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^LAKELAND: 

GOW B. FIELDS, Mayor 

Augusts, 2011 

The Secretary of Transportation 

United Sates Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, 

Washington, D.C. 20590. 

To Whom It May Concern: 

As Mayor of the City of Lakeland, I am pleased to support Lakeland Linder Regional 

Airport's grant application for the Department of Transportation's Small Community 

Air Service Development Program. The Airport serves a vital role in our vision for 

Lakeland and for the surrounding communities in Polk County. 

We share the Airport's goal of attracting low cost commercial service to the region 

to foster economic growth and improve quality of life options for the citizens in our 

community. We expect that not only will the air service provide benefits to our 

region, but also to the airports that will be solicited as travel destinations in the north 

east and mid west regions of the country. The Air Service program that has been 

adopted will focus on the non primary airports, where low cost earners can capitalize 

on the lower infrastructure costs to permit lower fares for passengers visiting the 

Central Florida region. 

Lakeland Linder Regional Airport is the first Airport to provide commercial service 

in the county and it is important for this venture to be successful. It has only been a 

month since the Airport commenced service and this has been a major 

accomplishment for oiu- city and county. Marketing will play a vital role in the 

success of this program. We have committed an additional $200,000 for the 

upcoming fiscal year 2012 which supplements the $206,000 we expended in 2011. 

Additional funding from this grant would be extremely helpftil as we market not only 

new service routes but a new Aiiport "Lakeland" to the Commercial Passenger 

Industry. 

Lakeland is situated between Orlando and Tampa and its location by the Polk 

Parkway and Interstate 4 enables easy access to and from the airport with ground 

transportation alternatives available to move them to their final destination within 

Polk County, or its neighboring Hillsborough and Orange Counties. 

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228 S. Massachusetts Avenue • Lakeland, Florida 33801-5012 

Phone 863/834-6000 • www.lakelandgovnet 
Augusts, 2011 

Page 2 

The City of Lakeland and Polk County also has many attractions and events for 

visitors to take advantage of while visiting our region and we are committed to 

providing the best customer service to all of the passengers moving through the 

terminal. 

Central Florida has been one of the hardest hit areas since the recession, and the 

increased traffic that the Air Service would bring to our region would be not only 

extremely beneficial to this region, but also to the state through added tourist and 

business travel. We believe strongly in promoting Air Service to Lakeland Airport 

and expect the economic, transportation and quality of life benefits to be important to 

the recovery of the region. 

In closing. Lakeland Linder Regional Airport has just commenced Air Service in 

June 2011 and from all reports has seen high passenger volumes. We have worked 

closely within our city, county and state to market the Aiiport as we all understand 

the vital role it will play in our future. Marketing is critical as we launch new service 

and the city, county and state are committed to ensuring this service is successful; 

however, additional marketing investments will play a critical aspect in the overall 

success of the program. We hope that you will consider our application for this grant 

and we can ensure that if we are granted funding the investment of these fiinds will 

deliver an excellent retiu'n not only for our community but also to the passengers and 

the cities of origin travelling to central Florida. 

Kindest regards. 

Gow B. Fields, Mayor 

City of Lakeland 

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