
Salina, KS 67402-0736
CITY COMMISSION
MICHAEL L. HOPPOCK, MAYOR
BILL LONGBINE
GREG LENKIEWICZ
TRENT DAVIS, M.D.
KARL RYAN
CITY MANAGER
MICHAEL D. SCHRAGE
DEPUTY CITY MANAGER
JACOB WOOD
ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER
SHAWN HENESSEE
TELEPHONE (785) 309-5700
FACSIMILE (785) 309-5711
WEBSITE: www.salina-ks.gov
July 17, 2023
Mr. Michael Martin
United States Department of Transportation
Essential Air Service (EAS) Program
1200 New Jersey Avenue , SE
Washington, DC 20590
Via: Email to Michael.F.Martin@dot.gov
Re: DOT-OST-2002-11376, Salina Community Comments Concerning Air
Carrier Proposals
Dear Mr. Martin:
The Salina City Commission has reviewed the July 6, 2023 EAS Program
proposals submitted by SkyWest Charter (SWC) and Denver Air Connection
(DAG) to the USDOT for subsidized air service at the Salina Regional Airport
(SLN). The community appreciates the interest that both air carriers expressed
in serving Salina, but both proposals are determined to be not viable.
The Denver Air Connection proposal states that the airline would not be able to
start service until July 1, 2024. Delaying the start of DAG flights until July 1,
2024, is an unreasonable contingency and indicates that the air carrier lacks the
resources currently to start new EAS contract flights.
An additional community concern is the fact that a DAG EAS contract at
$9.475M would result in a per passenger subsidy rate of $380. The current
statutory per passenger subsidy cap for SLN is $200 per passenger. The
community is not willing to recommend the selection of an air carrier that would
place Salina at risk of losing EAS Program eligibility.
The SkyWest Charter proposal is not viable since the airline has yet to receive
USDOT, Part 135 commuter authority. The SWC proposal does meet Salina,
Saline County and North Central Kansas air service needs. If SWC had the
required USDOT fitness operating authority, the community preference would
be for the SWC proposal.
Since both the DAG and SWC proposals are not viable for further consideration,
the Salina community requests that the USDOT schedule a new date for air
carrier proposals. The community further recommends that the current contract
with SkyWest Airlines operating as United Express be extended through the
next request for SLN proposals.
Respectfully submitte , .
k~
Michael L. Hoppock
Mayor
City of Salina, Kansas