BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

)

Application of )

)

SPIRIT AIRLINES, INC

. ) Docket OST

- 20 14

-

_____ )

for an exemption pursuant to )

49 U.S.C. § 40109 )

(Houston, Texas

– Cancun, M exico; )

Houston, Texas

– Los Cabos, Mexico; )

Houston, Texas

- Toluca, Mexico) )

)

APPLICATION OF SPIRIT AIRLINES, INC.

FOR AN EXEMPTION

Communications with respect to this docu ment should be sent to:

Joanne W. Young

David M. Kirstein

Kirstein & Young, PLLC

1750 K Street , N.W.

Suite 2 00

Washington, D.C. 2000 6

(202) 331

- 3348

(202) 331

- 3933

Attorneys for

SPIRIT AIRLINES, INC.

September 4, 2014

NOT ICE: SPIRIT WILL POLL U.S. CARRIERS

.BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

)

Application of )

)

SPIRIT AIRLINES, INC

. ) Docket OST

- 20 14

-

_____ )

for an exemption pursuant to )

49 U.S.C. § 40109 )

( Houston, Texas

– Cancun , Mexico; )

Houston, Texas

– Los Cabos, Mexico; )

Houston, Texas

- To luca , Mexico ) )

)

APPLICATION OF SPIRIT AIRLINES, INC.

FOR AN EXEMPTION

Pursu ant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109 and Subpart C of the Department’s Procedural Rules,

14 CFR § 302.301, et seq. , Spirit Airlines, Inc. (“Spirit”) applies for an exemption from 49

U.S.C. § 4 1101 authoriz ing it to engage in scheduled foreign air transportation of per sons,

property and mail between Houston , Texas , on the one hand, and Cancun, Mexico, Los Cabos,

Mexico and Toluca, Mexico on the other hand and to designate Spirit for such service

.

In support of this a pplication, Spirit states as follows:

1. Spirit is a corporation organized and existing under and pursuant to the laws of

the State of Delaware. Its principal office is located at 2800 Executive Way, Miramar, Florida

33025

. Spirit currently serves 5 6 destinations in the United States, Central America, th e

Caribbean, and South America.

2. Spirit was founded in 1980, and has international gateways in Detroit, Michigan

,

Dallas, Texas, Chicago, Illinois, San Diego, California and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. It is theApplication of Spirit Airlines

IAH

- CUN; IAH

- SJD; IAH

- TLC Exemptions

Page 2 of 4

leading low

- fare carrier serving routes bet ween the U.S. and the Caribbean, as well as Latin

America, currently serving 2 6 destinations in this region.

3. Spirit is a citizen of the United States within the meaning of 49 U.S.C.

§40102(a)(15). Its P resident and two

- thirds of its Board of Directo rs and other managing

officers are U.S. citizens

, and at least 75 percent of its voting stock is owned and controlled by

U.S. citizens.

4. Spirit’s Ultra Low Cost Carrier (“ULCC”) services provide significant public

benefits and advance the public interes t by making low cost air travel much more available in the

growing markets between the U.S. and Mexico and Latin America . S pecifically, Spirit plans to

expand its low fair service to Mexico. Since 2004 , Spirit has operated competitive s ervice to

Mexico. Currently, Spirit offers competitively priced flights from U.S. markets including

Dallas

- Fort Worth, Fort Lauderdale , San Diego and Detroit to Mexican cities including Cancun,

Toluca , and Los Cabos. Spirit n ow seeks to expand its service to Mexico by off ering direct

flight s in the following three city pairs: (1) Houston and Cancun ; (2) Houston and Los Cabo s ;

and (3) Houston and Toluca

. Cancun and Los Cabos are two of the biggest tourist destinations

in Mexico with thousands of American tourists visiting these vacation destinations each year. In

addition, the state capital of Mexico State

, Toluca is the center of the fifth largest urban area in

Mexico, has a large number of cultural tourism destinations

, and is second only to Mexico City

in the number of museums. Importantly, To luca ’s proximity to Mexico City enables p assengers

seeking non

- stop service to the capitol city of Mexico to have the additional low

- fare option of

flying into Toluca

.

