### BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

__________________________________________ )

Essential Air Service at )

)



### ATHENS , GEORGIA ) OST

- 2002

- 11348

)

Under 49 U.S.C. §417 31 et seq. )

__________________________________________

SUN AIR INTERNATIONAL P ROPOSAL

TO PROVIDE S UBSIDIZED ESSENTIAL AIR SERICE

By Order 2012

- 7

- 15 , the Department requested proposals from carriers interested in providin g

Essential Air Service to Athens

, Georgia . Pursuant to that order, Sun Air Express, LLC . (“Sun

Air”) cordially submits this proposal to provide subsidize d air service to the community of

Athens, GA

.

Correspondence with regard to this document shoul d be addressed to:

Thomas L. Cooper

President & CEO

Sun Air Express, LLC

. d ba Sun Air International

3201 Griffin Road,

Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33312

Telephone: 954

- 660

- 9865

Fax: 954

- 894

- 0367

E

- Mail: tlcooper@gosunair.com



## Bid Summary

Sun Air hereby offer s a proposal to provide serv ice to the community of Athens, Georgia from

Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport for a two

- year period

. Sun Air’s proposed operations will

be operated with nine

- passenger twin

- engine Piper Chieftain aircraft. Flights will be displayed in

major travel agent systems includ ing Online Travel Agencies

. Sun Air’s bid is contingent upon

Sun Air being awarded Essential Air Service to Macon, Georgia and confirmation of effective

interline e

- ticketing with Delta Air Lines.

Over t he past several years, passenger traffic to Athens has dropped substantially, which Sun Air

believes is the result of prohibitive ly high fares combined with limited interline connections, as

well as providing only two round trip flights per day. The combi ned effect of expensive tickets,

difficult connections and infrequent flights makes the service of limited value to the public. Sun

Air believes it can successfully rebuild the passenger traffic base, and enable Athens to not onlyremain eligible for the Essential Air Service program, but put the airport on a path to sustained

major hub connectivity.

According to DOT T

- 100 traffic reports, i n 2007 Athens enplaned 5,392 passengers (one way to

Charlotte) with 636 departures. By 2011 passenger enplanements at AHN had dropped to 880.

Sun Air’s proposal assumes 4,440 enplaned passengers (one way to Atlanta) on 1,121 departures.

Sun Air believes that providing a sufficient number of frequencies to the Athens community (up

to four daily round trips) along wit h low unrestricted fares provides the right formula for proper

service to the community. Sun Air recognizes that the Department’s Order requested two daily

round trips, however the company believes that the service pattern proposed here is necessary to

pr operly service the community and rebuild the passenger traffic base to previous levels. Sun

Air’s projected annual passenger enplanements of 8,879 passengers, or 24 per day, would put it

well above the statutory requirement as well as maintain the overall subsidy level well below the

$200 per passenger limitation.

Sun Air has constructed its’ proposal to incorporate the following essential elements of providing

successful, quality air transportation in these proposed markets:

1. LOW FARES: Sun Air will m arket its flights with a simple, low unrestricted price

, ranging

from $2 9 to $ 5 9 each way. The company is projecting net average fares approximately $35 each

way , net of taxes . Sun Air strongly believes that low unrestricted fares are essential to facili tating

passenger flight connections , particularly whe n using standard interline connections

.

Savings to customers will be substantial. Sun Air’s lo cal f ares will be 80 % lower than those

currently available, allowing passengers to take advantage of interl ine connections that are

currently too expensive to utilize.

2. FREQUENT FLIGHTS: Athens is currently provided with two weekday flights, one in the

morning and one in the evening. Sun Air proposes to provide a total of 22 weekly round trip

flights. Sun Air would offer f our (4) weekday round trips on peak days (Monday, Thursday and

Friday) along with three (3) daily round trips on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Two (2) daily

round trips would be provided on Saturdays and Sundays. This schedule pattern, outl ined in the

attached Schedule 1, offers what Sun Air believes to be an effective balance of flight frequency

by day of week that meets the communities’ needs and minimizes the necessary subsidy

requirements.

3 . INTERLINE E

- TICKETING AND BAGGAGE AGREEMENT S : Sun Air has provided for a

significant investment in reservations and distribution systems to acquire access to industry

i nterline and baggage agreements with most major airlines . These agreements allow for

passengers to complete their itinerary on a single ticket, and allow for that full itinerary to be

displayed in Global Distribution Systems and Online Travel Agencies.

