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US.D«partrTWnt o f Assistant Secretary " ' 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Transportatio n , _^ ^ Wos^hington, DC 20590 

Office of the Secretary • - :^ i- - J 

of Transportation 

OCT 2 5 20tO 

Mr. John LaRose 

Chief Executive Officer 

Celink 

3900 Capital City Boulevard 

Lansing, MI 48906 

Dear Mr. LaRose: 

Thank you for your letter of October 14 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-miie 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 cuirently 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. John LaRose 

Paee 2 

As is our normal practice. I am placing a copy of your letter 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. 

iacerely yours. 

,an L. Kurla 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
SM)-l()l()!<S-()2 0 

October 14,2010 

The Honorable Raymond L. LaHood 

Secretary of Transportation 

United States Depaiiment of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Ref: SnnCounti7AJrU]]C9AppUcatiOD-#DOT-OST-2000-7182 

Dear Secretary LaHood: 

I am a business owner located in Lansings Michigan and learned recently of Sun Country's 

application for approval to develop air service directly from Lansing to the Washington Reagan 

National Airport I strongly urge you to approve this request. 

I unvel to Washington D.C. about a dozen times during the year for conferences, meetings with 

our industry's association, visiting with my Congressional representatives, and meetings with 

some of my clients. Some of the people I meet with in D.C. will often fly to Lansing to visit with 

my staff and a direct flight would be very convenient, and likely less expensive dian the current 

options. 

A direct flight would be very beneficial to my conqMuiy because it would be a huge timesaver 

and money saver as well. I recently had to send three employees to D.C. on short notice, and the 

cheapest airfiue from Lansing was over $700.00. Sun Country's airfare would be at least !^ that 

fare and I am sure you can appreciate that in today's economy, business owners lUce me need 

every break we can get 

Please support Sun Country's sqipUcation; it would be a huge boost to the mid-Michigan area. 

y yours. 

LaRose 

Chief Executive Officer 

3900 Capita/ Crty Boufevard Lansing, Michigan 48906