u.s. Department of 

Transportation 

Office ot the Secretary 

of Transportation 

The Honorable Timothy V. Johnson 

U.S. House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

Dear Congressman Johnson: 

JUL 5 2DI2 

I 200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Thank you for your letter supporting the proposal submitted by the Bloomington Normal Airport 

Authority for a grant under the U.S. Department of Transportation's Small Community Air 

Service Development Program. 

The Small Community Air Service Development Program was established to help smaller 

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

insufficient service. Under the statute, the Department may make a maximum of 40 grant 

awards each year, although no more 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 of this matter. I appreciate your interest in 

this program. 

Sincerely yours, 

~ Aloha Ley 

Associate Director 

Small Community Program 
TIMOTHY V. JOHNSON 

15TH DISTRICT, ILLINOIS 

AGRICULTURE 

CHAIRMAN, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, RESEARCH, 

BIOTECHNOLOGY, AND FOREIGN AGRICULTURE 

DEPARTMENT OPERATIONS OF 

OVERSIGHT AND CREDIT 

TRANSPORTATION AND 

INFRASTRUCTURE 

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, PUBLIC 

BUILDINGS, AND EMERGENCY 

MANAGEMENT 

HIGHWAYS AND TRANSIT 

WATER RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT 

Ms. Aloha Ley 

Associate Director 

f 

~ongre~~ of tbt Wnittb ~tate~ 

l!}ouse of l\epresentattbes 

~ington, }JI)(: 20515-1315 

June 8, 2012 

Small Community Air Service Development Program (SCASDP) 

1200 New Jersey Avenue Southeast 

W86-310 

Washington, DC 20590 

Re: Docket OST 2012-0069; Bloomington Normal Airport Authority 

Central Illinois Regional Airport, Bloomington, Illinois 

Dear Ms. Ley, 

REPlY To: 

WASHINGTON OFFICE: 

0 1207 LONGWORTH HoUSE OFFICE BUILDING 

WASHINGTON, DC 20515 

0 

0 

0 

0 

{202) 22!>--2371 

DISTRICT OFFICES: 

2004 fOX DRIVE 

CHAMPAIGN, IL 61820 

{217) 403-4690 

202 NoRTH PROSPECT ROAD 

SuJTE 203 

BLOOMINGTON, fl 61704 

{309) 663--7049 

655 WEST LINCOLN 

UNJT8 

CHARLESTON, ll 61920 

{217) 348-6759 

1001 MARKET STREET 

Sum 102 

MOUNT CARMEL, ll 62863 

{618) 262-8719 

The Central Illinois Regional Airport (BMI) is critical to the regional economy of downstate Illinois. This 

airport has beeh a vital transportation link for employees of Fortune 100 and Fortune 1000 companies, 

students at state and private universities, and countless families. 

On June 2, 2012, Southwest Airlines discontinued all AirTranAirways service from BMt resulting in the 

abrupt Joss of more than thirty-five percent of the daily seat capacity at the airport. The departure of 

these routes along with the consolidation of competing airlines compromises the access and fare 

competition that is necessary to maintain and grow central Illinois' economy, particularly to primary 

Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern markets. 

The Community Air Service Initiative (CASI) is a non-airport community-based initiative created to 

attract new service to central Illinois through BMI. Building on the local success of previous publicprivate partnerships, CASI is prepared to responsibly administer this award to attract badly needed 

eastbound service and generate a return on federal resources. 

The central Illinois region is continuously responding to new challenges presented to it. A positive award 

from your office empowers the community to continue battling back against a strained economic 

climate while responsibly managing federal resources . 

. Thank you for your consideration. 

TimothyV. Johnson