### BEFORE THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY **UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION** 

## Docket OST **– 2012**  **- 0069** 
**Proposal For A Grant Under The** 

# Small Community Air Service **Development Program**

**Submitted by**

**Bloomington -**  **Normal Airport Authority (Legal Spons or)** 

**DUNS # 04** **- 512** **- 2447**  **Congressional District IL 15**  **EIN/TIN 37 -** **0903859**Proposal under the Small Community Air Service Development Program Docket 2012-0069

___________________________ ________________________________________ Central Illinois Regional Airport, Bloomington-Normal, Illinois 2 

## Proposal Directory Proposal Summary
................................ ................................ ................................ .......... 4 Grant Requested ................................ ................................ ........... 4 BMI Has An Active Public/Private Partnership fo r Improved Air Service . 4 Official Legal Project Sponsor ................................ .......................... 5 Local Community Name: ................................ ................................ 5 Outline Of The BMI Air Service Market
................................ ................................ ........... 6 Loss of AirTra n = Significant Lost Traffic & Much Higher Fares
................................ ... 7 Benefits of This Grant ................................ ................................ ..... 9 Plan for Grant Implementation
................................ ................................ ...................... 10 Target Carriers
................................ ................................ ................................ ........... 10 Airline Contacts ................................ ................................ ........... 10 Risk Abatement Funding ................................ ............................... 10 Marketing and Advertising Program ................................ ............... 11 Funding Distribution ................................ ................................ ..... 13 Ensuring Self - Sufficiency ................................ ............................ 13 Summary of BMI Air Service Recruitment Efforts
................................ .......................... 14Proposal under the Small Community Air Service Development Program Docket 2012-0069

___________________________ ________________________________________ Central Illinois Regional Airport, Bloomington-Normal, Illinois 3 

### Proposal Outline Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington/Normal (BMI) is requesting a grant in the amount of $500,000, to be matched with $1 50,000 in hard community contribution, plus $50,000 in - kind support, to address the lack of access from the region to the US Northeast. This deficiency imposes a hardship on the economic community served by BMI. BMI is at the center of a strong agribusiness based economy that includes three Fortune 100 companies – State Farm, ADM and Caterpillar as well as Country Financial (Fortune 1000) and its sister organizations Growmark and Illinois Farm Bureau. Additionally higher education , with Illinois State Un iversity and Illinois Wesleyan in Normal and Bloomington and other major universities in the area , is also an important economic generator. Together with a vibrant automotive and industrial base in the region, these organizations have a demonstrable need for access to New York and Washington, DC. The Airport is fully cognizant of the fragile and shifting nature of the airline industry. Indeed, BMI has recently been a major victim of such shift, with the decision by Southwest to discontinue AirTran service, cutting out service that represented 42% of the total traffic at the airport. 1 It is for this reason that the community asks the Department’s indulgence in allowing this application to be aimed at alleviating the deficiency in air service to the Northeast, with flexibility of supporting service to the airports in the New York Metro and Washington, DC area. The extreme uncertainties regarding the final outcomes of Delta’s NYC strategy – shifting capacity between JFK and LGA – not to mention the American Airlines “Cornerstone” strategy which appears to have the intent to add significant branded flying to JFK. In addition, US Airways is still fine-tuning its new hu b at Wa sh ington/Reagan, and United apparently is shifting resources from its Houston Intercontinental hub, and may be increasing service at Washington/Dulles. The fundamentals of this application are straight-forward. CIRA will provide a risk-abatement program to a carrier that can provide the access outlined in this application, along with marketing support to assure success of the service. The Airport and the Community, as mentioned above, are coming off a period when changes in the airline industry have dealt a very heavy and negative blow to the region. The grant funding requested will be a major step in getting air access in Central Illinois back on track. The Airport and the Community appreciate the Department’s consideration of this application. Correspondence: Mr. Carl Olson Executive Director – Central Illinois Regional Airport 3201 CIR

A Drive Bloomington, Illinois 61704 (309) 663 7384
1 It is noted that this cut was made despite the carrier’s representation to the US DOT that existing AirTran cities would not be affected by the proposed merger.Proposal under the Small Community Air Service Development Program Docket 2012-0069

