Thoughts on EAS Service out of Pueblo

Yesterday, Great Lakes announced More service from DEN to PUB. Great Lakes operates DEN-PUB as Part of the Essential Air Service Program. I decided to do some digging about ZK's PUB EAS operations.

The DOT Docket has Great Lakes Subsidized for 12 flights at a cost of $1.3 Million.This money was based on an estimated loss of $1.21 Million. two question arise:

1:Why is Great Lakes increasing service to Pueblo when they expect to make a loss?

2: Does Great lakes need the subsidy if they are going to go to 2x the service in the subsidies?

Last Year, Allegiant started Service from Las Vegas to Pueblo. These flights were in addition to the many casino charters. (Yes, people in Pueblo love to gamble.) Taking a look at the DOT Passenger data, I found this:

 All flights.

 

Most of the Passengers Had Planned to Arrive in Pueblo.

 All Operations for 2010. A good portion of the flights are not subsidized.

Projected 2010 flights based on Allegiant year round operations.

So, It looks like that at Pueblo, The majority of passengers will be non-subsidized. This isn't a surprise, most People drive to either COS or DEN.

I honestly think PUB doesn't need EAS. Great Lakes flies some routes that are not EAS. If they think there is a market for PUB-DEN, then they'll fly it.