5. Spirit ’s proposed service is authorized by A nnex I sections A1.a.

, B.4. and B.5

. and

B.7. of the U.S.

- Mexico Bilateral Air Transport Agreement as amended

, which permits theApplication of Spirit Airl ines

IAH

- CUN; IAH

- SJD; IAH

- TLC Exemptions

Page 3 of 4

United States to designate, from Houston, up to three U.S. carriers to serve Cancun and Los

Cabos and two U.S. carriers to serve Toluc a

. Currently, there are two designations available in

the Houston

- Cancun market, with United holding one designation, one designation available in

the Houston

- San Jose del Cabo market , with United and its regional affiliate , Express Jet,

holding two of the designations, and one designation available in the Houston

– Toluca market

with ExpressJet holding one of the two designations. Spirit’s service will clearly advance the

public interest by establishing a convenient low

- cost alternative for travel bet ween Houston,

Texas and all three proposed Mexican markets.

6

. The Department has repeatedly found Spirit fi t, willing, and able to provide

scheduled air transportation of persons, property, and mail. 1 Spirit holds a Certificate of Public

Convenience and Necessity to provide interstate air transportation of persons, property and mail

( Order 98

- 7

- 6 ), a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for foreign air transportation

of persons, property, and mail to all open

- skies countries (Order 2007

- 7

- 3) , a nd a consolidated

certificate of authority to provide combination service to limited

- entry markets (other than

Mexico) and non

- open skies markets

. See Order 2010

- 1

- 12. There have been no material

changes within the C ompany that would affect those prior f itness findings.

7

. Spirit plans to implement the reque sted service on or about May 7 , 2015 using

178 seat A320 aircrafts. Between May 7, 2015 and June 10, 2015, Spirit plans to initially

operate seasonal service with three rou ndtrip flights between Ho uston and Cancun, two weekly

roundtri p flights between Houston and Los Cabos and two weekly roundtrip flights between

Houston and Toluca. Beginning June 11, 2015, Spirit plans to expand its seasonal service and

begin operating daily roundtrip flights betw een Houston and Cancun, four weekly roundtrip

1 Spirit requests that the Department take official notice of the financial information it provides the Department on a

regular basis in its Form 41 reports

.Application of Spirit Airl ines

IAH

- CUN; IAH

- SJD; IAH

- TLC Exemptions

Page 4 of 4

flights between Houston and Los Cabos and three weekly roundtrip flights between Houston and

Toluca. The initial service schedule is set forth at Exhibit NK

- 1.

8

. Spirit will continue to abide by all of the conditions and limitations the

Department attaches to exemption authorities.

9

. Spirit ’s annual expected fuel burn for the following routes consists of the

following:

 Houston, Texas

– Cancun, Mexico

– 1, 231, 425 gallons

 Houston, Texa s

– Los Cabos, Mexico

– 812, 38 8 gallons

 Houston, Texas

– Toluc a, Mexico

– 564,491 gallons

All of these forecasts are well below the ten million gallon threshold specified in Section

313.4(a)(1) of the Department’s regulations. Approval of Spirit’s application does not qualify as

a major regulatory action under Part 313 of the Department’s rules.

WHEREFORE, for the foregoing reasons, Spirit respectfully requests that the

Department grant the exemption authority requested above for a minimum period of two years

and desi gnate Spirit for this service. Spirit further requests any different or additional relief that

the Department may deem necessary

.

Respectfully submitted,

Joanne W. Young

David M. Kirstein

Kirstein & Young, PLLC

1750 K Street, N.W.

Suite 200

Washingt on, D.C. 20006

(202) 331

- 3348

(202) 331

- 3933

Attorneys for

SPIRIT AIRLINES, INC.

September 4, 2014EXHIBIT NK

- 1

Page 1

S PIRIT A IRLINES

, INC.

