The deadline for air carriers to submit their bids to provide Essential Air Service (EAS) to Presque Isle, Maine came on Thursday, December 19.

Some bids have already arrived at the City. The new contract term will start on July 1, 2020. Once all the proposals are made available to the City of Presque Isle, the City will post those on the City's website and Facebook pages for public viewing.

Area residents interested in making comments for or against one of the bidders will  have the opportunity at a public forum to be held at the Presque Isle Middle School on Friday, January 3.  The forum will begin at 6:00 p.m. with an overview of the bids received followed by public comments only as they pertain to the specific bids received.  Each speaker will be limited to two minutes.  A maximum of three hours has been allotted for the forum.

The public may also submit questions and comments directly to the US Department of Transportation by email to: michael.f.martin@dot.gov or by mail to Michael Martin, US Department of Transportation, X53, Room 6401, 400 7th Street SW, Washington, DC 20590.  It is the US DOT who will make the final determination as to which air carrier will service Presque Isle.

The Essential Air Service program was started by the US Government to guarantee that small communities that were served by certificated air carriers before airline deregulation maintain a minimimum level of scheduled air service.  The DOT currently subsidizes commuter and certificated air carriers to serve approximately 175 communities that otherwise would not receive any scheduled air service. Presque Isle is one of those communities.

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