'·. 

### U.S. Deportment

. of 

### Transportation Office of the Secretory of

### Transportation



## The Honorable Patsy Keever 

## N.C. House ofReprcser1tatives
. 16 

## W;·Jones Street Raleigh, NC 

## 2760I Dear Ms. Keever: Assistant Socrctary 

## July 3, 2012 1200 NewJersey Avenue. SE washir.gton. DC 20590



## Thank you for your letter addressed to Secretary LaHood supporting the proposal submitted by the Asheville·Regional Airport for 

## agrnntundcr the U.S. Department ofTransportation's Small Community Air 

## Service Development Program. The Secretary has 

## requested that I

## respond on his behalf. The Small Community Air Service Development Program was established to help smaller communities address air service deficiencies, particularly issues related to high airfares or insufficient service. Under the 

## statute, the Department may make a 

## ma-ximum of40 grant awards each year, although no more than 4 awards may be to communities in the sumc State. 

## In orderto provide comrpunitics vvith lll.,titude in developing solutions 

## to their air service deficiencies, the statute provides llexibility in the types ofprojects that can be funded. On May 15, the 

## Department issued an 

## order requesting that 

## communities interested in receiving 

## a grant this year file their applications by June 11. 

## As these grant requests arc pending before the Department, I 

## cannot comment oi1 

## the 

## mt:tits ofany 

## particular proposal. I

## assure you that the**D~:partment** 

## will give full and fair consideration to all 

## proposals that have been 

## properly tiled. As 

## is our normal practice, I 

## am 

## placing a 

## copy ofyour letter and this response in 

## Docket DOT-OST-2012-0069 as a 

## contact outside the record ofthis matter. 

## I 

## appreciate your interest in this 

## program. Sincerely,yours,



## Susan L. 

## Kurland Assistant Secretary for Aviation und International Affairs . ,... •' ...... ' 

# -**~.art~** 

# <Uarolina**(~~mrru**

# l\rux.emhllJ**~ous2** 

### of**~pr£s£nbdiues** REPRESENTATIVE PATSY KEEVER I 15TH**OIS~RICT O~~ICE**  AODR£98: 1317 L.EGISLATIV£ BUII.OING 16 W. JONES STREET RALEIGH, NC 27601·1096 Ttt.EPHONI!: (919) 733·6743 (9 I 9) 754·3244 Filii EMAit.: patsy.keever@ncfeg.net DISTRICT: BUNC:OMBK COUNTY

' .,.**·~-.h**...' \**'~ ~**  The Honorable Ray LaHood, Secretary U.S. Department ofTransportation 400 71 h Street, SW Room 10200 Washington, D.C. 20590 Dear Secretary LaHood: June 4, 2012 COMMITTEES: AGRICULTU11E APPROPRIATIONS APPROPRIATIONS JUSTICE ANO PUBLIC SAFETY

_ .• ENVI'RONMeNT

GOVI!RNMENT STAT!! PERSONNEL

Iam pleased to write in strong support ofthe Asheviile Regional Airport's Small Community Air Service Development Grant, which will allow fornew and improved service in the w.estem region ofourstate. Ourregion 

### is growing, and enhanced air service is imperative to the economic vitality ofthe area. Quality air service aids our economy through improved access for visitors, tourism and is important to business growth and retention. The western region has a noted connection to the 

### Denvermarket- both from a leisure and business travel perspective. We know that 

### 5% ofinbound travelers come fromCoJorado,.and many more from the west. Also, significant business development•is occurring by Colorado- and western state-based businesses in the Western North Carolina region. Enhanced air serviceto and from Denver and western states is a positive fiit for the direction of growth this region is experiencing. The Asheville Regional Airport has put together a two-fold plan to mitigatethe rising air fares they are experiencing due to the loss ofAlrTran Airways this year. The plan focuses on attracting another low-cost airservice provider to serve the Denvermarket, and potentially additional markets lost when AirTran was acquired by Southwest. Second, the plan ensures that sufficient marketing will occurto supportthe new low-fare carrier's success in the WNC market, and includes a focus on strengtheningthe newly formed travel advisorygroup. Thank you for your consideration ofthe Asheville Regional Airport's grantrequest. · Sincerely,

# Oa:-br~

# :&.e.uv-J**Representat~ve** Patsy Keever , NC House District 115- Buncombe County


### PUTTTNG PEOPLE FIRST