7/16/2019 Boutique Air's response to Essential Air Service determination

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BOUTIQUE AIR 

548 Market St.

San Francisco, CA 

t. 415.449.0505

f. 415.738.7671

Mr. DeVany,

Please accept this as Boutique Air's comments in response to the letter from Carlsbad's Mayor, 

the Honorable Dale Janway.

We would like to go on record as questioning the Mayor's decision to write the DOT a letter that 

appears to reflect a completely different position than his previous two letters supporting 

Boutique Air. We question both the timing of the letter (immediately following a tort claim notice 

against the City of Carlsbad and one of its councilmen by New Mexico Airlines and one of its 

co-founders), as well as the fact that the letter appeared to be sent without the knowledge of  

either the City Council or the Air Service Committee.

Furthermore, unlike 49 U.S.C. §41732(b)(3), which allowed communities to waive their right to 

larger aircraft, it is our understanding that there is no provision in the EAS regulations that allows 

for the Mayor (or anyone, for that matter) to permit a reduction of frequencies below the 

community's original determination or waive the community's right to service with pressurized 

aircraft. Since this waiver option was included in another part of the EAS regulations, it seems 

clear that this was intentionally left out when discussing both minimum frequencies and 

pressurization. Therefore, we believe both the letter and the spirit of the law prevent the Mayor  

from waiving these rights.

If, for any reason, the Department determines that the community is able to waive either their  

legal guarantee of pressurization or their guaranteed minimum number of seats, we believe the 

Mayor does not hold the authority, at least when acting unilaterally, to act on behalf of the City of  

Carlsbad. According to the Carlsbad City Code, “The city council, consisting of the mayor and 

two councilmembers from each of the four wards, shall be the legislative body, and in it shall 

vest all the corporate authority of the city.” (Emphasis added.)

While the DOT is required to consider the remarks of elected officials, we believe, for the 

reasons stated above, that the Mayor may not actually waive the community’s right to 

pressurization or their minimum seat guarantee.

 As such, we respectfully request that the DOT continue to give our Petition for Reconsideration 

their full attention and issue a ruling in a timely matter. As with the points in our petition, should 

the DOT findings differ from above, we request that the order contain a detailed explanation of  

7/16/2019 Boutique Air's response to Essential Air Service determination

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BOUTIQUE AIR 

548 Market St.

San Francisco, CA 

t. 415.449.0505

f. 415.738.7671

these findings.

Sincerely,

Shawn Simpson

CEO