o ::^;ATiO:'; 

U^D«partin«nt of Assistant Secretary 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Trtinfportatkjn , .. .-, r j '^?^\>i^^on. DC 20590 

Office of The Secretary 

of Transportation 

OCT 2 5 2010 

Mr. John Truscott 

President 

The John Truscott Group 

124 W. Allegan Street, Suite 802 

Lansing, MI 48933 

Dear Mr. Truscott: 

Thank you for your letter of October 8 to Secretary LaHood supporting Sun Country 

Airlines to serve Lansing, Michigan, 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 U.S. 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 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-seat 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. John Truscott 

Page 2 

As is our normal practice, I am placing a copy of your letter and my respon.se 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 capital. If I can provide further 

information or assistance, please feel free to call me. 

cerely your 

lusan L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
.Sl()-H)I()lS-(i72 

Oct. 8 2010 

The Honorable Raymond L LaHood 

-^— — Secretary of Transportation 

"^^ U.S. Department of Transportation 

J°"N 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE 

TRUSCOTT Washington, D.C. 2059 0 

GROUP 

RE: Sun Country Airlines Application - #DOT-OST-2000-7182 

Dear Secretary LaHood: 

1 am writing in support of the application by Sun Country Airlines referenced 

above. 

As a state capital, non-stop air service to Washington, D.C, is in high demand 

in the Greater Lansing region. As a frequent business traveler to the nation's 

capital, my employees and I are forced to either drive 1.5 hours to another 

airport or have an extended layover in an airport in order to travel to 

Washington. 

Lansing travelers have repeatedly shown their desire for nonstop travel to 

Washington when that option has been available. However, because of airline 

bankruptcies and nationwide restructuring, our market has been left 

underserved by air carriers and without nonstop service to Washington. Sun 

Country's proposed new service would fill this void in airline service in 

Lansing and inject much-needed competition into our air travel market. 

The addition of new, nonstop service to Washington, D.C, also will save my 

business unnecessary costs by reducing travel time to this important 

destination. This is an important consideration for many businesses in our 

community, and would be a new tool for economic development in our 

region. 

1 look forward to being able to use this service for my frequent trips to 

Washington, D.C Your approval of Sun Country's application is greatly 

appreciated. 

I Sincerely, 

J. 

John Truscott 

President 

124 W. Allegan Strrct Suiir 802* I.inting, Ml 4X911 

S 17.485,8404 PHONE • SI7 48S.797t FAX 

www. truKott gro up. com