Essential Air Service at 

BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

) 

) 

) 

HAGERSTOWN, MARYLAND 

LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA 

) OST-2006-25228 

) OST-2002-11450 

) 

Under 49 U .S.C. §41731 et seq. ) 

SUN AIR INTERNATIONAL PROPOSAL 

TO PROVIDE SUBSIDIZED ESSENTIAL AIR SERICE 

,., '\ II· • r; t..U n 

By Order 2012-3-16, the Department requested proposals for Essential Air Service to 

Hagerstown, Maryland and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Pursuant to that order, Sun Air Express, 

LLC. ("Sun Air") cordially submits this proposal to provide subsidized air service to both of these 

cornmunities through September 30,2015. 

Correspondence with regard to this document should be addressed to: 

Thomas L. Cooper 

President & CEO 

Sun Air Express, LLC. dba Sun Air International 

320 I Griffin Road, 

Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33312 

Telephone: 954-660-9865 

Fax: 954-894-0367 

E-Mail: tlcooper@gosunair.com 

Bid Summary 

Sun Air hereby offers a proposal to provide service to the communities of Hagerstown, MD and 

Lancaster, PA. Sun Air's proposed operations will be operated with nine-passenger twin-engine 

Piper Chieftain aircraft. Flights will be displayed in major travel agent systems including Online 

Travel Agencies. 

Sun Air has constructed its' proposal to incorporate the following essential elements of providing 

successful, quality air transportation in these proposed markets: 

1. LOW FARES: Sun Air will market its flights with a simple, low unrestricted price structure, 

ranging from $39 to $59 each way. The company is projecting net average fares approximately 
$40 each way. Sun Air strongly believes that low unrestricted fares are essential to facilitating 

passenger flight connections. 

Sun Air's prices will largely match those currently available; however Hagerstown fares will be 

lower than currently offered to more closely match those available in Lancaster, which Sun Air 

believes will lead to increased ridership for Hagerstown passengers. 

2. FREQUENT FLIGHTS: Sun Air will provide five (5) weekday round trip flights from 

Lancaster and four ( 4) weekday round trips from Hagerstown. The communities will thus be able 

to maintain the degree of convenience that their current schedules provide them. 

3. INTERLINE E-TICKETING AND BAGGAGE AGREEMENTS: Sun Air has provided for a 

significant investment in reservations and distribution systems to acquire access to industry 

interline and baggage agreements with most major airlines. This capability would be available 

from the first day of operations. Southwest Airlines is the dominant carrier at Baltimore, 

however since that carrier does not generally enter into interline ticketing and baggage 

agreements with other carriers, passengers would be responsible to recheck their bags, unless they 

are carry-on bags, to make connections with Southwest. 

5. A COMMITMENT TO RELIABILITY: Sun Air's operations include investment in a regional 

maintenance base, staffed by a full complement of technicians, as well as a full-time backup 

aircraft. Sun Air has established an enviable track record of operational performance, 

experiencing only a single controllable flight cancellation so far in 2012, and has earned a 

reputation in its existing markets for consistent punctuality. 

Service Proposal 

Sun Air is providing the communities with two options for service: Option I provides flights to 

Baltimore-Washington Airport, and Option 2 would provide flights to Washington-Dulles 

Airport. Both Service Option I and Service Option 2 are for operating to both Lancaster and 

Hagerstown. The bid proposal is for both markets only, inseparable. Sun Air believes that this is 

necessary to cover the relatively high fixed costs from establishing a regional base. 

Both Service Options provide for five (5) weekday round trip flights from Lancaster, and four (4) 

weekday round trip flights from Hagerstown. Two (2) round trip flights from each airport would 

be operated on Saturdays, and two (2) round trip flights would be operated from Hagerstown on 

Sundays. Lancaster would operate three (3) round trip flights on Sundays. 

A representative flight schedule.is attached to this proposal. The schedule offered to BaltimoreWashington replicates for the most part the schedule operated by the incumbent carrier. Sun Air 

is in discussions with potential providers of facilities and ground handling services there, and has 

assumed continuation of the current flight schedules to BWI to provide for accommodating the 

existing ground handling airline's operations. Final discussions may allow inore flexibility in 

aircraft departure and arrival times. 

Similarly, the flightschedule to Washington Dulles was designed to utilize gate space during 

periods where gates were expected to be available, however this will be subject to final 

discussions and negotiations with potential service providers. Sun Air will seek to maximize the 

connectivity of flights to other carriers in order to make connections as convenient as possible for 

passengers, 
Sun Air representatives plan to work closely with the communities to increase awareness about 

the destinations available as well as the substantial benefits resulting from these regional airports. 