Sun Air recognizes that this interlining capability is critical to rebuilding the Athens traffic base,

and has submitted its propo sal contingent upon enabling effective interline agreements with Delta

Air Lines, the dominant carrier at Atlanta. While Sun Air’s reservations system will have

existing e

- ticketing and baggage interlining capability, which allows for the connections betw een

airlines, improvements are needed in the set

- up between the two airlines’ systems that enables

full connectivity. Currently those capabilities have very limited connections with Delta. Sun Airplans to discuss this issue with Delta and provide confir mation to the community that if selected

for Athens EAS service, effective interlining capability with Delta would be in place.

5. A COMMITMENT TO RELIABILITY: Sun Air’s operations include investment in a regional

maintenance base, staffed by a full comp lement of technicians, as well as a full

- time backup

aircraft for its Atlanta operations

.



## Service Proposal

Sun Air will provide four (4) daily round trips per weekday to Athens three days per week

, three

(3) round trip flights per day on two days per w eek, and (2) daily round trips each on Saturday

and Sunday. All flights will ope rate on a non

- stop basis to Atlanta ’s Hartsfield International

Airport. Sun Air’s bid is contingent upon Sun Air being awarded Essential Air Service to Macon,

Georgia and co nfirmation of effective interline e

- ticketing with Delta Air Lines.

Sun Air proposes an Essential Air Service subsidy o f $660 per departure for a two

- year period

.

A representative schedule, along with passenger, revenue and cost projections, are incor porated in

Schedule 1.



### About Sun Air International

Sun Air Express, LLC dba Sun Air International is a Fort Lauderdale, FL based commuter air

carrier currently serving Florida and the Bahamas. Sun Air is in the process of beginning

Essential Air Service to the community of Victoria, Texas from Houston Intercontinental Airport,

as well as service to Lancaster, PA and Hagerstown, MD from Washington Dulles International

Airport.

Sun Air currently has a fleet of six Piper Chieftain aircraft, all owned free and clear, and is

prepared to acquire sufficient additional aircraft needed to support the proposal awarded here.

The airline has been in operation for more than ten years, and was purchased in May, 2011 by

Thomas L. Cooper. Mr. Cooper is the founde r of several regional airlines, including Gulfstream

International Airlines, where he also founded Sun Air as a subsidiary of Gulfstream

. He sold his

interests in Gulfstream to a private investment group in 2006. Mr. Cooper has been involved in

aviation for more than 40 years, including more than 20 years as a 727 Captain for Eastern

Airlines in addition to his extensive career with regional airlines. Since his acquisition of Sun Air

in May of last year, he has invested heavily in new aircraft, support e quipment and additional

support personnel.

## SCHEDULE 1

Representative Timetable (Peak Day Schedule)

FROM TO DEPT ARR

ATHENS ATLANTA 0700 AM 745 AM

0945 AM 10 30 A M

230 PM 315 PM

515 PM 6 00 PM

ATLANTA ATHENS 815 AM 900 AM

1100 AM 114 5 A M

345 PM 43 0 PM

745 PM 8 30 PM

Projected Operations

Annual

AHN

- ATL

Passenger $ 319,654

Other Revenues 4,795

TOTAL OPERATING REVENUE $ 324,449

OPERATING EXPENSES

Flight Operations 211,050

Fuel & Oil 385,385

Maintenance 346,957

Passenger Service 526,343

Aircraft Ownership 78,976

Other 170,740

Total Operating Cost 1,719,451

OPERATING INCOME/(LOSS) $(1,395,002)

Profit Element

- 5% of Operating Costs $ 85,973

Subsidy Required $(1,480,975)ASMs (000's) 1,352,071

RPMs (000s) 594,911

Load Factor 44.0%

Average Fare $ 36.00

EAS Subsidy per Departure $ 660

Departures 2,242

Block Hours 1,682

Flight Hours 1,121

Available Seats 20,180

Passengers 8,879

In conclusi on, Sun Air believes that its proposal will provide excellent leve ls of serv ice to the

community of Athens

, and ensure s that they have proper access to the national air transportation

network, offer ing cost

- effective options that meet the requirements of t he Essential Air Service

Program.

Respectfully Submitted: August 15 , 2012

____ __________________ Thomas L. Cooper

President & CEO

Sun Air Express, LLC