MEETING NOTICE CITY OF PAGE CITY COUNCIL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING MARCH 8, 2017 CITY HALL, 697 VISTA AVE 5:30 P.M. PAGE, ARIZONA NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING AND AGENDA CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL Mayor Bill Diak Vice Mayor John Kocjan Councilor Scott Sadler Councilor Korey Seyler Councilor Mike Bryan Councilor Levi Tappan Councilor Dennis Warner DISCUSSION ITEMS 1. Discussion by the City Council pertaining to Essential Air Service for the City of Page ADJOURN FOR YOUR INFORMATION Next Regular Meeting Wednesday, March 8, 2017, at 6:30 p.m. Pursuant to A.R. S. 38.431. 02, notice is hereby given to the members of the City Council and to the general public that the Page City Council will hold a meeting open to the public. Supporting documents and Staff reports, which were furnished to the City Council, with this agenda, are available for review at www.citvofpage.org or at the City Clerk's Office. Council Members of the City of Page City Council will attend either in person or by telephonic conference. City Council may vote to go into Executive Session for the purpose of obtaining legal advice from the City Attorney on any item listed on the agenda, pursuant to A.R.S. 38-431.03 (A)(3). City Council may modify the agenda order, if necessary. This agenda may be subject to change up to 24 hours prior to the meeting. Persons with disabilities should call Kim Larson, City Clerk, at 645-4221 (TDD 645-4216) for program and services information and accessibility. NOTICE TO PARENTS: Parents and legal guardians have the right to consent before the City of Page makes a video or voice recording of a minor child A.R.S. §1-602.A.9. City Council meetings are recorded and may be viewed on South Central Communications Channel 4. If you permit your child to participate in the City Council Meeting, a recording will be made. If your child is seated in the audience, your child may be recorded, but you may request that your child be seated in a designated area to avoid recording. Please submit your request to the City Clerk at 928-645- 4221. If you would like to receive City Council agendas via email, please send your email address to [email protected] or call 928-645-4221. CERTIFICATION OF POSTING OF NOTICE The undersigned hereby certifies that a copy of the attached notice was duly posted at the following places: City Hall Bulletin Board located at 697 Vista Avenue, Page, Arizona, Justice Building Bulletin Board located at 547 Vista Avenue, Page, Arizona, U. S. Post Office Lobby located at 44 Sixth Avenue, Page, Arizona, on the ____ day of March, 2017, at _____ p.m. in accordance with the statement filed by the City of Page City Council with the City Clerk. DATED this _____ day of March, 2017. CITY OF PAGE By: _____________________________ CITY CLERK'S OFFICE WORK SESSION DISCUSSION ITEM 1. City Council Work Session Agenda Meeting Date: 03/08/2017 Brief Title: Essential Air Service Presented by: Crystal Dyches, City Manager Department: City Manager Action: Other RECOMMENDED ACTION: Discussion. BACKGROUND: Last December, Via Air, Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd, and Boutique Air presented proposals to provide Essential Air Service during a joint work session of the City Council and Airport Advisory Board. Representatives from Sky West Airlines, who did not submit a proposal, also attended, and advised the City that they have gained the permission of one of their network carrier partners to make a proposal to provide Page EAS service, should there be a re-bid. After considerable discussion and research, the City Council narrowly passed a motion to request that the DOT re-bid the proposals for the Page Municipal Airport EAS, citing concerns, which included: unreliable service, inability to fulfill EAS obligations, limited capacity/service routes, and/or use of single engine planes. The City’s request was granted. DOT has requested proposals from air carriers interested in providing EAS. Unfortunately, without major modifications the current runway cannot accommodate jet service under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations. The DOT has received proposals from Boutique Air, Grand Canyon Airlines, Great Lakes Airlines, and Public Charters, Inc. DBA Regional Sky (Alternate EAS only). ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED: N/A ADVISORY BOARD / COMMISSION ACTION: The Airport Board met on March 1, 2017 and voted unanimously to recommend Boutique Airlines. The board felt that Boutique would offer timely and reliable service. Fiscal Impact Budget Impact: The fiscal impact information is included in the proposals. Attachments Memo Airport Director Boutique Airlines Proposal Grand Canyon Proposal Great Lakes Proposal Regional Sky - ALT EAS proposal MEMORANDUM DATE: FEBRUARY 27, 2017 TO: AIRPORT BOARD FROM: CLIFF BIGGS, AIRPORT DIRECTOR SUBJECT: 2017 EAS BID SUMMARY SUMMARY Unfortunately, what may have been the best solution for air service for the city of Page, AZ cannot be entertained (SkyWest), due to the limitations of our current airport design. There was a strong possibility that SkyWest could have been able to serve Page from Phoenix but they had to drop out due to FAA airport limitations (see Appendix C). We currently have multiple bids (four, a first for our city), in place, Boutique Air, Grand Canyon Airlines, Great Lakes Airlines and RegionalSky (this is an “Alternate EAS” service, see Appendix B for description) BID ANALYSIS (Listed alphabetically by airline) Boutique Airlines Currently serves numerous cities in the southwest using Pilatus PC‐12, single engine turboprops and Beechcraft King Air 350 twin engine turboprop aircraft. These airplanes have all weather capability and two pilots. Boutique Airlines on‐time/completion record runs around 98% in communities currently served. Previous experience in other markets has shown an ability to quickly recover passenger losses due to Great Lakes Airline service failures. They will operate service to Page with the twin turboprop King Air airplanes with four flights a day to Phoenix or PHX, PGA, DEN service, giving residents and the public ample choices of flights. Although 9 seat capacity, the service provided shows the ability to lift @22 000 passenger seats per year. This is above what our past historical traffic has been. Right now, we are emplaning approximately 4,500 passengers per year due to losses from poor service, by another carrier, in the past. The airplanes themselves do have the ability to operate out of Page with full passengers and baggage to the destinations shown on a 95‐degree day in the summer time. Boutique is a fully licensed FAR Part 135 air carrier (see Appendix A for a description of Part 135 vs. Part 121 air carriers) and has gone beyond the baseline requirements of a Pt. 135 Air Carrier by installing a Director of Safety, Chief Inspector, Director of Training. They have also been awarded the FAA Diamond Award for aircraft maintenance. The airplanes themselves are in what could be called “executive service” condition. Interior and exterior conditions are very good. They do have a lavatory. Boutique has major service and maintenance support in Phoenix and uses a van and mechanics dispatched out of Phoenix for aircraft maintenance difficulties. They are also viewing the use of a Pilatus airplane for the maintenance response function. They have both King Airs and Pilatus airplanes available on short notice for recovery from grounded airplanes. Options 4 and 5 seem to be the most reasonable for the city of Page. Cons Use of a nine seat has not been available for some time through our current provider (using 9 seats). The number of seats lifted per year however would provide the needed capacity for the contract period. The designation of a Part 135 air carrier for our airline service might be viewed as a detriment when in fact it is not (see appendix A). There is some concern that for a grounded airplane recovery, it might take the form of a single engine Pilatus aircraft. The DOT Order can be written to prescribe that we would not want any single engine service for recovery. With this restriction, we might see a longer time span for flight recovery if a plane is down. There is some concern on the cost of this service but mitigation could be achieved by clearly stating that the current provider (and low bidder) has not been able for some time to provide suitable service and even in the near past has been dropping service legs from those stipulated. Grand Canyon Airlines Unfortunately, this bid does not meet the minimum DOT standards for acceptance. The DOT requirements stipulate that one flight must utilize a Mid or High Traffic Hub airport. By using only Boulder City Airport for service, we can’t entertain this bid. This bid is also challenged with the use of unpressurized, single engine aircraft only, to which the Council has shown an aversion to their use on this contract. Great Lakes Airlines Being the current service provider, everyone has a good foundation on the service they have provided over the last four or five years. They are utilizing Beechcraft BE‐1900 twin engine, turboprop airplanes in either a 9 seat or 22 seat configurations. They have all weather capability and use two pilots. Historically due to pilot shortages and attendant low flight time pilots, they have been restricted to using the nine‐seat configuration and their FAA Part 135 Air Carrier certificate for Page service. The airplane condition although safe mechanically is somewhat depressed in the looks and reliability departments. They have no lavatory. In the previous bid cycle, they indicated the ability to provide 22 seat service on all flights in this next contract.