The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has called for proposals from carriers interested in providing Essential Air Service (EAS) at Moab and/or Vernal, Utah after Great Lakes Airlines (Cheyenne) failed to fulfil its mandate.

Great Lakes was to have offered a 12x weekly, E120-operated service from Moab and Vernal to Denver International for a period of two years beginning May 1, 2015. However, according to the DOT, as of September 30, no such service has since been operated leading to the cancellation of the contract.

"Since May 1, Great Lakes has provided several potential start-dates that have not been met. Mr. [Judd] Hill [Moab airport manager] also states that Great Lakes has indicated they will not commence service until TSA-screening has been reinstated; a process that could take up to six months," the DOT said.

As such, the DOT has requested interested operators to submit their proposals no later than October 28, 2015 with operations to begin as soon as possible.

Great Lakes Aviation has said an ongoing shortage of qualified pilots has severely impacted its operations resulting in a number of routes being closed. In addition to the disruption in operations, the airline is also faced with the potential seizure of its assets after it defaulted on a USD27.5 million loan with Callidus Capital Corporation (CCC) earlier this year.