U.S.

Department of DEPARTMENT OF 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE

Transportation TRA SPORTATION Washington DC 20590

Office of the Secretary

of Transportation Z6\l FEB 2 I A q: 53
FEB I J)~t\ET OPERATiONS

Mr. Ami Vizer

Chairman
Via Airlines, Inc.
218 Jackson St
Maitland, FL 32751

Dear Mr. Vizer:

I am writing at the request of several communities served by Via Airlines, Inc. (Via), with a
Federal subsidy pur~uant to the Essential Air Service (EAS) program under DOT
Order 2016-9-10 and DOT Order 2016-10-9.

Since Via began providing service under these orders in the fourth quarter of 2016, the
Department has received multiple complaints alleging poor service, particularly from
Greenbrier/Whhe Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, and Staunton, Virginia. Specifically, these
communities state that Via is regularly making unscheduled stops (resulting in multiple missed
connections), completing flight segments for which passenger bookings have been cancelled,
operating frequently-delayed flights without a reason for the delay, and cancelling flights with
little or no notice to operate charter flights outside of the EAS program. According to the
communities, the reasons for the delays and cancellations are not clearly communicated or
justified to them or to passengers. Additionally, these communities state that Via has been
unresponsive to the communities' repeated requests for the problems to be remedied on a
permanent basis.

We are writing to request your written response to these complaints and to also remind you
that air carriers receiving federal support under the EAS program are required to provide
"air transportation ... in a reliable way." 49 U.S.C. 41737(b). We are concerned about
the communities' allegations that Via continues to cancel a very high percentage of its
flights, completing far fewer than the 98 percent completion factor Via used in calculating
its subsidy request. Further, the cmnmunities state that n1any of the flights that are
technically completed are completed outside of scheduled times when passengers have
booked tickets (hours earlier or hours later than originally scheduled), thus causing
passengers to miss their connecting flights at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport and to
incur last-minute change fees to rebook tickets and other expenses because of Via's poor
performance.

The Department places a very high priority on helping to provide air service to small and
rural communities and expects EAS carriers to fulfill their contractual and other legal
 Mr. Ami Vizer
Page 2

obligations. The communities' cotnplaints raise serious concerns. Please respond to this
letter in writing no later than seven (7) days after the date of this letter. Unless you choose
to contest the communities' allegations your response must provide concrete and
meaningful courses of actions to improve the serious service deficiencies alleged above.

The Department reserves the right to take further action pursuant to Order 2016-9-1 0 Order
2016-10-9, and applicable Federal law, including, but not limited to soliciting proposals to
find a replacement carrier to serve Greenbrier/ White Sulphur Springs and/or Staunton.

Sincerely,

Susan McDen110tt
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aviation
And International Affairs

Copy to:

Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings, Aviation Consumer Protection Division

Office of General Counsel