**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