& 

•1 1 r*' ~ ^' ' 

U.S. Departmen t o f Ajsi-.rjnt Secre-r.ir^-^ • < L.: 1,'li lO:' , . l,''00 Nev. Jersey Ave . S E 

Transportatio n .v..n,ng,an. DC .-0590 

Office of ttie Secretary ••• ' >' '^'': P i- 'a3 

of Transportation 

OCT 2 5 2010 

Mr. Robert F. Selig, A.A.E. 

Executive Director 

Capital Region Airport Authority 

4100 Capital City Boulevard 

Lansing, MI 48906 

Dear Mr. Selig: 

Thank you for your letter of October 5 to Secretary LaHood supporting Sun Country 

Airlines to serve Lansing, Michigan, in the ongoing slot-exemption proceeding at Ronald 

Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). The Secretary has asked that 1 respond to 

your letter directly. 

As you know, the U.S. Department of Transportation commenced a proceeding on 

August 30 to reallocate two DCA slot exemptions that are currently being used by 

Republic Airline, Inc. (Republic). Republic has been using these two slot exemptions for 

DCA - Kansas City service. These slot exemptions may be used to serve any medium 

hub or smaller airport within the 1,250-mile perimeter of DCA. 

We have received a total of five proposals, briefly outlined below: 

• Sun Country to serve Lansing with 129- or 162-seat aircraft; 

• Republic Airline, Inc., branded as Frontier Airlines, to continue to serve Kansas 

City, Missouri, with 99-seat regional jet aircraft; 

• Southwest Airlines Co., to serve Kansas City utilizing 137-seat aircraft; 

• US Airways, Inc., to serve Pensacola, Florida, utilizing 76- or 86-seat regional jet 

aircraft, depending on the season; and 

• Air Tran Airways, Inc., to serve either Fort Myers or Sarasota, Florida, utilizing 

either 117- or 137-seat aircraft. 

As the slot exemption proceeding is competitive and is currently under review by the 

Department, I am sure you understand that I caiinot comment on the merits of the 

proposals. I assure you, however, that the Department will fully consider all of the 

proposals, and make its award based on the selection criteria detailed in the governing 

statutes. 
Mr. Robert F. Selig, A.A.E. 

Page 2 

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

DOT-OST-2000-7182 as a contact outside the record of this proceeding. I appreciate 

your interest in obtaining access to the Nation's capital. If I can provide further 

infonnation or assistance, please feel free to call me. 

rely yours, 

fusan L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
W^^^^HrK EGioN AIRPORT AUTHORITY 

Chris HolmMD 

Chuinnjn 

Dick Biikcr 

Vlctor CclcDtintt 

Todd Cook 

Piul UursHcel 

Hoberit St/tg.AAt 

LxectHn4 Diretiar 

Octobers, 2010 

The Honorable Raymond L. LaHood 

Secretary of Transportation 

United States Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Re: Sun Country Airlines Application - #DOT-OST-2000-7182 

Dear Secretary LaHood: 

The Capital Region Airport Authority supports and requests approval of the Sun 

Country Application referenced above. 

Non-stop service to Washington DC is in great demand In the Greater Lansing 

Region. This service would replace the successful Independence Air service that 

was lost in 2005 due to the airline bankruptcies. Since then, Lansing has remained 

one of the few state capitals without non-stop service to Washington. 

Additionally, Lansing, Ml air service, has suffered greatly as a result of airline 

bankruptcies and airline mergers in recent years. The attached five year summary 

demonstrates that the Delta - Northwest t>ankruptcy and merger resulted in a 

decline of 3,456 flights (-59.6%) from 2004 to 2009. Note that this decline in airline 

flights also resulted in a significant decline of 348,948 total passengers (-59.1%) 

processed through the Capital Region International Airport during the same period. 

Accordingly, the new Sun Country service will begin to fill the void in airiine service 

for Mid-Michigan. Your approval of the Sun Country slot application will be greatly 

appreciated. 

Sincerely, 

Robert F. Selig, AAE 

Executive Director 

CaptuI Region (mertutional Airpon • 4ICK) Capital City Blvd. • Uniing, Michigan 49906 « 3l7-32t-6[2i • Fax jf 7-321'6l97 

\^ww.fl>lan^iii^ com 
8 8 8 8 8 

I' § § § g g i 

e 

& 

c 

I 

I 

o 

1 

«0 

0» 

3 

I 

1 I 

§ 8" §" 8" §" ?" 8 a" * * • rt t o M w ' »- *-

5 f'S 

i 

U I 

III 

i f 

z 

5 S^c^ ^ oi S 3 

T- (P Ki S 

_. . K^ * Oft r^. 

o n D ^ fO w 

» ^ n n « 1 -

S S 3 St S S 

PS p j Si CM « tI 

38'S SIR 

I 

gig 

" ^ lO trf rt o" N w 

S tn A n n n 

V «" f^ N w N 

i§J.p§ ' 

lO (p r- «o 

gi§g