U.S. Department of 

Transportation 

ASSIS!3nt Secretary 12JO New Jersey Ave, S E 

'Nasi'lngton, DC 20590 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

Mr. Joseph A. Barbetta 

Chair 

Sarasota County 

Board of County Commissioners 

1660 Ringling Boulevard 

Sarasota, FL 34236 

Dear Mr. Barbetta: 

OCT .2 5 2010 

'::) 

o 

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, I 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 goveming 

statutes. 
Mr. Joseph A. Bm'betta 

Page 2 

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

DOT -OST -2000-7182 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, 

Assistant Secretary for 

A viation and International Affairs 
l . 

SARASOTA COUNTY 

"Dedicated to Quality Service" 

October 6, 2010 

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: 

S 10-1 II I () I 5-()()3 

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS 

1660 Ringling Boulevard 

Sarasota, Florida 34236 

Telephone 941·861·5344 

Fax 941·861·5987 

We are writing to express our support for the application of AirTran Airways Inc. for the two 

available Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) within-perimeter slots being 

allocated by the Department in Docket OST-2000-7182 to provide nonstop service from Sarasota 

Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) to DCA. 

The Sarasota Bradenton area has only one daily nonstop on a regional jet to Washington, DC, 

even though it is the sixth largest destination market from this area. With over 750,000 residents 

and our prime location as a leisure destination for tourists, SRQ can certainly support additional 

service and it would be a great help to the tourism industry in this region, which suffered a 

significant impact from the BP oil spill. This new service would also 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 the slot be utilized for SRQ. 

In addition to enhancing competition and lowering fares at Sarasota Bradenton International 

Airport, the proposed service would increase connectivity to destinations in the Northeast and 

Midwest, critical markets for our region. 

Thank you for your consideration. 

SincerelY~­

J~~BARBETT~CHAIR County Commissioner, District 2 

Carolyn J. Mason, DistrIct 1 • Josepfl A. Batbetta. District 2 • Shannon Staub, District 3 • Nora Patterson, District" • Jon Thaxton, DiItrIct 5 

cmason@sc!pvnet jbarbett@scgov.net sstaub@scgov.net npaners@scgov.neI jthaxton@scgov.nel