___________________________ ________________________________________ Central Illinois Regional Airport, Bloomington-Normal, Illinois 4 

# Proposal Summary **Grant Requested**  The Central Illinois Regional Airport is requesting a grant in the amount of $500,000 to attract and support the establishment of new air service that will address both capacity deficiencies and high fares at BMI . In particular, it is the lack of nonstop access to the US Northeast that the region needs and can support. This deficiency has recently been exacerbated by the departure of AirTran Airways from the BMI market. There is a pressing business need for additional capacity to the Northeast. The preferred option is for service to the Washington, DC area, but the community understands that airline strategies may dictate that New York is a stronger possibility. The a pproach in this grant is simple and straight forward. The majority of the funding will be set aside as a risk-guarantee for the carrier. The remainder will be to market the new service to assure rapid traffic build.

Air Service Risk Offset : $550,000 Marketing In CIRA Region $ 100,000 In - Kind Marketing $ 50,000 **Total: $**  **700 ,000**  The airline risk offset will be consistent with others that the SCASD Program has made successful in the past decade. Agreed cost factors on a per flight basis will be determined. A revenue allocation for the route – including local O&D as well as the system flow traffic that the new BMI service generates – will be applied to these costs. At pre-set intervals in the two-year program period, preferably each six months, settlement will be made with the air carrier. If revenues meet or exceed projected costs, no risk-offset is payable. 

### BMI **Has An Active Public/Private Partnership for Improved Air Service** CIRA was one of the nation’s fastest-growing airports between 1994 and 2011, with enplanements moving from approximately 50,000 per year to over 291 ,000 – almost 500%. The reasons are a vibrant economy, and a very active community-focused air service development program. But this growth has still left the region with a number of air service deficiencies, the most severe being access to the Northeast. This is one of the reasons that the application of the Central Illinois Regional Airport represents a valid use of the scarce funding allocated. Subsequent to the announced loss of AirTran/Southwest, the community went into action and was successful in recruiting two new airlines. Allegiant entered the market with service to Orlando, and Frontier was recruited, withProposal under the Small Community Air Service Development Program Docket 2012-0069

___________________________ ________________________________________ Central Illinois Regional Airport, Bloomington-Normal, Illinois 5 flights to that carrier’s western hub at Denver. The next string ent need for this region of the State is access to the Northeastern US. This proposal is intended to fill the remaining major gap in BMI service, which is access to the important business region of the Northeastern United States. 

### Official Legal Project S**ponsor** The Bloomington - Normal Airport Authority is the official sponsor in submitting this application. 

### Local **Community Name:** The Community Air Service Initiative (CASI), an independent organization working under the Chamber of Commerce and whose members are comprised of municipalities, corporate entities, educational institutions and small to medium sized local business entities across the region, will be the community partner. Recognizing the reduced capacity and access yet higher fare environment created by Southwest’s November 11, 2011 decision to discontinue AirTran service in the market in June 2012, CASI was officially formed to respond proactively to these air service issues . Structure for th is initiative was deemed necessary to respond and act cohesively as a community with one voice and shared resources. This organization’s members are prepared to actively participate in this grant award much in the same manner as the (pre-CASI formation) community entities and corporate partners responded for the 2008 SCASD grant award to B MI for American to DFW service. This involves not only a financial commitment by the CASI group for risk abatement but a commitment to assist in the marketing and promotion efforts and build direct relationships with the airline to maximize the utilization of the new service. CASI is fully funded and in operation specifically to expand service at Bloomington - Normal with agreements in place with its members.Proposal under the Small Community Air Service Development Program Docket 2012-0069

___________________________ ________________________________________ Central Illinois Regional Airport, Bloomington-Normal, Illinois 6 

# Outline **O f The**  **BMI Ai**  **r Service Market**
BMI draws on an overall catchment area of approximately 1. 8 million in population . Current service patterns allow strong access to the West, but due to changes in the airline industry, consumers and business travelers have only access over Detroit (Delta) and Chicago (American) to get access to the East Coast.

