Published: August 03, 2006 11:24 pm         

DOT says Essential Air Service subsidy to end Sept. 1

City officials and U.S. lawmakers have made several arguments to U.S. Department of Transportation to save commercial air service in Enid, but time appears to be running out.

DOT has issued a final order terminating Essential Air Service subsidy eligibility for Great Lakes Airlines to provide flights to Enid Woodring Regional Airport and suspending service as of Sept. 1.

Enid city officials are hoping a letter by U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe to DOT Wednesday asking Will Rogers Airport be classified as a small hub will do the trick. If Will Rogers is declared a small hub, the $200 per ticket ceiling for the EAS subsidy would not apply to Enid.

However, Jim Leutkemeyer, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas , said the expectation is the subsidy will end.

“Unless our congressional delegation gets something changed, we’re probably going to lose our air carrier,” Mayor Ernie Currier said. However, he said the city has had to “fight this battle” about every two years, and the congressional delegation has been successful in the past in getting the subsidy continued.

The federal government subsidizes Great Lakes and other carriers to provide air service to places like Enid and Ponca City that otherwise would not have commercial air service. Without the subsidy, it is not economically feasible for an airline to serve those communities.

Great Lakes currently provides air service from Enid to Denver. Currier said company officials have indicated to him that even though they would like to continue the service in Enid, without the subsidy it is not economically feasible.

In a protest letter sent in early July, Enid city officials provided additional ridership number information they hoped DOT officials would consider.

Jon Blankenship, president of Greater Enid Chamber of Commerce, believes evidence of increased ridership numbers along the entire Denver route is a good argument to keep the service flying in Enid.

The city has provided evidence Liberal, Kan., which was on the Great Lakes route before Enid was picked up by the airline, has increased its ridership by 1,101 passengers over the one year since Enid was added to the route. Add to that the 2,746 riders Enid has brought in, and that’s an increase in ridership of 3,847.

Blankenship said if DOT would accept those numbers, the route falls well below the $200 per passenger ceiling on the subsidy paid Great Lakes. The new number would be $165.40, he said.

“The argument is if the goal is to increase access for passengers to the national air transportation system, clearly the 2,746 for Enid and the 1,101 (additional riders for Liberal) is increased ridership,” Blankenship said. “That should be included in the number.”

Previous figures — using Enid’s ridership only — show it costs $231.71 per passenger to fly to and from Woodring. The cost per passenger to fly to and from Ponca City is $338.81.

However, DOT rejected the addition of numbers from Liberal, saying its continued willingness to spend program funding on Enid and Ponca City “has always rested squarely on the traffic performances of those two communities, as it must, and not anywhere else.”

According to Blankenship, the Will Rogers Airport classification comes into play because if it’s classified as a medium hub by DOT, which it is now, a city operating within 210 miles of the airport must operate within the $200 EAS subsidy. If it’s classified as a small hub, which it is by National Air Transportation System, the $200 ceiling does not apply.

Inhofe is asking DOT to reclassify Will Rogers as a small hub and make it the same rating as the NATS.

Blankenship said officials also have asked DOT to keep the contract through its two-year period. If that happens, he believes legislation could be passed to increase the subsidy ceiling.

“The $200 (ceiling) hasn’t been changed since the 1990s,” Blankenship said. “Since then, we’ve had 9/11 and higher fuel costs. They may raise the subsidy.”

City officials have expressed satisfaction with Great Lakes.

“Clearly, Enid is better off with direct air service than not,” Blankenship said. “It’s a quality-of-life and economic development issue. We’d like to preserve it.”



Staff writer Robert Barron contributed to this story.