. - ..... 

U.S. Department of 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Transportation Washington, DC 20590 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

JUL 5 2012 

Ms.·Carol R. Whitmore 

Chairman, District 6, AtLarge·· · ·. 

Manatee County Board of Commissioners 

1112 Manatee A venue West 

Bradenton, FL 34205 

Dear Ms. Whitmore: 

Thank you for your letter supporting the proposal suBmitted by the Sarasota Bradenton 

International Airport for a grant under the U.S. Department of Transportation's Small 

Community Air Service Development Program . . .. ~ .. , 

The Small Community Air Service Oevelopment Program was-established to help smaller 

communities address air service deficiencies, particularly issues related to high airfares or 

insufficient service. Under the statute, the Departll!ent may make a maximum of 40 grant 

·--awards each )lear, although no mgre than 4 awards.may.be to communities in the: same· State. 

In order to provide communities with latitude in developing solutions to their air service 

deficiencies, the statute provides flexibility in the types of projects that can be funded. 

On May 15, the Department issued an order requesting that communities interested in receiving a 

grant this year file their applications by June 11. As these grant requests are pending before the 

·Department, I cannot comment on the merits of any particular proposal. I assure you that the 

Department will give full and fair consideration to all proposals that have been properly filed. 

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

DOT-OST-2012-0069 as a contact outside the record ofthis matter. I appreciate your interest in 

this program. 

Sincerely yours, 

' fj__[: ' ,~_ . :::> '/\ .,__&{Jv~ --x-· 

. u 

Aloha Ley 

Associate Director 

Small Community Program 
.. Manatee County Commissioner 

· · Carol Whitmore, Chairman 

District 6, At-Large 

June 20, 2012 

Aloha Ley . 

. Office of Aviation Analysis 

. 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE, W86-310 

Washington, DC 20590 

Re: Small Community Air Service Development Program 

Docket DOT -OST -2012-0069 

Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) 

Dear Ms. Ley: 

I am writing as the Manatee County District 6, At-Large County Commissioner to 

express my strong support for the above referenced grant application to the Small 

Community Air Service Development Program. The recent decision by Southwest 

Airlines to pull AirTran service from SRQ is a major blow to the air service and 

economic competitiveness of · the ·entire region served by Sarasota Bradenton 

International Airport. AirTran accounted for over 360,000 passengers or nearly 30% of 

all passenger traffic at SRQ in 2011. 

Sarasota Bradenton also suffers from a lack of access to a westbound airline gateway. 

·· This forces local consumers to drive to other airports, thereby inflicting economic 

damage on the local economy. 

A 1997 Economic Impact Study completed as part of the SRQ Master Plan Update 

revealed that 57% of all enplanements at SRQ were out of area visitors spending an 

average of $665.00 per visit. Using the CY 2011 AirTran passenger traffic this equates 

to 102,600 visitors to the SRQ area. When combined with the 100,000 passengers lost 

due to no westbound service this equates to a loss of over $105,000,000 of direct visitor 

expenditures annually. When the multiplier effect is factored in it equates to a Joss of 

nearly $285,000,000 of economic impact and 2,600 jobs to the area. 

The community is partnering with the airport to match the grant funds dollar for dollar on 

this critical matter. We ask the Department please consider the serious negative effects 

the recent approval provided to Southwest Airlines to acquire AirTran Airways has had 

This con·espondence is being sent from Carol Whitmore as an individual County Commissioner. 

Contact Information: c~In>l. 11 hitmorc·a 1111 manatcc.urg Phone: 9-f l. 7-f5.3 704 Fax: 941. 7-f5.3790 

P.O. Box 1000, Bradenton, FL 34206, 1112 i'vlanatcc Al·enm: West, Bradenton, FL 34205 

\lanatec County Website: http: . ,,.,, w.m\ manat..:c.Prg 
Aloha Ley 

.. June 20, 2012 

Page2 

,,. .: .· 

on our community and approve the application for assistance. Thank you for your 

consideration. 

SincerelY.,_ - " 

Carol R. Whitmore 

County Commissioner 

District 6, At-large 

cc: The Honorable Ray H. LaHood 

Secretary of Transportation 

United States Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. 

Washington, DC 20590 

Fredrick (Rick) J. Piccolo, AAE 

President, Chief Executive Officer 

Sarasota Bradenton International Airport 

6000 Airport Circle 

Sarasota, FL 34243 

. ."t·.