It is obvious from the map that, while BMI has good access to the west (and internationally as well), there is a lack of service access to the East/Northeast. The Detroit (Delta) and Chicago (American) connectivity to the East is materially hampered by very high load factors on these routes –

At over 75% - there are key days and times of year when the capacity to these hubs simply deters access to connecting points in the East. A nonstop flight to an Eastern hub wi ll alleviate this problem.Proposal under the Small Community Air Service Development Program Docket 2012-0069

___________________________ ________________________________________ Central Illinois Regional Airport, Bloomington-Normal, Illinois 7 In addition, the demand for service to the East Coast has been rising along with the total traffic at CIRA...

Analyses accomplished by the Airport indicate that lack of available capacity to the East is deterring not only local traffic generation, but also in - bound generation from that region as well. 

### Loss of A**irTran = Significant Lost Traffic & Much Higher Fares** A main impetus of this application is to recruit service that will replace the traffic to the Northeast that will be lost with the end of AirTran service effective June 2, 2012. AirTran, a low cost carrier, captured double-digit shares of traffic between BMI and important Northeast destinations, albeit via a circuitous routing over Atlanta, and in doing so, maintained fare discipline in the markets. Year 2011 data illuminate the challenge BMI now faces: **Ma rket**  **Ps gr**  **Mk t**  **Share Avg** 

**Fare Net** **O**

**W Far**  **e** DC A 3, 174 20. 7% $220. 22 $185. 47 LGA 5, 697 41. 8% $195. 38 $162. 40 To tal 8,871 30. 7% $204. 19 $170. 58 DC A 8, 395 54. 8% $179. 61 $147. 72 IAD 2, 736 56. 5% $190. 82 $158. 16 LGA 5,465 40. 1% $173. 22 $141. 75 To tal 16, 596 49. 1% $179. 34 $147. 46 DC A 3, 740 **24. 4%**  $181. 30 $149. 30 IAD 2, 100 **43. 3%**  $183. 35 $151. 21 LGA 2,462 **18. 1%**  $176. 75 $145. 06 To tal 8, 302 24. 6% $180. 44 $148. 50 

### Ai **rT ra** **n Am**  **er ic**  **an**
**De lt**  **a**Proposal under the Small Community Air Service Development Program Docket 2012-0069

___________________________ ________________________________________ Central Illinois Regional Airport, Bloomington-Normal, Illinois 8 

### With the elimination of competition from AirTran, it is a certainty that fares will go up, and the load factors on already near-full connection routes to DTW and ORD will increase. Delta has advised that they have insufficient aircraft to replace any of the lost ATL traffic. 2 

### An idea of the effects on BMI, and the need for this grant, can be illustrated by a review of capacity shifts at BMI comparing the second half of 2012 v the same period in 2011.

**Ca rrier**  **Hu b**  

### 2011 **2012 %**  **Ch an**  **ge 2011**  **2012 %** **Cha nge**  

### Am eric an 704 709 0.7% 32,986 32,984 0.0% DF W 185 184 -0.5 % 9,250 9,200 -0.5 % OR D 519 525 1. 2% 23,736 23,784 0. 2% De lt a 1,400 1, 134 -1 9.0% 87, 182 66, 196 -2 4. 1% ATL 846 586 -3 0.7% 59,462 38,796 -3 4.8% DT W 326 322 -1.2 % 16,320 16, 100 -1.3 % MSP 228 226 -0.9 % 11,400 11,300 -0.9 % Fr on tier 174 19,470 DE N 106 10,494 MC O 68 8,976 **Ai rT**  **ra n**  **642 -1**  **00. 0%**  **75, 114**  **-1 00.** **0% AT**  **L 544**  **-1 00.** **0% 63,** **648 -1**  **00. 0%**  **MC O**  **98 -1**  **00. 0%**  **11,**

