:NT OF 

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u s . Departmen t o f Assistant Secretary 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

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Ttansportatio n : I . - -^U O ^Washington, DC 20590 

Office of the Secretary 

ofTronsportatitxi 

OCT 2 5 20]Q 

Mr. Don LeDuc 

President and Dean 

Tlie Thomas M. Cooley Law School 

Office of the President 

P.O. Box 13038 

Lansing, MI 48901 

Dear Mr. LeDuc: 

Thank you for your letter of October 18 to Secretary LaHood supporting Sun Country 

Airlines to serve Lansing, Michigan, 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 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 governing 

statutes. 
Mr. Don LeDuc 

Page 2 

As is our normal practice, 1 am placing a copy of your letter and my response in Docket 

DClT-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. 

kin|;erely yours. 

Jusan L. Kurlanc 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
THE THOMAS M. 

COOLEY 

LAW SCHOOL 

DON LEDUC 

PRESIDENT & DEAN 

In cor^t homlnum 

tsl oitbn* Ugij. 

1972 

October 18,2010 

The Honorable Raymond L. LaHood 

Secretary of Transportation 

United States Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Re: Sun Country Airlines Application #DOT-OST-2000-7182 

Dear Secretary LaHood: 

Sun Country Airlines seeks two slots at Ronald Reagan National Airport in D.C. 

to support service between Michigan's C^itol City and the Nation's Capitol. I urge you 

to approve that request. 

Thomas M. Cooley Law School is the nation's largest law school with students 

from every state and a number of foreign countries. We also have the nation's largest 

extemship program, with students spending one or two semesters at various locations 

around the country and overseas. With its many federal agencies, the District of 

Columbia is one of our largest extemship sites. 

Washington, D.C. is Cooley's most common destination now, and it is likely to 

become the destination even more often in the coming months. Federal regulation of 

education has sharply increased over the past two years, and it appears that more is on the 

way. We will be required to stay on top of accreditation and regulatory activity, not just 

at the Department of Education, but in Congress as well. 

I cannot speak for the other schools in Michigan, but I am on the executive board 

of the Michigan Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and I can say that 

they will have the same need for enhanced travel to Washington that Cooley now has. 

With its central location, Lansing is the logical departure point for many of Michigan's 

public and private colleges and universities. And the current efforts of the federal 

government to aid state goverrunent mean that our government officials will travel 

frequently to Washington. 

300 SOUTH CAPnOL AVENUE • POST OFFICE BOX 13038 • LANSING, MICHIGAN 48901 517-371-SI40 FAX517-334.57S2 cnuUi Itdacddcoolcy'.aim 
As I am sure you are aware, nearly half the state's population lives within an hour 

of Lansing. Access to direct service to Washington at Lansing's Capital Region 

Intemational Airport will be quite popular. 

Don LeDuc 

President and Dean