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RTMENT OF 

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U.& Department s - ; - ^ - i Lilrtnu i j j 1200 New jersey Avenue, SE 

Transportatio n Washington, DC 20590 

Office Of the Secreiory T^'l ^E? l U A li-: 33 

of Transportation 

September 14,2011 

Mr. John Swasey 

President 

Exec Air, Inc. of Naples 

160 13"'Street NW 

Naples, FL 34120 

Dear Mr. Swasey: 

This letter is in reference to the amended application of Exec Air, Inc. of Naples 

("Exec Air") filed in Docket DOT-OST-2007-27815 on July 6, 2011, for commuter air 

carrier authority. We have completed our review of the information Exec Air has filed in 

support of its request for commuter authority and have determined that we are unable to 

continue processing Exec Air's application at this time. Based on our review, it appears 

that Exec Air does not meet the citizenship requirements of 49 U.S.C. §40102(a)(15). 

Section 40102(a)(15) requires that the president and at least two-thirds of the board of 

directors and other managing officers are citizens of the United States, that at least 

75 percent of the voting interest be owned by U.S. citizens, and that the company must be 

under the actual control of U.S. citizens. 

Although the company is solely owned by a U.S. citizen, two-thirds of Exec Air's 

management team are not citizens of the United States. According to the application, 

ExecAir's management consists of three individuals - Messrs. John Swasey, Jeremy 

Vandersluis, and David Bettencourt. Of the three individuals, Mr. Vandersluis, Exec Air's 

Chief Pilot, and Mr. Bettencourt, the company's Director of Maintenance, are identified as 

citizens of the United Kingdom and Guyana, respectively. Since Exec Air only has three 

key personnel and two are not U.S. citizens, the company clearly does not meet the 

citizenship requirements of the Statute. 

Since all U.S. air carriers, including air taxis operating under 14 CFR Part 298, such as 

Exec Air, are required to be U.S. citizens, we also find that Exec Air does not qualify to 

hold its current ajr taxi registration. Therefore, we direct Exec Air to take necessary action 

to comply with tjie citizenship requirements of the Statute. If Exec Air does not submit 

evidence demonstrating that it meets the citizenship requirements of the statute by October 

14, 2011, the Department will issue an order revoking the air taxi registration issued to 

Exec Air and dismissing its application for commuter authority. 
Should Exec Air submit information that shows it meets the Department's citizenship 

requirements and should the Department's review of this material be satisfactory, we will 

then continue to process Exec Air's commuter application. We do note, however, that we 

find Exec Air's application to be materially deficient, that is, it does not contain all of the 

information required by section 204.3 of our rules. 

We have outlined the areas of deficiency in the attached Information Request. While the 

Department does closely work with applicants through the application process, it is not our 

policy to keep incomplete applications open indefinitely. The information required by 

section 204.3 of our rules of applicants for commuter or certificate authority is necessary 

for us to implement our statutory mandated determination that recipients of commuter or 

certificate authority are fit, willing, and able or (1) have the managerial skills and technical 

ability to conduct the proposed operations, (2) have access to resources sufficient to 

commence operations without posing an undue risk to consumers, and (3) comply with the 

Statute and regulations imposed by Federal and State agencies. Therefore, we will give 

Exec Air 30 days from the date its citizenship information is due to the Department, that is, 

by November 14, 2011, to submit the required fitness information. If we do not receive the 

required information by this date, we intend to issue an order dismissing Exec Air's 

application for commuter authority. 

In addition, please remember that Exec Air should promptly provide the Department with 

any information regarding changes it may undergo in areas affecting its fitness (i.e., 

management, operating plans or financial condition, compliance disposition, or ownership) 

while its application is under review by the Department. 

If you have any questions regarding this letter, please feel free to contact Vanessa 

Balgobin of my staff at (202)-366-9721. 

Sincerely 

Laur^^J. Remo 

Chief, Air Carrier Fitness Division 

Office of Aviation Analysis 

cc: Docket DOT-OST-2007-27815 

Mr. Fblix Molina 

POI for Exec Air, Inc. 
Information Request 

Exec Air, Inc. of Naples 

Please provide the following: 

1. A copy of Exec Air's balance sheet, current to within 3 months of the date of this letter. 

2. Income Statements for Exec Air for the past three calendar or fiscal years. 

3. A forecast balance sheet for the first normal year ending after the initially proposed 

operations have been incorporated.' 

4. A statement identifying the person who has prepared the financial statements and a 

summary of the individual's qualifications for preparing such statements. 

5. A statement as to whether the balance sheet and income statements were prepared in 

accordance v^th Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. 

6. A list of pre-operating costs, such as legal fees, deposits, and Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA) certification fees. 

7. Third-party verification of the cash that Exec Air has on deposit with its financial 

institution(s). 

8. A detailed description of the plans Exec Air has, if any, to acquire additional capital to 

meet the Department's financial fitness requirements. 

9. A copy of the Pre-Application Statement of Intent that Exec Air has filed wdth the FAA 

for commuter air carrier operations. 

