DOT USA Mesaba NW Airlink NoticUNITED STATES OF AMERICA
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Order 2003-3-18
Issued by the Department of Transportation
on the 25th day of March, 2003
Essential air service at
DUBUQUE, IOWA
under 49 U.S.C. 41731 etseq.
Served: March 28, 2003
Docket OST-2003-14517
ORDER ALLOWING SUSPENSION OF SERVICE
Background
On February 12, 2003, Mesaba Aviation, Inc., d/b/a Northwest Airlink, filed a 90-day notice of
intent to suspend its unsubsidized scheduled service at Dubuque, Iowa, as of May 13, 2003.
Mesaba filed notice pursuant to the Department's "one-third role": section 323.3(a)(5) of the
Department's Regulations (14 CFR 323.3(a)(5)) requires a carder to f'fle a 90-day notice if its
proposed suspension of service would reduce the total number of passenger seats linking the
affected community to a Federal Aviation Administration-designated hub by 33 percent or more.
Mesaba currently operates three nonstop round trips each weekday and five each weekend to
Minneapolis/St. Patti with 34-seat Saab SF340 aircraft. Dubuque also receives unsubsidized
service by American Eagle Airlines, Inc., which operates three nonstop round trips each weekday
and five each weekend to Chicago with 36-seat Embraer ER J135 regional jets.1
The community did not respond to Mesaba's notice.
Essential Air Service Determination
Dubuque's essential air service determination, as last established by Order 84-5-74,
May 21, 1984, required a minimum of two nonstop or one-stop round trips a day to Chicago
providing at least 67 inbound and outbound seats.2
Decision
We will allow Mesaba to suspend service at Dubuque as of May 13, as it intends. American
Eagle will continue to provide the community with a link to the national air transportation
network. As noted earlier, American Eagle operates three nonstop round trips each weekday and
five each weekend to Chicago, Dubuque's designated hub, with 36-seat regional jets. American
1 See the Appendix for a map.
2 Order 84-5-74 required capacity sufficient to accommodate 40 inbound and outbound passengers,
which continues to represent the maximum guarantee under the essential air service pro,am. Under the
60-percent load-factor standard subsequently established by the Airport and Airway Safety and Capacity
Expansion Act of 1987, P.L. 100-223, the number of guaranteed seats became 67:40/0.60 = 66.7.
APPENDIX
DUBUQUE, IOWA,
AND THE SURROUNDING REGION