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Office of the Secretafv 

of Transportation 

OCT 2 5 2010 

Mr. Eric J. Coilin 

Executive Vice President 

Finergy Development LLC 

2170 Main Street, Suite 401 

Sarasota, FL 34237 

Dear Mr. Collin: 

Thank you for your letter of October 6 to Secretary LaHood supporting AirTran Airways. 

Inc. (AirTran) to serve Sarasota. Florida, in the ongoing slot-exemption proceeding at 

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). The Secretary has asked that I 

respond to your letter directly. 

As you know, the VS. 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, Michigan, 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-seai 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 cannot 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. Eric J. Collin 

Paee 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 capita/. If I can provide further 

information or assistance, please feel free to call me. 

iacerely yours. 

lusan L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 

Si 
finergy 

DEVELOPMENT, LLC 

October 6,2010 

The Honorable Ray H, LaHood 

Secretary of Transportation 

U.S. Department ot Transportation 

1200 New Jereey Avenue, S.E. 

Washington, DC 20590 

RE: Dockel OST-2000-7182 

Dear Secretory LaHood: 

We ore writing to express our support for the application ot AirTran Airways Inc. for the two 

available Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) within-perimeter slots being 

allocated by the Department in Docket OST-2000-7182 to provide nonstop service trom Sarasota 

Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) to DCA. 

The Sarasota Bradenton area has only one daily nonstop on a regional jet to Washington, DC, 

even though It is the sixth largest destination market from this area. With over 750,000 residents 

and our prime locatfon as a leisure destination for tourists, SRQ can certainly support additional 

service and It would be a great help to the tourism Industry in this region, which suffered a 

significant Impacl from the BP oil spill. This new service would also mitigate the negative 

economic impact the recession has had on the community and the airport. 

While AirTran also offers an alternative to award the route to Southwest Florida International 

(RSW), we ask that the slot be awarded to Airtran conditioned on the slot be utilized for SRQ. In 

addition to enhancing competition and lowering fares at Sarasota Bradenton International 

Airport, the proposed service would Increase connectivity to destinations in the Northeast and 

Midwest, critical mar*;ets for our region, 

Thank you for your consideration. 

Sincerely 

Eric J. Collin 

Executive Vice President 

Rnergy Development LLC 

CC: Fredrick (Rick) J. Piccolo, AAE, President, Chief Executive Officer, Sarasota Bradenton 

Infematfonal Airport, 6000 Airport Circle, Sarasota, FL 34243 

FL 34237-9024 

Tel (941) 917-0494 Fax (941) 917-0491 

www.finergydeveiopment.com