u.s. Department of Transportation 

Office of 1he St=U::retarv 

of Tronsportatlon 

The Honorable Robert F. Hagan 

Ohio House of Representatives 

Columbus, OH 43215 

Dear Mr. Hagan: 

,..,., 

,: I 

July 2012 

Thank you for your letter addressed to. Secretary LaHood suppo(ting the proposal submitted by 

the Younastown-Wmen Regional Airport for a gnmt under the U.S. Department of 

Transportation's Small Community Air Service Development Program. ·The Secretary has 

requested that I respond on his behalf. 

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

communities address air service deficiencies, particularly issues related to hish airfares or 

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

awards each year, altho~gh no more than 4 awards may be to communities in the same State. 

In order to provide communities wlth latitude in developing solutions to their air service 

deficiencies, the statute provides flexibility in the types of projeeta that can be funded. 

On May 15, the Department issued an order requesting that communities interes~¢ in receiving a 

grant this year file their applications by June 11. As these grant requests are pending before the 

Department, I cannot comment on the merits of any particular proposal. I assure you that the 

Department will give tUU and fair consideration to all proposals that have been properly filed. 

As is .our nonnal practice, l am, placing a ~py of your letter and this response in Docket 

DQT .. QST -20l2~0069 as a contact outside the record of this matter. I appreciate your interest In 

this program. 

Sincerely ye>urs, 

Susan L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
E 

State Representative, 60th House 

June 5, 2012 

The Honorable Ray LaHood 

Secretary ofTransportation 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

400 7'" Street, SW, Room 6401 

Washington, DC 20590 

Subj~ct: Youngstown~w~m·en Regionni Airport 

S11mU Conununity Air Service DeveiOJHnent Pr•ogram Grmtt Application 

Doclict DOT~OST~2011-0069 

Dear Secretary LaHood: 

I am writing to respectfully express my support tbr the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport's gt·mtt npplicatiot1 for fhnding 

under the Sn1all Community Air Service Development Program. 

During the past 15 years, the Airport bas received in excess of $60 million from t:e4etal, state, and local government agencies tor 

capital improvements, The local community has formed a vital partnership of governments and private organizations and 

businesses through tile c1·eation of tlte Western Reserve Pott Authority, which o .. vns and manages the Airport. 

Although the comtnunity is strongly s~•ppoa·tive of the Ah·port, the lack of competitive pricing and qu!'lllty air services in the past 

has now caused the Airport to be underutilized and has resulted in the 800,000 residents of Eastern Ohio and Western 

Pennsylvania to drive to Cleveland or Pittsburgh for their air travel needs. In additio11, larger airports now require an additional 

one to two hours for air travelers to secure parking and check through security systems. 

The success of otl:}er regional airports such as Akron..:Canton clearly derfloilstrates that there is a viable place f()r small to midsize 

aitports 1!1 the aviation. industry. With t~te assistance of this fPJ~nt, the Airport woulq be able to offer supet·ior air services at lower 

costs to the cmmnunity and would contribute greatly to securing the future of the Airpcnt. 

Congress developed this progt"nm spii!eUi<:ally to help communities !Ike the Young$town~ Warre.n~Sharon metropolitan s.ervice area 

improve their busiMss climate,. spur eoo.nomlc development, n~td enhance tlle qt1ality ofUfe th!'ough the developntent of air 

service. The Youngstown~ Warren·Shi:u·on metl'op<)lit~n service area is th!ii moot t®eentrl!ted marmfacturing region in Ohio but 

has one of the highest unemt>loyment rates of any mettopolitAA area .in OhJo. As ~e Airport is a critical componetlt of the 

cotnmunity's economic development strategy, failure to redevelop air service wm only impede our ability tl> attract and retain 

employers to our con;t\lttJlity. Therefore. it is imperative that our Airport is successful ill securing funding u:ndet the Small 

Community Air Service DeveiOI>tnent Pn.Jgrmn. 

I strongly encourage yQur positive consideration ofthe pr<lposal for a Small Community Air Service DevelopmeJtt Program gra~tt fQrthe Yonngstowt1-Warren Regional Airport and the community it serves. 

Sincerely, 

77 South High Street 

Co!umous. Ohio 43215-6111 

(614) 466•9436 

Qistris:<t: 

Mahoning County 

562 Madera Avenue 

Youngstown, Ohio 44504 

{330} 746-8091