10. Employment history for Mr. John Swasey prior to February 1,1997. 

Please address the following: 

11. With respect to its forecast expenses. Exec Air prepared a summary of its projected 

"Corporate Headquarters" expenses. These projections show Exec Air's Chief Pilot 

and its Director of Maintenance earning a wage of $ 1.44 per hour. Also, the projection 

shows the Director of Operations earning a wage of $5.77 per hour. These wages are 

' The December 1,2007, balance sheet provided by Exec Air did not break out current liabilities, that is, those due 

payable within the next 12 months, and long-term debt. The balance sheet provided by the applicant should break 

debt into these two categories. 
significantly below the Florida minimum wage rate of $7.31 per hour. Please explain. 

Provide revised projections if necessary.^ 

12.-According to the same document described above, it appears that Exec Air intends to 

hire three additional people, one pilot and two sales people. Please state when Exec Air 

intends to hire for these positions. 

13. In Exec Air's list of projected office expenses, the company indicates that it does not 

expect to incur any expenses for utilities. Please explain. 

14. In Exec Air's list of projected office expenses, the company indicates that it does not 

expect to incur any expenses for reservations systems. Please discuss. 

15. As mentioned above, it appears that Exec Air intends to hire three additional 

employees; however, the company only expects to incur "Training and New Hire" costs 

of $240. This figure seems relatively low. Please explain. 

16. The expenses for employee taxes and benefits appear to apply only to the three 

individuals that Exec Air intends to hire and not to the Chief Pilot, Director of 

Maintenance, and Director of Operations. Please explain. 

17. According to Exec Air's Monthly Cost Analysis, the company expects to incur variable 

aircraft costs of $400 per month. Please state what is included in these variable costs 

and describe the underlying assumptions used as a basis for determining this amount. 

18. Some of the mathematical calculations on Exec Air's Monthly Cost Analysis appear to 

be inaccurate. For example. Exec Air expects to consume 14 gallons of fuel per hour 

for a total of 35 hours per month, which would result in monthly consumption of 490 

gallons of fiiel per month; however, Exec Air has listed 485 gallons. Also, Exec Air 

shows its total cost of maintenance to be $745 per month, but adding the column of 

expenses equals $803 per month. Further, Exec Air states that its Total Monthly Costs 

are $9,205; however, adding the figures of the Monthly Cost column equals 

$17,178.84.^ Please verify the mathematical calculations and provide a revised expense 

forecast. 

19. In Exec Air's list of projected airport fees, the company indicates that it does not expect 

to incur any "GPU/station rental" expenses. Please explain. 

20. Exec Air]s method for determining and calculating the personnel costs identified in the 

Monthly Cost Analysis are not clear. Please explain these cost calculations and provide 

any necessary revisions. Also, Exec Air lists some flight crew and airport station 

^ If Exec Air is exeitipt from the Florida minimum wage rate, please provided a detailed explanation of the basis 

of the exemption. 

^ Exec Air's "Summary of Operational Costs," a document separate from the "Monthly Cost Analysis" reflects 

total costs of $17,179. See Exhibit 6, Page 3 of 7. 
personnel costs. Please explain if these personnel costs are in addition to those 

identified in the "Corporate Headquarters" expenses. 

21. Exec Air's "Year One Income Statement" projects monthly revenues of $9,786, but in 

Exhibit 6, Page 4 of 7, Exec Air projects monthly revenues of $10,089. Please explain 

this discrepancy. 

22. Exec Air's "Year One Income Statement" projects monthly aircraft costs of $9,205. 

This number appears to be carried from the "Monthly Cost Analysis." After reexamining the mathematical calculation in the "Monthly Cost Analysis" discussed 

above in item No. 18, please provide a revised "Year One Income Statement." 

23. Exec Air's "Year One Income Statement" shows that the company expects to incur an 

accounting software expense of $200, but in another section of the document, that $200 

expense is assigned to "Parts and Rotables Inventory." Please explain this discrepancy. 

24. Exec Air's financial projections to do not vary, that is, increase or decrease, from 

month to month. Generally, air carriers experience fluctuating monthly expenses 

depending on when the company expects to incur various expenses such as aircraft 

maintenance, employee training, or insurance payments. Likewise, air carrier revenues 

generally fluctuate with changes in demand periods. Please explain why Exec Air does 

not expect its monthly revenues and expenses to fluctuate. 

25. In evaluating a new entrant applicants' financial fitness, the Department generally asks 

that those applicants have resources sufficient to cover all pre-operating costs and any 

negative working capital balance, plus a working capital reserve equal to the operating 

costs that would be incurred in three months of normal commuter operations. 

Assuming Exec Au-'s monthly projected expenses are $17,179, the company's total first 

year projected expenses would be $206,148. To meet the Department's financial 

fitness requirement. Exec Air would have to show that it has access to capital equal to 

3 months of normalized operations which would be $51,537. Please discuss Exec Air's 

plans for satisfying the Department's capital requirements. 

26. In its application, Exec Air proposes to conduct one daily roundtrip flight between 

Naples, FL, and Miami, FL. However, in Exhibit 9 to the application, a memorandum 

to the FAA, Exec Air proposes to operate two daily roundtrip flights. Please explain. 

If Exec Air intends to operate two daily round trip flights. Exec Air must provide a 

revised list of projected operating expenses to include these additional flights.