§5A-3-55a Director to solicit competitive bids to provide partially underwritten intrastate passenger air service at the lowest underwriting costs.
§5A-3-55a. Director to solicit competitive bids to provide partially underwritten intrastate passenger air service at the lowest underwriting costs.
(a) The director may exercise the authority provided in this article to solicit, from responsible bidders, bids to provide, for a twelve-month period, partially underwritten, reliable, regularly scheduled public passenger air service to state employees, legislators, members of various state boards and commissions, and members of the general public between and among communities in the state: Provided, That the director's authority to contract for services is limited to one twelve-month contract.
(b) To be eligible to respond to the solicitation, a bidder shall offer to provide at a minimum: (1) Round trip prices per passenger which do not exceed three hundred dollars; (2) a flight departure and arrival schedule which is determined by the director to be efficient and appropriate to achieve optimum cost-benefit in light of the official duties, responsibilities and work schedules of the passengers using the service; (3) aircraft which seats at least six passengers, and which meets other safety and comfort specifications determined by the director; and (4) other requirements and specifications determined by the director.
(c) At the conclusion of the bidding process, the director may, pursuant to the procedures provided in this article, award a contract to the lowest bidder, taking into consideration the qualities of the articles to be supplied, their conformity to the specifications, their suitability to the requirements of government and the delivery terms. Any or all bids may be rejected. The director may accept a bid and enter into a contract in which the guarantee amount shall not exceed the amount that the Legislature appropriated to the director for the air service for that fiscal year: Provided, That the contract shall provide that the administration of the air service to be rendered pursuant to the contract shall be in accordance with the emergency rules as promulgated by the director in accordance with section fifteen, article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.