Great Lake Airlines terminated its service to Enid, Okla. after fuel increases drove the cost of the community's annual contribution to provide Essential Air Service (EAS) from about $65,000 to more than $200,000, which the city could not afford. Enid, according to Regional Aviation Partners, had tried to reach agreement with the Department of Transportation on local funding for the service. DOT terminates the EAS designation for the point this month. Great Lake's Enid-Denver Service costs the airline $231 per passenger compared to the $200 cap the DOT provides in EAS funding. State and congressional officials are continuing to work on a resumption of service in the future.

RAP is continuing its fight to retain the air service, citing the fact DOT erroneously used non-scheduled operations in figuring Oklahoma City's hub status. DOT contends it is a medium hub while, using only scheduled operations as mandated by statute, it is actually a small hub. (RAN, August 21, p.1) "We understand the DOT is concerned that accepting our argument at Enid and Ponca City could have wide-ranging implications on the continued eligibility of communities throughout the entire EAS program," said the organization in its latest filing to DOT. "To alleviate this concern, RAP has analyzed the impact of our proposal, which considers only schedule passenger data, at every small and medium hub airport in the United States and found that OKC is the only hub impacted by our proposal. No other hub airport experiences a change in status and therefore, Enid and Ponca City would be the only EAS communities impacted."