THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, DC 20590 

The Honorable Blake Farenthold 

U.S. House of Representatives 

Washington. DC 20515 

Dear Congressman Farenthold: 

September 19,2014 ··, -')~ (\ ~ ~ 

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Thank you for your letter supporting the application subrniuccl 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, particularly issues related to high airfares and 

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

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

provide communities with latitude in 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 sening a deadline of July 31 for applications. As 

these grant requests are pending before the Departrnent, l cannot comment on the merits of any 

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

consideration to all proposals that have been properly filed. 

As is our standard practice, 1 am placing a copy of your letler and this response in Docket 

DOT-OST-20 14-0113 as a contact outside the record of this matter. I appreciate your interest in 

this program. 

Sin ·ef, 

Anthony 

~ R. Foxx 
Bl.Al<E FAaENTHOLD 27'Hl 016 ffitCT, 'I'EWAS 

The Honorable Anthony~- Foxx 

Secretary of Tt;msportation 

U.S. Department of Tr;msportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Wasllington, DC 20590-0001 

Dear Secretary Foxx: 

July 25, 2014 

!:OMMrrTBi!k 

TAANSl>OfllATION .AND 

INFRASTRUCTURE 

JUDICIARY 

I am writing 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 SCASD program overall. However, l believe that the Victoria Regional 

Airport (VCT) is an excellent candidate to receive SCASD funding which will ertable them to undertake an 

aggressive advertising campaign in order to recapture an air service market 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 industries located in the region. It 

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

Pinnacle Ail'lines 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 its air service. It is hoped that this Altemate EAS pl'Ogram will provide 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 l1eighten awareness of the improved air service available the airport and especially to recover the 

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

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

Thank you for your consideration of this application. If my office can provide you wil:h any further 

information, please do not hesitate to contact Blake Adami (202) 225-7742 or email at 

Blake.Adami@mail.house.gov. 

Sincerely, 

?!f~eJ:;;;;fk?( Member of Congress 

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