**466 -1** 

**00. 0%**  Al le gian t 53 7,950 SFB 53 7,950 

### 2,**746 2,** **070 -24.** **6% 195,** **282 126,** **600 -35.**  **2% Tot**  **al De** 

**par tu**  **re s**  **Se at**  **s**

**With the**  **loss of**  **AirTran –**  **a decision**  **made by**  **Southwest despite**  **high load**  **factors and**  **yields that**  **exceeded the**  **AirTran system**  **average –**  **CIRA has**  **now lost**  **35% of**  **seats available to the publi c.**  This is a major blow to the community and one which will lead to higher fares, particularly to the destinations on the East Coast, where AirTran held strong market shares. **These data**  **show clearly**  **that recruiting**  **replacement capacity**  **to access**  **the East**  **Coast is critical to the co mmunity and the region.** 

2 Source: Aviation DataMiner analysis of DOT data. Fares are average one-way, including federal fees and taxes.Proposal under the Small Community Air Service Development Program Docket 2012-0069

___________________________ ________________________________________ Central Illinois Regional Airport, Bloomington-Normal, Illinois 9 **Benefits of This Grant** The Central Illinois Regional Airport would submit that this grant application fits the requirements outline in the Docket.

 **Major Air**  **Service Deficiency**  **:** The loss of AirTran, despite its healthy traffic a nd revenue performance, has resulted in a material reduction in access to the East Coast, and has caused a net reduction of over 130,000 annual seats.

 **Fares :**  AirTran’s presence has kept fares down at BMI. The elimination of that carrier from the BMI market will now cause the cost of travel to skyrocket. While the proposed service this grant supports will not entirely replace AirTran in the market, it will have a disciplinary effect on ticket prices by adding more capacity directly to the East Coast. Based on this, the Airport and the Community respectfully would ask for positive consideration of this grant request.Proposal under the Small Community Air Service Development Program Docket 2012-0069

___________________________ ________________________________________ Central Illinois Regional Airport, Bloomington-Normal, Illinois 10 

# Pl **an for Grant Implementation** The goal of this grant application is to bring urgently needed access to the East Coast. The removal of AirTran is a high -fare torpedo heading directly toward the economy of Central Illinois. 

### Target Carriers This application focuses on recruiting a carrier for nonstop service to a major East Coast Airport, specifically :
 New York/LaGuard ia – Delta  New York/JFK – Delta, American, JetBlue  Newark – United  Washington/National – Frontier  Washington/National – US Airways  Washington/Dulles – United Note that this is not a “fishing expedition” aimed blindly at just “getting flights.” Market brand presence and/or a connecting hub at the destination airports are a critical component of the Airport’s air service strategy . 

### Airline Contacts The Airport and the Community Air Service Initiative have been in active contact with each of the airline systems noted above. It is again noted that conditions in the airline industry are difficult, with fuel prices increasing, small jets being retired, and fleets being reduced in size. However, immediately upon grant award, the Airport and Community will contact the target carriers, outlining the program and providing additional data on how the grant will support their carrier, and the system revenue results specific to the carrier. 

### Risk Abatement Funding The structure of the Risk Abatement contract is envisioned as follows:

 An agreed - upon target revenue per flight to be negotiated with the carrier, based upon the carrier’s specific aircraft to be operated.

 There will be a specific format for calculating all revenues - passenger, cargo and ancillary - generated by the new service. This includes the local O&D revenue, plus the BMI segment’s portion of system connecting traffic revenue .Proposal under the Small Community Air Service Development Program Docket 2012-0069

___________________________ ________________________________________ Central Illinois Regional Airport, Bloomington-Normal, Illinois 11  The computation of revenue v costs will be computed monthly and the airline will provide the Community with advance booking reports and previous month’s traffic and revenue results every thirty days. This will facilitate any necessary marketing activities that may be needed to assure the success of the route.

 The settlement for the revenue guarantee is envisioned to be accompl ished every six months

 Reliability will be a key part of the agreement . The schedule completion rates will be set at 98%, exclusive of non -controllable causes, such as maintenance and weather. The Airport will seek the right to withhold risk abatement funds if the new service consistently falls short of this standard. Progress reports will be provided to the Department on a schedule and in a format it deems appropriate. 

