U.S. Department 

of Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

SEP 11 2014 

Mr. Thomas E. Mason 

President and CEO 

UT-Battelle 

P.O. Box 2008 

Oak Ridge, TN 3 7831 

Dear Mr. Mason: 

Assistant Secretary 

;-"\ 

~... u ~) 

i200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Thank you for your letter, addressed to Secretary Foxx, supporting the proposal submitted by the 

Metropolitan Knoxville Airpmi Authority for a grant under the U.S. Department of 

Transportation's Small Community Air Service Development Program. Secretary Foxx asked 

that I respond to you on his behalf. 

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 a 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 setting a deadline of July 31 for applications. As 

these grant requests are pending before the Department, I cannot comment on the merits of any 

particular proposal. I 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, I am placing a copy of your letter and this response in Docket 

DOT -OST-2014-0113 as a contact outside the record of this matter. I appreciate your interest in 

this program. 

Sincerely yours, 

Susan L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
~ UT-BATTELLE 

P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6255 

Phone: 865-576-2900 • Fax: 865-241-2967 • E-mail: masont@ornl.gov 

August 25, 2014 

The Honorable Anthony Foxx 

Secretary 

United States Depmiment of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Docket DOT-OST-2014-0113 

Dear Secretary Foxx: 

Please allow me to offer my encouragement of the Department's approval of the application of the 

Metropolitan Knoxville Airpmi Authority (MKAA) and the Competitive Airfare Partnership (CAP) 

under the 2014 Small Community Air Service Development Grant program. 

As the managing operator ofthe Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and one of the 

largest employers in the region, UT-Battelle is routinely faced with paying higher than average airline 

fares in the Knoxville market for the thousands of flights we book for our business and government 

traveler:s each year. Furthermore, our continued success depends in part on the ability to translate the 

rese~rch and development we do into new products and companies that generate economic benefit for 

the country. In order to deploy our technology, it requires invesbnent by the private sector. We hear 

often from small business owners and entrepreneurs that come to Oak Ridge to explore our technology 

that it is expensive to get here. 

Approval of this grant application would be a tremendous show of support from the Department as our 

community works to reduce the cost of air travel in our region. 

Sincerely, 

{/ 

Thomas E. Mason 

President and CEO 

TEM:kfi· 

510-140902-021