49 U.S.C. § 41734 — Ending, suspending, and reducing basic essential air service

(a) Notice Required — Subject to subsection (d), a carrier can only end, suspend, or reduce service to an eligible place below its required basic essential air service level after giving the Secretary, the appropriate state authority, and the affected communities at least 140 days' notice. (b) Continuation of Service for 30 Days After Notice Period — If the Secretary has not found a replacement carrier by the end of that 140-day period, the Secretary must require the original carrier to keep providing basic essential air service for 30 more days, or until another carrier begins providing it, whichever comes first. (c) Continuation of Service for Additional 30-Day Periods — If, at the end of that 30-day period, the Secretary decides no other carrier will provide service on a continuing basis, the Secretary must keep requiring the original carrier to continue in further 30-day blocks, deciding again at the end of each block whether a permanent replacement has been found. (d) Continuation of Compensation After Notice Period — (1) If a carrier that was already receiving compensation is required to keep serving a place after the 140-day notice period, the Secretary: (A) must pay it enough to cover the amount the existing contract required for the basic essential air service being provided when the 140-day notice was given; (B) may pay an additional amount as a reasonable return on investment; and (C) may pay a further amount recognizing lost profits from opportunities the carrier gave up, which may increase the longer it is required to keep serving the place. (2) The Secretary may build contract termination penalties or compensation conditions into a service contract, to take effect if the carrier later gives notice that it is ending, suspending, or reducing service. (e) Compensation to Air Carriers Originally Providing Service Without Compensation — If a carrier that was providing basic essential air service without compensation is required to keep serving the place after the 140-day notice period, the Secretary may pay it, after that period ends, to cover its fully allocated actual cost of providing that service, plus a reasonable return on investment of at least 5 percent of operating costs. (f) Finding Replacement Carriers — Whenever the Secretary requires a carrier to keep providing basic essential air service, the Secretary must keep trying to find another carrier to provide that service on a continuing basis. (g) Transfer of Authority — If a carrier providing basic essential air service between an eligible place and a slot-controlled airport gives notice under subsection (a) that it plans to end, suspend, or reduce that service, and a replacement carrier is found, the Secretary must require the original carrier to transfer any relevant operating authority at that airport to the replacement carrier, if the replacement carrier needs that authority, and the authority being transferred is being used to serve another eligible place. (h) Nonconsideration of Slot Availability — In deciding what counts as basic essential air service, and in choosing a carrier to provide it, the Secretary cannot consider whether slots happen to be available at a high density airport. (i) Exemption From Hold-In Requirements — If, after this subsection was enacted, a carrier begins air transportation to an eligible place that had lost scheduled passenger service because the place failed to meet requirements in an appropriations law, that carrier is not subject to the continuation requirements in subsections (b) and (c) for that new service.