### Marketing and Advertising Program The Airport and Community intend to embark on an aggressive advertising and public awareness program immediately upon successful ly gaining an airline commitment to provide the new year- round air service. The Airport would note that the majority of the traffic to East Coast points originates in the CIRA catchment area – well over 70%. Therefore the majority of the consumers to which the new service has value are in the cost-effective CIRA media region. A fully integrated marketing plan will be executed that will encompass the full spectrum of marketing com ponents, including:

 Media/public relations activities and efforts to announce and promote the new service to the commu nity and through the local media
o Press conferences with CASI/airline/airport participation to announce the new service, generate the initial awareness and promote the new service to the community
o Media “tour” in the community by the airline/airport and CASI for on air interviews during scheduled local programs with local television/radio/print. o Event marketing at Business to Business events such as Chamber Business Before Hours/Business After Hours
o Presentations at key civic organizations in the community to review the air service available at Central Illinois Regional Airport and highlight new service
o Airport/Airline/CASI to host a specific event for the key travel generators in the area that can most benefit from the new service to promote the airline’s sales initiatives and programs geared to business travelProposal under the Small Community Air Service Development Program Docket 2012-0069

___________________________ ________________________________________ Central Illinois Regional Airport, Bloomington-Normal, Illinois 12 o Outreach to specific travel generators – business and leisure (travel

agents/secondary and higher education athletic teams and groups/senior and civic organizations) through Airline/Airport /CASI collaborative direct visits to the generators to review opportunities and structure for best use of the new service
o Airport will collaborate with Convention and Visitors Bureau for new destination to enhance promotional ideas that would attract tourism to new destination, complementing the increased business travel demand for the new service with leisure travelers

 Broadcast media , print, outdoor and online advertising illuminating the new service, as well as the range of total air service options available at Central Illinois Regional Airport.
o Radio in - kind is a key element of this proposal as the radio group providing the in - kind is also a CASI member
o Social media initiatives through the airport/airline and CASI based social media sites – engaging the community and region in discussing the new service through interaction and cross- promoting across several sites . o Targeted d irect mail as appropriate to key travel generators in the region
o Other media advertising will be programmed based on remaining budget and timing of new service start date. (Example: television advertising may be financially prohibitive during specific times of the yea r so more emphasis would be placed on online, outdoor or print)
Promotional program specifics will be determined jointly with the airline. It will, however, be managed and directed by the airport in cooperation with the community.Proposal under the Small Community Air Service Development Program Docket 2012-0069

___________________________ ________________________________________ Central Illinois Regional Airport, Bloomington-Normal, Illinois 13 

### Funding Distri **bution**

**Source Risk** **- Offset**  **Marketing Total Value**  **Grant** $500,000 $0 $500,000 **Community** $50,000 $50,000 (in kind) $100,000 **Airport** $100,000 $100,000 **Total Value** $550,000 $150,000 $700,000


### Ensuring Self **- Sufficiency**  CIRA understands the dynamics of the airline industry, and is prepared, along with its community partners to assure that the new service rapidly gains economic sustainability. Traffic shortfalls are not anticipated. However there is a plan to address such situations : 1) CIRA has a track record of innovative, successful marketing programs to enhance ridership. In the past these have included radio-station promotions at the Airport, intensified media placement, and laser-focused marketing at key employers in the region. 2) Di rect liaison with the target carrier is a part of the marketing program. This has been found to provide and early warning system when traffic to a key destination begins to fall, or when the airline starts to have operational problems that could affect rid ership. 3) CIRA maintains constant traffic and operational statistics with all of its carriers. This allows it to pro-actively take advantage of market opportunities. Part of this program is monitoring fares and capacity at other airports in the region and working with incumbent carriers to assure that they can address any strategic threats which may result in loss of traffic . The Airport will have available, if needed and as appropriate under its governance, additional airport related cost waivers and marketing incentives for the airline to access in return for some identified incentive effort by the carrier. Added Airport incentives can be applied in return for a carrier initiative such as a reduction in business fares or introduction of new Group airfares for meetings.Proposal under the Small Community Air Service Development Program Docket 2012-0069

___________________________ ________________________________________ Central Illinois Regional Airport, Bloomington-Normal, Illinois 14 

# Summary of **BMI Ai**  **r Serv ice Recruitment Efforts**  The Central Illinois regional airport has been an industry leader in effective air service recruiting. This is the reason that traffic has expanded from 50,000 enplanements to over 291 ,000 since 1996.

