u.s. Qep~.ntroent 

ol Tt£1nsportotlon 

of the Secretory 

oflronspQrtation April 12,10 ZOU 

Ms. ~u~n B~jg~ 

Chair) Clark Co.unty Board of COffi!lliSsioners 

P~O~ Box, 11005· 

tas\iegas)NV 89U 1-1005 

Dear Ms. Brager: 

Thank you fur your letter to Seer~tary LaHood.suppot·ting the application ofMN Aidinesl LLC., 

oper.ating~· JSun .C~untry ~irlines. (Sun .Cou~try), ror b.eyond .. perirnet~'~lot exemptions at 

Ronald Reaga~t.Wasl:tingtt>n NationaJ Air1Jort (DCA). Sun .Country's,applioaUon proposes:to 

set'Ve t.•s V~gas M~Garran lnten1ational Airport With one round trip per day from DCA. 

Secretary LaHolld asked that I respond .to your letter. 

llnder'authqrify granted in .the FAA Modernization and ~.forJl1 Act o£.2.0 12, the 

·u.s. Department Qfitansp¢rtatlorrwUr be awardfng to new ·entrant ¢t·lirhite.d incumbent 

carrier$ a.tota{ of eight $Jot exemptions at DCA, "Yb1ch woutd·$upport four d•dly round trips. 

We rec.eived' Sun Gount1-y~scam~U~llti(ln ~m Marcil 12. Other tin\ely appli~atio.l\8 we~,r:eceived 

.rio~ Air <;a!lll.d~ proposing.ot1e'roundtfip to Vnn~uver, ~ri~ish Colqmbia;,Alaska Airljn($. Qrte 

roundtrip to Snrt Di~gQ, O~lforitia, and· one ro!Jl\"d trip· to P<n:tland. Or~g(l!}: Frontier A.itlinest 

oneroundmp-to.Colorado Spring~l Cglon,(do, and beyond to San Diegc>;JetBllie Aidin<;is~ one 

tQ\lil~.:~l' t.c> San Juan* Puerto llico, and one round trip to Austit1, Texas: Southwest Nrifnes* one 

roun4 t~Ji~t$ (\U"stjri, tmd .~eyond tq San "Diego; and. Vltgin Arhed¢a, l11c,,. two roundtrip~ to 

San Frandsco. Califomht. 

As tM matter is stilt pending,,! catrn(lt comment on the tnents of the pe)int!i r!lised in your letter. l:Iowev~t, loaJ'l assure;youthat an·appfications.the Departntent received will bee gi\ren .. fuU and 

faitconsldetal:i~n.attd will be evaluated a~ainst tfte selec;tibn crite1·ia specifi~d irnhestatute. 

Tne Oepattroent~s. action on thi;rn1atterl~ ,b~ing ndrnhd~~ered ~hrough a publie d()cket~· whi~b 

allows. an. intimj$ted parti~s the oppurtunity to eoiltmf=nt. foUowing·:.out normal practieet I :am pla~ing a copy of your letter artd this response in doekehtUmber O:QT;.;2012..0029. 

l appte¢iate your interest in this 1t1aUe1f. 

Susan .L. Kurland 

Assistant ~seeretaryfo1· 

Aviation and International Affairs 
Department of Aviation 

RANDALL H. WALKEI=I t::Jir.~gCTOr4 

ROSEMARY A. VASSILIADIS 

t::ll:F'I.J'TY t:ur..JI;c:'JTOI'l 

McCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AlfWORT 

POSTAL SOX 11005 

l.AS VEGAS. NEVAOA 99111·-100~ 

{7021 291- 5211 

. . : . . . . . . ' . '. 

March 19,2012 

. . Hoilorabl~ Ray LaHood .. . . . , .. · Secretary oftran.spmtaiion . 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, D.C. 29590. · 

FAX(702l5S7-S66:3 

. .. , . :· .· . : . . ~ . ' .: ' . . . : . 

'···.·. ... . .. :'···· .... 

Dear Mi-. Secreta~:· · 

. MN Airiin~s. LLC db~ Sun Co1.mtryAirlfri.es recently flied an application for a~ailabie landing 

and takeoff slots at Ronald Re~gan Nation~! Airport in Washington, D.C. in order to provide 

·· da.ily nobstop.service between Reagan Natioilal'AifJ)ort (DCA) arid Las Vegas McCarran 

. Iriternational Airpcnt (LAS). Sun Couritry's·sc~edule would provide ·the only daYtime nonstop 

· , · · -: ·. · ·.flights 'iidhefourth~IargestpCAorigiri hnd destiilatiori market outside or' the pei-irrieter. ·:' 

$uri Cb,ili)try Airlines i~ well kn~wri nati~naliy for its excellent service and low fa.res. Awarding 

of the available takeoff and landing slots to Sun Country would provide an immediate 

· competitive benefit iti the Las Vegas-Washington, D.C. market, based on a doubling of the 

exi~ting nonstop service betWeen these ail-ports.. . . . . ··.' .: . 

Currently' nonstop_ se~~ice. is provided.soiely by us Airways~ featuring a late night arrival in Las 

Vegas ~ith a redeye retumtoWashington National. These hours are not convenient for many 

potential customers. Despite this, the mark~t generated an 86.5 percent load factor duririgthe . 

"}ate~f.year; and the average rriarJ(et fare. was $235, We}fabove the average fart:)S for Connecting . . service. between LAS and DCA:· . . . . ' ·. . . . . . . . . . . . 

By· contrast, Sun Country proposes an 1115 DCA departure with~ 13.09.LAS arrival, paired with 

· · · · an.lll5 LAS departure artd an 1839 DCA'arrival. This schedule \votild be much more convenient 

to a greater number of prospective customers, especially those from Las Vegas with business in 

Washington, D.C. · · 

I wo~ld veryimi~happ;e~iatey~u~ fa~or~bie c~~sideratlo~ ~fS~in C~~~ntry;s appiication·. 

SHIY, · .. ·... . \ .. D. A A• ' "-·. •· 

-~~~ ~~~-

SUSAN BRAGER 

Chair, Clark Co~nty Board of Copunissioners 

C.lm·.k County Boat·d of ColmnJs..•donet'tl . Su~<Hl Br<Jger, Chuir • S!t~VI! Sis<)lal,, Vice-Chair 

Larry .Brown • '!o'm Coilli'l$ • Chtis Gl\lncblgli;:.nl • Mmy f:k,th Scow • u~wrem:c Wedliy