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of Transportation 

OCT 2 5 2010 

Mr. Fredrick J. Piccolo, A.A.E. 

President, Chief Executive Officer 

Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority 

6000 Airport Circle 

Sarasota, FL 34243-2105 

Dear Mr. Piccolo: 

Thank you for your letter of October 6 to Secretary LaHood supporting AirTran Airways. 

Inc. (AirTran) to serve Sarasota, Florida, 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, Michigan, 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, 1 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. Fredrick J. Piccolo 

Page 2 

As is our normal practice, I am placing a copy of your letter and my response in Docket 

DOT-OST-2000-718 2 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. 

ngerely yours. 

^y5lisan L. Kurland 

1/ Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
SARASOTA MANATEE AIRPORT AUTHORITY 

COMMISSIONERS 

Carlos Beniff 

Dr. Gary Kompoth«cras 

Eric W. Robinson 

Paul A. Sharff 

Bob Wwchter 

Leslie Walls 

PRESIDENT, CEO 

srq-airport.com Fredrick j . Piccolo 

October 6,20 JO 

The Honorable Ray H. LaHood 

Secretary of Transportation 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. 

Washington, DC 20590 

RE: Docket OST-2000-7182 

Dear Secretary LaHood: 

We are writing to express our support for the application of AirTran Ain^vays Inc. for the two available 

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) within-perimeter slots being allocated by the 

Department in Docket OST-2000-7I82 to provide nonstop service from Sarasota Bradenton International 

Airport (SRQ) to DCA. 

Presently only USAirways serves SRQ with one daily departure utilizing a 70 passenger aircraft. 

Washington, DC is the sixth largest market from the Sarasota Bradenton area, which has over 750,000 

residents, yet nonstop service is limited to one daily departure on a small jet. The application of AirTran 

includes the commitment of utilizing larger aircraft and provides low cost competition on this route. SRQ 

has suffered a decline in passenger traffic the last two years of ) 4% and this new service would help to 

mitigate the negative economic Impact the recession has had on the community and the airport. 

While AirTran also offers an alternative to award the route to Southwest Florida International (RSW), we ask 

that the slot be awarded to AirTran conditioned on utilization of the slot for SRQ. RSW already has two 

airtfnes providing daily nonstop service to DCA by USAirways and AirTran therefore: a competitive levei of 

service already exists in their market. In addition, the service to RSW is provided by a 737-400 and a 

Boeing 717 resulting in 265 daily nonstop seats to DCA. The same competitive market does not exist at 

SRQ and the total dally seats available are one quarter of the level of seats already available at RSW. 

In addition to enhancing competition and towering fares ai Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, 

AirTran's proposed service would increase connectivity to markets In the Northeast and Midwest, critical 

morkets for our region. This would be an enormous economic benefit to the region and its residents. 

Thank you for your consideration. If you have any questions or need any additional information please 

do not hesitate to contact me. 

Sincerely, 

Fredrick J. Piccolo, A.A.E. 

President, Chief Executive Officer 

6000 Airport Circle • Sarasota, Florida 34243-2105 • telephone (941) 359-5200 • fax (941) 359-5200