 In 1996, CIRA recruited the first low fare airlines to the region, with Frontier to Denver and AirTran to Orlando. Frontier dropped the market four years later due to equipment issues. During that time, CIRA had grown over 40%.

 Working with AirTran, service was expanded to that carrier’s Atlanta hub, opening the region to the Deep South.

 Capitalizing on 2008 SCASD grant, the airport successfully filled an air service gap to the US Southwest, providing marketing funds to support American Eagle service to DFW. In those efforts, the community used only approximately half of the SCASD grant, returning the remainder to the Department. This service has proven to be very successful, with the highest load factors of any Downstate Illinois market served from DFW by American Eagle.

 CIRA also recruited Delta Air Lines, giving additional access to Florida and the South, but also to that carrier’s vast international gateway. This was important to key industries in the region which had extensive operations in Europe, Northern Mexico, and Latin America.

 When Southwest made the sudden decision to stop AirTran service, CIRA in short order recruited Allegiant, with service to Orlando-Sanford.

 Identifying a need for additional access to the West and Southwest, CI RA in 2012 recruited service by Frontier Airlines to that carrier’s Denver hub. Unlike the service in 1996, the new flights are nonstop to the hub and offer very strong connectivity. The efforts and community participation that made these past efforts successful will be applied to the flights that this grant will underwrite.APPENDIX C Page 1 

### SMALL COMMUNITY AIR SERVICE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

**DOCKET OST -** **2012 -** **006 9**  **SUMMARY INFORMATION**  All applicants must submit this information with their proposal, along with a completed form SF424 on http:// www.grants.gov. 

### A. **APPLICANT INF ORMATION: (CHECK ALL THAT APPLY)**  **⁭ Not a Consortium ⁭ Interstate Consortium**  **⁭ Intrastate Consortium ⁭ Community now receives EAS subsidy**  **⁭ Community (or Consortium member) previously received a Small Community Grant**  **If previous recipient**  **:** Date of Grant: **09/19/2008** Expiration date of grant: **12/31/2010** Federal Funds Requested: Awarded $225,000 for Marketing Support for New Service Carrier(s) Service Obtained: American Eagle Destination(s) Served: Dallas
-Ft. Worth (DFW) 

### B. **P UBLIC** **/P RIVATE**  **P ARTNERSHIPS**  **: (L IST ORGANIZATION NAMES** **) Public**  **Private 1.**  **Community Air Service Initiative(CASI )**  **1. McLean County Chamber of Commerce 2.**  **City of Bloomington 2.** **Corporate and institutional partners as CASI members 3.**  **Town of Normal 3._____________________________________** 

**_ 4** **. McLean County**  **4.______________________________________ 5._** 

**__ _______________________________**  **5.______________________________________** 

### C. **P ROJECT**  **P ROPOSAL**  **: (CHECK ALL THAT APPLY)**  **⁭** Marketing ⁭ Upgrade Aircraft ⁭ New Route ⁭ Travel Bank ⁭ Service Restoration Subsidy ⁭ Surface Transportation ⁭ Regional Service Revenue Guarantee ⁭ Launch New Carrier Start Up Cost Offset First Service Study ⁭ Secure Additional Carrier Other (explain below)

___________

______________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________ ________________APPENDIX C Page 2 ⁭ 

### D. **E XISTING**  **L ANDING**  **A IDS**  **AT L** **OCAL A** **IRPORT: ⁭**  Full ILS **⁭** Outer/Middle Marker ⁭ Published Instrument Approach **⁭** Localizer **⁭** Other (specify**) GP** **S** 

