U.S. Department 

of Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

Mr. Ken R. Spirito. A.A.E. 

Executive Director · 

Assistant Secretary 

July 3, 2012 

·Newport Nc\vs/Williamsburg International Airport 

900 Bland Blvd .. Suite 0 

Newport News, VA · 23602-4319 

Dear Mr. Spirito: 

... . ·~ •. . 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washinfjton, DC 205()0 

.,:: . .-:. ... .. 

'Thank you for your letter addressed to Secretary L<ll-food suppot1ing the proposal siibniitfed by 

the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport for a grant under the U.S. Department' of 

Transportation's Small Community Air Service Development Program. The Secretary has 

requested that l respond on his behalf 

The Small Community Air Service Development Program was established to help smaller 

communities address air service ddiciencies, particularly issues related to high airfares or 

insufficient service. Under the statute. the Department may make a maximum of 40 grant 

awards each ye.ar, although no more than4 awards may be t0 communities .in the 1-inmo-State. 

In order to provide communities with latitude in developing solutions to their air service 

deficiencies, the statute provides llcxibility in the types of projects that can be funded. 

Qn May 15. theJ!epart,ment issued an order requesting that communities intcrcs_tcd in ~cceiving a 

grant this year tile their applications by June II. As these grant requests are pending before· the 

Department. I cannot comment on the merits of any particular proposal. I assure you that the 

Department will give full and fi1ir consideration to all proposals that have been properly tiled. 

As is our normal practice, I am placing a copy of your letter and this response in Docket 

DOT-OST-2012-0069 as a contact outside the record of this matter. I appreciate your interest in 

this program. 

Sincerely yours. 

Susan L. Kl.1rland 

Assistant Secretary f(Jr 

Aviation and International Afll1irs 
Jum: 11,2012 

The Honorable Ray II. LaHood 

Sccn.:tary 

NfWI'e>l1l NEWS VIII LlAMSfJUfJ'--" 

I :1 I [ ~ ,'Ud I 0 /1 Ji I 1\ I R P lH f 

United States Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. 

\Vnshington, D.C. 20590 

RE: Newport Ncws/Willi:unshurJ.! lnt~rnational Airport 

Small Community Air Service Dcvdopmcnt <;rant Application 

DOT Docl<ct DOT -OST-20 12-01Jb9 

Dear Secret:uy LaHood, 

Encluscd is our application Ulldl!r thu Small Community Air Service Development Urant progzan1. ;\s 

you will find in the application, the Newport News/ \Vi lliamsburg lnt<:rnational :\ irport (PI I F) has 

ut1Je:,·gone a signitlcant rl.!duction in ckparting seal capacity as a direct result-of the nctjttisition oft\ irf'ran 

Airwnys by Southw<:st Airlines :md tlw d~:cision to terminate service inh) the PHF market. Further 

exacerbating the lost scat capacity was a competitivo response from Delta Air l -incs to down-gauge 

aircraft serving the PHr market. This has had unlortunntc negative ramilications including the 

elimination of 75 full time equivalent airpwi, airline, concession and TS/\ employees and a $150 million 

reduct inn in total ccono111 ic impact.. · . ,.. 

()m tlhj~.:ctivc is to n.:placc lost nonstop ~crvict: to NL:w York and lhlston n1arkct:;. We :dso (lt;sirc to 

increase: our huh conuectivity by ·.vo;·kin~ with LS :\irways to up-gauge aircrai't into their Charlotte hub 

and working with otiH.:r carriers to provide nottstop !1ights to Chic<~go U'llarc and/or Dallas-Ft. \V\lrth. 

Towards this, our grant request i:; tor $2,000,000 to be u:;.::d for rcwnuc guarantees. The lncnl community 

and airport arc ready and willing to invl!st :ill ,600,000 inmatdting funds. 

We hope you and your . .;taft' rccognizc the tlH:nts ot' our application ;tnd the many bcndits it will bring t11 

the n~sidcnts nnd businesses in Southeast Viq1.inia. We thank you !(n· yom time and c0nsidcration and 

:1pplaud the LJcpartmL:nl tor continuit1g this vital program for small con1munitics. 

-:~~r ~; r/2'?/~ .gr 

Kclif(spirito, A.AE. 

E:-;ccutivc Director