u~s.Q'p~rtm~nt 

of Trcmsportotton 

G>mo~t of the seeretarv 

ofTtOt'I$P\lrtatton April 12.~ 2012 

Ms. susan Brager 

Chair, .Clark County Board of Comtuissiof:ltrs 

PlO.. B.ox ltqns LusVelas.~:bw S9lll•lOOS 

1JZOOI'I!IW J~#\WIItte. 

wa$til~t<m. 11ie'21500 . 

C'O 

Thank you for )lourletter to Seeretacy LaHood .. ~UppQl'ting .the application ofMN Airti:U~, L~Q, opeta;ti11g.~:Snn Qo11ntcy Airlines (Sun Countcy), fbr {:jeyond-peti.meter $:lot exemptions at 

Ronald Reagan WushingtonNational Airport(DCA). Sun CoUlltey•s,application propQse~"to serve Lus V.egas. McCarra:n International Airport With one round trip per day from DCA. 

Secretacy Latlopd liSke(l 'fMtlrespond to: your lettet. · 

Under authority granted injhe FAA Moderttization and R~fonu A.ctofl012~ the 

U.s .. · Department ofTtansp6rtation will·beawardingto new entrantorli@it¢d inpumbent 

c,arriersatotal ofeight slot exemptions at DCA, which would support four daily round trip~. 

W.e received Sun Countrts ·application on March l~. Other timely appllcations w~r~ t¢c~iYe4 

from Air Cana4a.prQposing one round trip !o· Vancouver,. ~ritish Columbia;. Aluska AirUnes, Ql)e 

round 'trip to San Diego, C~ifornia, and one;round trip: to. Portland, Oregon} Frontier Aitlhles~; 

QUe roundtrip to Colorado Springs, Color~p, and beyond to 'San Dlego;JetBltie Airline$, one 

'ro~n:d mp to $ari Juan, Puerto Rico~ and one round trip to Austin, Texas; Southwest Airlines~· oil,~ roUlld trip to .Austin and b~yon(l to San Diego; and VirgJn Am~riqa, In~,.,Jwo round ttfps to 

San Francisco~ California. · 

As the. matteris'stillpending~ I cannot comment on the merits dfthepoints raised in your letter. 

However, lean assure you. that.all applic$ticms the .Department received will be given.fulland 

fait considetl'lti()~ and· wiltbe evaluated ~ainst tije self:)etib:n criteria specified in the statute. 

TheDep~ent's action on .this matterJs bei1lg, ~dministered through a public deicke~ Which 

allows all inte~ted parties the opportunity to comment. Following oui'.normaJ practice~ I am· 

placing a copy 'ofyour letter and this. response in docket number DOT,:;2'Q l2·0Q2~l. · · 

lap.preciateyourlntC'rest i~1this matter. 

Sincerely yours, 

Susan L Kurland 

A;ssistant$ecretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
Department of Aviation 

RANDALL H, WALKER 

t:m'1ec-ror.• 

F!CSE!MARY A. VASSILIACIS 

Cl!CPUTY t:JI~1<fC'HJI'• 

McCARRAN INTERr-!ATIONAL AIRPORT 

POSTAL BOX 11005 

LAS VEGAS. NEVADA 99111-1005 

(7021 261- 5911 

FAX£702)597-9653 

.. ''. E~MAIL:· webrr~aat~Jr2fi:ilrnccar•r·an.com 

. . . . . : 

. . Honorabl~ Ray LaHood· ·... . .. 

· Secretalj.ofTransporta#on · 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, D.~. 2Q590 ·. · :. ~ ·. 

Dear Ivk Secretary:· • ' • ~ ' I ' ' 

. MN Airlhles, LLC dba Sun Country Airlines recently fi'ied an application for availabie landing 

and takeoffslpts at Ronald Rel:lgan Nation~! Airport in Washington, D.C. in order to provide 

.. daiiy nol1stop. set-Vice between Reagan National Aiq)ort (DCA) arid Las Vegas McCarran 

.. Iriternational Airport (LAS). Sun Couritry's·schedule\vould provide ·the only daYtime nonstop 

· · · · .. flight~ 'it1 t11efourth~largestpcA origin ~rid destiiiation market outside· of the perimeter . 

. Sun· to~n~; Aidine~ is .·well kno~ naii'o~aliy for its excellent service and low fares. Awarding 

of the available takeoff and landing slots to Sun Country would provide an immediate 

· competitive benefit hi the Las Vegas-Washington, D.C. market, based on a doubling of the 

exi~ting nonstop service betWeen these airpOliS. . . . , 

.. Curreriity nonstop se~~ice is pr~vided solely by us Airways, featuring a lat~ night arrival in Las 

Vegas with a redeye return to Washington National. These hours are not convenient for tnany 

potential customers. Despite this, the market generated an 86.5 percent load factor during the . 

·'latest year; and the average rriarket fare was $235 .. well above the average fares for connecting . servi~e.between LAS .and DCA: ... • .. ·. . . . . . . . . · . . . . . · 

By contrast, Sun Country proposes an 1115 DCA depart~re with a 1309. LAS arrival, paired with 

an.lll5 LAS departure arid an 1839 DCA anival. This schedule \votild be much i.nore convenient 

to a greater number of prospective customers, especially those from Las Vegas with business in 

Washington, D.C. · · 

.. ,. 

I would veryinuch appreciate your favorable co~sideration of Sun C~i.mtry's application. 

. . .· .·.. . •\. D. A ~• ~ ~ .. 

sg· · ;ety,· ·. · · · · 

. . . ~Of"-' 9"~ . . 

SUSAN BRAGER 

Chair, Clark Co~nty Board of Commissioners 

CI.!U'k County Board of CommlssioJHr.rs 

. Sur.an Brar~r.ir, Cf'mh· • Steve Slsolal\, Vice· Chair 

Larry .Brown • T<»'n Coillr·l$ • Chris Glund'iHIIanJ • Mnry Elo1h Scow • l-<•wrrm;:o Wm::l1!y