H OUSTON (IAH )

– C ANCUN (CUN ) S ERVICE

M AY 7, 2015

– J UNE 10, 2015

Departure Arrival Flight Stops Frequ ency Equipment

IAH

11 :45 am CUN

1 :49 pm 488 0 Monday,

Wednesday

and Saturday 320

CUN

2 :40 pm IAH

5 :04 pm 489 0 Monday,

Wednesday

and Saturday 320

H OUSTON (IAH)

– C ANCUN (CUN) S ERVICE

E FFECTIVE J UNE 11, 2015

Depart ure Arrival Flight Stops Fr equency Equipment

IAH

11 :45 am CUN

1 :49 pm 488 0 Daily 320

CUN

2 :40 pm IAH

5 :04 pm 489 0 Daily 320

H OUSTON (IAH)

– L OS C ABOS

, M EXICO (SJD) S ERVICE

M AY 7, 2015

- J UNE 10, 2015

Departure Arrival Flight Stops Frequency Equipment

IAH

10 :35 a m SJD

12 :13 pm 471 0 Tuesday and

Friday 320

SJD

1 :15 pm IAH

4 :58 pm 472 0 Tuesday and

Friday 320EXHIBIT NK

- 1

Page 2

H OUSTON (IAH)

– L OS C ABOS

, M EXICO (SJD) S ERVICE

E FFECTIVE JUNE 11, 2015

Departure Arrival Flight Stops Frequency Equipment

IAH

10 :35 am SJD

12 :13 pm 471 0 Monday,

Wednesday,

Friday, and

Saturday 320

SJD

1 :15 pm IAH

4 :58 pm 472 0 Monday,

Wednesday,

Friday, and

Saturday 320

H OUSTON (IAH)

– T OLUCA (TLC) S ERVICE

M AY 7, 2015

- J UNE 10, 2015

Departure Arrival Flight Stops Frequency Equipmen t

IAH

10 :45 am TLC

12 :55 pm 493 0 S unday and

Thursday 320

TLC

2 :15 pm IAH

4 :35 pm 494 0 Sunday and

Thursday 320

H OUSTON (IAH)

– T OLUCA (TLC) S ERVICE

E FFECTIVE JUNE 11, 2015

Departure Arrival Flight Stops Frequency Equipment

IAH

10 :45 am TLC

12 :55 pm 493 0 Sunday,

Tuesday and

Thursday 320

TLC

2 :15 pm IAH

4 :35 pm 494 0 Sunday,

Tuesday and

Thursday 320

Notes:

1. All times listed are local times.CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that I have this day served the foregoing “A pplication of Spirit Airlines,

Inc. for an Exemption” by email on the following persons:

gmurphy@crowell.com

dan.weiss@united.com

steve.morrissey@united.com

anita.mosner@hklaw.com

jennifer.nowak@hklaw.com

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com

sametta.c.barne tt@delta.com

chris.walker@delta.com

jrichardson@johnlrichardson.com

jCanny@amerijet.com

cefelts@fedex.com

Chuck.Hill@airtransport.cc

robert.wirick@aa.com

howard.kass@aa.com

francis.heil@aa.com

john.s.duncan@faa.gov

agoerlich@ ggh

- airlaw.com

rsilverberg@sgbdc.com

jjohnson@sgbdc.com

brian.hedberg@dot.gov

brett.kruger@dot.gov

Mario

. Diaz @ houstontx

. gov marshall.sinick@squirepb.com

dwight.moore@ustranscom.mil

rpommer@atlasair.com

matwood@cozen.com

jhill@dowlohnes.com

thomas.Ting@suncountry.com

john@mietuslaw.com

mgoldman@sgbdc.com

kevin.montgomery@ polaraircargo.com

peter.beckett@polaraircargo.com

stephen.lachter@lachterlaw.com

reese.davidson@dot.gov

robert.finamore@dot.gov

bob.kneisley@w nco.com

leslie.abbott@wnco.com

robert.cohn@hoganlovells.com

patrick.rizzi@hoganlovells.com

barbara.russell@virginamerica.com

john.varley@virginamerica.com

pmurphy@lopmurphy.com

perkmann@cooley.com

englets@state.gov

David Kirstein

September 4, 2014