Sun Air will seek to assist community leaders in any economic development initiatives they are · 

undertaking. 

Schedule I, included with this Proposal, provides an illustrative schedule for both Service 

Options. 

Schedule 2 provides projected operating revenues, expenses, and subsidy proposal calculations. 

Sun Air proposes a subsidy of $769 per departure from LNS-BWl, and $705 for HGR-BWI, for 

a maximum total subsidy level of $4.075 million annually. 

Sun Air proposes a subsidy of $819 per departure from LNS-IAD, and $730 for HGR-lAD, for a 

maximum total subsidy level of $4.290 mill.ion annually .. 

Sun Air has proposed subsidy compensation at levels that are less than what would be necessary 

to achieve a projected 5% profit margin. The expected costs to operate to Hagerstown would 

require a subsidy that is greater than $200 per passenger cap, and accordingly, we have kept the 

subsidy at a level anticipated to comply with that requirement. Higher expected enplanements 

from service to IAD (but still within historical levels) allowed for a somewhat higher proposed 

subsidy for Hagerstown. 

Sun Air has also kept its proposed subsidy for Lancaster to Dulles below the 5% profit margin 

level, opting instead for maintaining the projected fixed dollar profit amount calculated for 

Baltimore. The higher costs for operating to Dulles from Lancaster thus result in a lower 

percentage margin for Sun Air; but Sun Air is aware of community interest in IAD tlights and did 

not want well-recognized DOT budget pressures to unduly influence the options available to the 

communities. 
About Sun Air International 

Sun Air Express, LLC is a Fort Lauderdale, FL based air taxi operation serving Florida and the 

Bahamas, and offers on~demand air cargo services within Florida and the Bahamas, as well as 

scheduled services with four or fewer weekly flights to Cat Island, Great Harbour Cay, Chub Cay, 

and Andros Island in the Bahamas. 

Sun Air currently has a fleet of seven Piper Chieftain aircraft, and is prepared to acquire sufficient 

additional aircraft as needed to support proposals awarded here. The airline has access to the 

financial resources necessary to acquire the additional equipment. 

The airline has been in operation for more than ten years, and was purchased in May, 2011 by 

Thomas L. Cooper. Mr. Cooper is the founder of several regional airlines, including Gulfstream 

International Airlines, where he also founded Sun Air as a subsidiary of Gulfstream. He sold his 

interests in Gulfstream to a private investment group in 2006. Mr. Cooper has been involved in 

aviation for more than 40 years, including more than 20 years as a 727 Captain for Eastern 

Airlines in addition to his extensive career with regional airlines. Since his acquisition of Sun Air 

in May of last year, he has invested heavily in new aircraft, support equipment and additional 

support personnel. 

Sun Air filed a commuter air carrier application with the Department's Air Carrier Fitness 

Division on September 9, 2011 as part of its plans to provide regular scheduled passenger air 

transportation, In addition to its original application, Sun Air has submitted all of the information 

the Department has requested, and the application is in its final stages of review. To the extent 

Sun Air's financial fitness compliance requirements may be changed as a result of EAS bid 

awards, Mr. Cooper and Sun Air are willing and able to provide evidence that the company has 

appropriate financial resources to meet the Department's financial fitness tests. No external 

