THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, DC 20590 

The Honorable Blake Farenthold 

U.S. House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

Dear Congressman Farenthold: 

September 19, 20 14 

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Thank you for your letter supporting the application submitted by the county of Victoria, Texas, 

for.a grant under the U.S. Department of Transportation's Small Community Air Service 

Development Program. 

The Small Community Air Service Development Program was established to help smaller 

communities address air service deficiencies, pa1ticularly issues related to high airfares and 

insufficient service. Under the statute, the Department may make a maximum of 40 grant 

awards each year, although no more than four may be to commw1ities in the same State. To 

provide communities with latitude ill developing solutions to their air service deficiencies, the 

statute provides flexibility in the types of air service development projects that can be funded. 

On June 30, the Department issued an order setting a deadline of July 31 for applications. As 

these grant requests are pending before the Department, I cannot comment on the merits of any 

particular proposal. I assure you, however, that the Department will give full and fair 

consideration to all proposals that have been properly filed. 

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As is our standard practice, I am placing a copy of your Jetter and this response in Docket 

DOT-OST-2014-0113 as a contact outside the record of this matter. I appreciate your interest in 

this program. 

Anthony R. Foxx 
July 25, 2014 

The Honorable Anthony R. Foxx 

Secretary of Transportation 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC 20590-0001 

Dear Secretary Foxx: 

I am \\Titing to express my support in the application submitted by the County of Victoria, Texas for the 

Department's Small Community Air Service Development Program (SCASD) grant. As a fiscal conservative, I 

have general concerns regarding the SC/\SD program overall. However, I believe that the Victoria Regional 

Airport (VCT) is an excellent candidate to receive SCJ\SD funding which will enable them to undertake an 

aggressive advertising campaign in order to recapture an air service markel that has been severely damaged 

in recent years. 

The Victoria Regional Airport serves a significant portion of south central Texas between Houston and 

Corpus Christi. It is particularly important to major oil and manufacturing indusb·ies located in the region. It 

is my understanding that air service to the Victoria community was very robust until the bankruptcy of 

Pinnacle f\irlines in 2012 which involuntarily forced a change of air service providers after a 3-month 

blackout of all air service. 

Since then, the number of passengers using the airport has diminished substantially to a point where the 

County has opted to participate in the Alternate Essential Air Service program to leverage funding for 

improving ils air service. It is hoped that this 1\lternate EAS program will prm'ide many important incentives 

for improving the quality of air service to the region. 

Should it be awarded, the County would use this grant to help fund a sustained advertising campaign in 

order to heighten awareness of the improved air service available the airport and especially lo recover the 

patronage "lost" over the past few years. The ultimate goal of this marketing campaign \vould be to reduce 

or eliminate the County's current need for Essential Air Service Program subsidies. 

Thank you for your consideration of this application. 

information, please do not hesitate to contact 

Blakc.Adami@mail.house.gov. 

Sincerely, 

;8/-rf~ fovc~Jkd/ BLAKE FARENTHOLD 

Member of Congress 

If. my office can provide you with any further 

Blake Adami (202) 225-7742 or email at