S% ' •mmn OF 

u s . Departmen t o f Assistant Secretary '. i U l Ln/'.!''•-i 0 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

TranS|$oriation Washington, DC 20590 

Office Of the Secretary ! AV 2'-- "* l"U l 

of Transportation 

OCT 2 5 2010 

Mr. Raymond E. Tadgerson, PE 

Director of Marketing and Business Development 

c2ae 

725 Prudden Street 

Lansing, MI 48906 

Dear Mr. Tadgerson: 

Thank you for your letter of October 5 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. Raymond E. Tadgerson, PE 

Page 2 

As is our normal practice, I am placing a copy of yOurletter and "my. response in Docket 

DOT-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. 

incerely yours. 

IS an L. Kurland 

l^ssistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
C2ae lH 

S!()-l()l()Lv()2() 

Lansing • Grand Rapids 

Gaylord • Escanaba 

725 Prudden Street 

Lansing, Ml 48906 

P: 517.371,1200 

F: 517.371.2013 

mfoSc2ae.com 

www,c2ae.com 

Octobers, 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 Airh'nes Application - #DOT-OST-2000-7182 

Dear Secretary LaHood: 

C2AE supports and requests approval of the Sun Country Application noted above. 

We are aware non-stop service from Lansing to Washington, DC is highly desired and is in 

great demand. The service would replace service lost a few years ago in 2005, as a result of 

airline bankruptcies. Consequently, Lansing is one of only a few state capitals without nonstop service to Washington. 

With the many airline mergers and bankruptcies in recent times, Lansing has lost a significant 

number of flights which has no doubt hurt the mid-Michigan region economically. 

Information regarding the declines is available from the Capital Region Airport Authority. 

With all due respect, we sincerely request your approval of the Sun Country application. 

Such approval would greatly enhance the ability of the mid-Michigan region to move forward 

in these difficult economic times and also fill the void in airline service for the Lansing 

region. 

Sincerely, 

C2AE 

Raymond E. Tadgerson, 

Director of Marketing and Business Development 

ARCHITECTUR E 

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