capital resources would be required to be obtained. 
SCHEDULE 1 

Representative Timetable 

SERVICE OPTION l 

FROM TO DEPT ARR 

HAGERSTOWN BALTIMORE 600AM (x7) 645AM 

1045AM (x7) 1130AM 

315PM (x6) 400PM 

515PM (x6) 600PM 

BALTIMORE HAGERSTOWN 945AM (x7) 1030AM 

li45AM (x7) 1230PM 

415PM (x6) 500PM 

815PM (x6) 900PM 

LANCASTER BALTIMORE 615AM (x7) 700AM 

815AM (x7) 900AM 

1215PM (x6) IOOPM 

300PM (x6) 345PM 

530PM (x6) 615PM 

BALTIMORE LANCASTER 715AM (x7) SOOAM 

IIOOAM (x7) 1145PM 

130PM (x6) 215PM 

400PM (x6) 515PM 

830PM (x6) 915PM 

SERVICE OPTION 2 

FROM TO DEPT ARR 

HAGERSTOWN WASH-DULLES 700AM (x7) 745AM 

lOOOAM (x7) 1045AM 

415PM (x6) 500PM 

715PM (x6) &OOPM 

WASH-DULLES HAGERSTOWN 800AM (x7) 845AM 

IIOOAM (x7) 1145AM 

515PM (x6) 600PM 

SISPM (x6) 900PM 

LANCASTER WASH-DULLES 630AM (x7) 730AM 

IOOOAM (x7) IIOOAM 

IOOPM (x6) 200PM 

4l5PM (x6) 515PM 

715PM (x6) 815PM 

WASH-DULLES LANCASTER 745AM (x7) 845AM 

lll5AM (x7) 1215PM 

215PM (x6) 315PM 

530PM (x6) 630PM 

830PM (x6) 930PM 
SCHEDULE2 

Projected Operations & Subsidy Proposal 

OPTION 1 LNS·BWf 'HGR-BWI .. • TOTAL 

Passenger $583,390 $347,833 $931,223 

Other Revenues 5,834 3,478 9,312 

TOTAL OPERATING REVENUE 589,224 351,311 940,535 

OPERATING EXPENSES 

Flight Operations 495,306 . 274,278 769,584 

Fuel & lntoplane 536,609 464,266 1,000,875 

Maintenance 461,760 329,637 791,397 

Passenger & Revenue Related 341,156 210,589 551,745 

Station Operations 754,069 631,923 1,385,992 

Other Fixed 210,744 139,496 350,240 

Total Operating Cost 2,799,644 2,050,189 4,849,833 

OPERATING INCOME/(LOSS) $(2,210,420) $(1,698,878) $(3,909,298) 

Profit Element - 5% of Operating Costs 

Subsidy Required 

Subsidy Proposed 

ASMs (OOO's) 

RPMs (OOOs) 

Flight Distance (miles) 

Load Factor 

Average Fare 

EAS Subsidy per Departure 

139,982 

$2,350,403 

$2,350,403 

1,871,251 

991,763 

68 

53% 

$40 

$769 

102,509 

$1,801,387 

$1,724,486 

1,497,001 

591,315 

68 

40% 

$40 

$705 

242,492 

$4,151,790 

$4,074,889 

3,368,252 

1,583,079 

68 

47% 

$40 

$754 
Departures 3,058 2,446 5,504 

Block Hours 2,140 1,761 3,901 

Flight Hours 1,529 1,345 2,874 

Available Seats 27,518 22,015 49,533 

Passengers 14,585 8,696 23,281 

Average Enplanements per Day 20.0 11.9 
OPTION 2 

Passenger 

Other Revenues 

TOTAL OPERATING REVENUE 

OPERATING EXPENSES 

Flight Operations 

Fuel & lntoplane 

Maintenance 

Passenger & Revenue Related 

Station Operations 

Other Fixed 

Total Operating Cost 

OPERATING INCOME/(LOSS) 

Profit Element • 5% of Operating Costs 

Subsidy Required 

Subsidy Proposed (both markets only) 

ASMs (OOO's) 

RPMs (OOOs) 

Flight Distance (miles) 

Load Factor 

Average Fare 

EAS Subsidy per Departure 

Departures 

lNS·IAD, " H§R-IAO. 

$681,906 $378,653 

6,819 3,787 

688,725 382,440 

387,042 317,542 

755,227 445,187 

527,910 312,585 

369,371 223,225 

801,462 669,837 

209,244 140,996 

3,050,256 2,109,372 

$(2,361,531) $(1, 726,932) 

$152,513 $105,469 

$2,514,044 $1,832,401 

$2,504,174 $1,785,638 

2,779,358 1,188,795 

1,639,821 511,182 

101 54 

59% 43% 

$42 $40 

$819 $730 

TOTAL 

$1,060,559 

10,606 

1,071,165 

704,584 

1,200,414 

840,495 

592,596 

1,471,299 

350,240 

5,159,628 

$(4,088,463) 

$257,981 

$4,346,445 

$4,289,813 

3,968,153 

2,151,003 

80 

54% 

$41 

$779 
3,058 2,446 5,504 

Block Hours 3,058 1,957 5,014 

Flight Hours 2,140 1,223 3,363 

Available Seats 27,518 22,015 49,533 

Passengers 16,236 9,466 

Average Enplanements per Day 22.2 13.0 

Jn conclusion, Sun Air believes that its proposal will provide excellent levels of service to the 

communities of Lancaster and Hagerstown, and ensure that they have proper access to the 

national air transportation network, offering cost-effective options that meet the requirements of 

the Essential Air Service Program. 

Respectfully Submitted: April 26, 2012 

Thomas L. Cooper 

President & CEO 

Sun Air Express, LLC. 

25,702