### BEFORETHE DEPARTMENTOFTRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON,D.C.

EssentialAirService at 

### Muscle Shoals,Alabama Greenville,Mississippi Laurel/Hattiesburg,Mississippi Tupelo, Mississippi Under49 U.S.C. §41731 

### etseq. ) ) ) 

### ) OST-2000-7856 ) OST-2008-0209 ) OST-2001-10685 ) OST-2009-0305 ) )



### SUNAIRINTERNATIONALPROPOSAL TO PROVIDE SUBSIDIZEDESSENTIALAIRSERICE By Order 2014-4-24, the Department requested proposals from carriers interested in providing Essential Air Service to the communities of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Greenville, Laurel/Hattiesburg, Meridian and Tupelo Mississippi. Pursuantto those orders, Sun AirExpress, LLC. ("SunAir") cordially submits this proposal to provide subsidized air serviceto four ofthose communities.
Correspondence with regard tothis document shouldbe addressedto: David Hackett ChiefExecutive Officer Sun AirExpress, LLC. d/b/a Sun Air International 3201 Griffin Road, Suite 202 Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33312 Telephone: 954-660-9865 Fax: 954-894-0367 E-Mail: dhackett@gosunair.com


## Bid Summary Sun Air hereby offers proposals to provide service to the commumttes of Muscle Shoals, Greenville, Laurel/Hattiesburg, andTupelo. Laurel/Hattiesburg would be provided serviceto and from New Orleans, LA while the otherthree cities would be served viaMemphis. All of Sun Air's proposals are for a period of three years. The company plans to make substantial infrastructure and marketing investments should it be awarded the cities, and believes that a longerthan normal contract length is neededto sufficiently recoverthose investments.Sun Air proposes to operate high frequency, low fare service using 8-passenger Piper Chieftain Aircraft. Sun Air's management believes that this model is well suited to serve the markets with properly timed schedules and the ability to provide high levels of sustained reliability, a significantproblem all ofthe cities have faced recently. Sun Air's operating plans are based upon having multiple back-up aircraft and an ample availability ofreserve flight crews. Since Sun Air's current management took over operations late last year, the airline's operational performance has ranked among the best in the airline industry, andthat such sustainedreliability is key to rebuilding enplanement levels. 

### Sun Air'sproposals toprovide service to Muscle Shoals and Greenville are contingent upon its' proposal to provide service to Tupelo being selected. 

## Ifselectedfor Tupelo, Sun Air would provide service to either Muscle Shoals or Greenville, as well as both cities. Service to Laurel/Hattiesburg is stand-alone and not dependent upon being selectedfor any other market here. Flights will be displayed in all the major travel agent systems, and also available for booking on the company's web site. Interline connections are available with most U.S. major airlines via Sun Air'scontracted distribution capabilities. The respective subsidy amounts for each city pair are listed in Schedule 1includedherein.


### Service Proposal Sun Air's proposed weekly frequencies are shown below. Each community would have at least one overnight aircraftto enable an early morning departure and evening arrival. Flight schedules throughoutthe rest ofthe day would be spread out, and wouldbe finalized in cooperation withthe respective community. None ofthe markets envision one-stop orthrough flights

...all are nonstop. Proposed Flight Frequencies, Round Trip (final allocations ofweekday and weekend flights to be confirmed basedupon community input; total weekly flights would be as proposed). Muscle Shoals: Greenville, MS: each weekend day. 21 Weekly roundtrips, three eachday to Memphis. 24 Weekly round trips to Memphis; four duringthe weekdays andtwo Laurel/Hattiesburg: 26 Weekly roundtrips to New Orleans, four duringthe weekdays and three each weekendday. Tupelo: 31 Weekly round trips to Memphis, with five duringthe weekdays and three each weekendday. Local fares would be setfor effectiveness of"add-on" prices to flights each respective hub, generally inthe $29 to $59 range each way. Interline connections are available through major travel systems, including the ability for through-checking ofbaggage. Sun Air is in the process ofinstalling enhanced baggage storage features on its aircraft which will substantially improve its capacity for checkedbaggage handling that meets all relevant TSA requirements. Previously, the company's aircraft have hadlimitations on baggage capacity, particularly with respect to large hard-sided bags that did not fit in the existing storage facilities.



### About Sun AirInternational Sun Air Express, LLC d/b/a Sun Air International is a Fort Lauderdale, FL based commuter air carrier currently servingmarkets in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland andTexas. The airline has operated charters and limited scheduled service within Florida and the Bahamas for a number ofyears. New management was brought in near the end of2013, and since that time has focused on improving operations and initiating arange ofmarketing activities. Operational improvements at the airline have been significant. For the Year to Date period, Sun Air is operating at more than a 98% controllable completion factor (percentage of scheduled flights that are completed, excluding weather).

### SCHEDULE 1

Annual Projected Operations

Passenger Revenue $444,532 $ 504,038 $ 483,845 $ 526,296 Flight Operations 803,444 1,047,881 850,893 875,582 Maintenance 422,598 629,557 427,361 550,267 Sales & Service 865,582 1,090,963 961,988 1,151,562 Aircraft Ownership 103,500 138,000 103,500 138,000 Other Expenses 173,000 308,000 288,000 208,000 Total Operating Costs 2,368,124 3,214,401 2,631,743 2,923,410 Operating Profit/(Loss) $(1,923,592) $(2,710,363) $(2,147,899) $(2,397,115) Profit Element (5%) (118,406) (160,720) (131,587) (146,171)
SubsidyRequired $(2,041,998} ${2,871,083} $(2,279,486} $(2,543,285}

ASMs 2,340,549 2,235,651 2,399,555 2,450,365 RPMs 1,474,546 1,386,103 1,439,733 1,592,737 Load Factor 63.0% 62.0% 60.0% 65.0% Block Hours 2,323 2,699 2,336 2,530 Annual Departures 2,151 3,176 2,459 2,663 Available Seats 17,210 25,405 19,668 21,308 Enplaned Passengers 10,842 15,751 11,801 13,850 Average Segment Fare $41.00 $32.00 $41.00 $38.00 Subisdy per Departure $(949) $(904) $(927) $(955) 1/MSL and GLH proposals are contingent upon being selected for TUP.In conclusion, Sun Air believes that its proposal will provide excellent levels of service to the communities, and ensures that they have proper access to the national air transportation network, offering cost-effective options thatmeettherequirements ofthe Essential Air Service Program. Respectfully Submitted: June 2, 2014

David F. Hackett ChiefExecutive Sun Air Express, LLC