### E. **PROJECT COSTS: DO NOT ENTER TEXT IN SHADED AREA**  LI NE DESCRIPTION SUB TOTAL TOTAL AMOUNT 1 Federal amount requested $500,000 2 State cash financial contribution Local cash financial contribution 3a Airport cash funds $100,000 3b Non-airport cash funds $50,000 3 Total local cash funds (3a +3b) $150,000 4 TOTAL CASH FUNDING (1+2+3) $650,000 In
-Kind contribution 5a Airport In-Kind contribution** 5b Other In-Kind contribution** $50,000 5 TOTAL IN-KIND CONTRIBUTION (5a + 5b) $50,000 6 TOTAL PROJECT COST (4+8) $700,000 

### F. **IN -** **KIND CONTRIBUTIONS  For funds in lines 5a (Airport In-Kind contribution) and 7b (Other In
-Kind contribution), please describe the source(s) of fund(s) for each. 5b Great Plains Media Inc. (radio group) 108 Boeykens Place, Normal, IL 61761APPENDIX C Page 3 

### G. ** IS** **THIS APPLICATION SUBJECT TO REVIEW BY STATE UNDER EXECUTIVE ORDER 12372 PROCESS?**  ⁭ a. This application was made available to the State under the Executive Order 12372 Process for review on

(date)___________________. ⁭ b. Program is subject to E.O. 12372, but has not been selected by the State for review. ⁭ c. Program is not covered by E.O. 12372. 

### H. **IS THE APPLICANT DELINQUENT ON ANY FEDERAL DEBT? (IF “YES”, PROVIDE EXPLANATION)** ⁭ No ⁭ Yes (explain)

_____________________________________________ ________________________________________________________

______________________________________ _______________________________________________________________TIMOTHY V. JOHNSON 15TH DISTRICT, ILLINOIS

AGRICULTURE CHAIRMAN, RuRAL DEVELOPMENT, RESEARCH, BIOTECHNOLOGY, AND FOREIGN AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT OPERATIONS OF

OVERSIGHT AND CREDIT TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, PUBLIC

BUILDINGS, AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT HIGHWAYS AND TRANSIT WATER RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT Ms. Aloha Ley Associate Director

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## m?ltlasbtngton. tJB<tC 20515-1315 June 8, 2012

Small Community Air Service Development Program (SCASDP) 1200 New Jersey Avenue Southeast W86-310 Washington, DC 20590 Re: Docket OST 2012-0069; Bloomington Normal Airport Authority Central Illinois Regional Airport, Bloomington, Illinois Dear Ms. Ley, REPLY TO: WASHINGTON OFFICE: D 1207 LoNGWORTH HousE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON, DC 20515
D D D D (202} 225-2371
DISTRICT OFFICES: 2004 Fox DRIVE CHAMPAIGN, ll 61820

(217} 403-4690 202 NORTH PROSPECT ROAD SUITE 203 BLOOMINGTON, ll 61704 (309} 663-7049 655 WEST LiNCOLN UNITS CHARLESTON, ll 61920 (217} 348-6759 1001 MARKET STREET SUITE 102 MOUNT CARMEL, IL 62863 (618} 262-8719

The Central Illinois Regional Airport (BMI) is critical to the regional economy of downstate Illinois. This airport has been a vital transportation link for employees of Fortune 100 and Fortune 1000 companies, students at state and private universities, and countless families. On June 2, 2012, Southwest Airlines discontinued all AirTran Airways service from BMI resulting in the abrupt loss of more than thirty-five percent ofthe daily seat capacity at the airport. The departure of these routes along with the consolidation of competing airlines compromises the access and fare competition that is necessary to maintain and grow central Illinois' economy, particularly to primary Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern markets. The Community Air Service Initiative (CASI) is a non-airport community-based initiative created to attract new service to central Illinois through BMI. Building on the local success of previous publicprivate partnerships, CASI is prepared to responsibly administer this award to attract badly needed eastbound service and generate a return on federal resources. The central Illinois region is continuously responding to new challenges presented to it. A positive award from your office empowers the community to continue battling back against a strained economic climate while responsibly managing federal resources. Thank you for your consideration.

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