BEFORE THE • U I ' \f%. 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPO^T^tlbN 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY ^ >. ub 

WASHINGTONvPJGi ' ^ 

.^ASPORTATION 

n OPERATIONS 

- 1 P 3:l}b 

Application of 

SUN AIR EXPRESS, LLC d/b/a SUN AIR 

INTERNATIONAL 

For authority to conduct scheduled passenger 

operations as a commuter air carrier under 49 

U.S.C. 41738 

Docket OST-2011-0169 

REPLY OF SUN AIR EXPRESS, LLC 

d/b/a SUN AIR INTERNATIONAL TO THE ANSWER OF VPAA CO. 

Communications with respect to this Reply should be sent to: 

Thomas L. Cooper 

Chief Executive Officer & President 

SUN AIR EXPRESS, LLC d^/a 

SUN AIR INTERNATIONAL 

3201 Griffin Road 

Fourth Floor 

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312 

(954) 660-9865 

FAX: (954)359-9502 

tlcooper@gosunair.net 

Lormie Anne Pera 

ZUCKERT, SCOUTT & RASENBERGER, 

L.L.P. 

888 Seventeenth Street, N.W. 

Suite 700 

Washington, D.C. 20006 

(202)973-7913 

FAX: (202)342-0683 

lapera@zsrlavy. com 

Counsel for Sun Air Express, LLC d/b/a Sun 

Air International 

Dated: October 7,2011 
BEFORE THE 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Application of 

SUN AIR EXPRESS, LLC d/b/a SUN AIR 

INTERNATIONAL 

For authority to conduct scheduled passenger 

operations as a commuter air carrier under 49 

U.S.C. 41738 

Docket OST-2011-0169 

Dated: October 7, 2011 

REPLY OF SUN AIR EXPRESS, LLC 

d/b/a SUN AIR INTERNATIONAL TO THE ANSWER OF VPAA CO. 

Sun Air Express, LLC d/b/a Sun Air International ("Sun Air" or the "Applicant") filed an 

Application on September 9, 2011 for authority to conduct scheduled operations as a commuter 

air carrier (the "Application"). Sun Air amended the Application on September 23,2011 to 

propose scheduled passenger air transportation services, as a commuter air carrier, between 

Miami, Florida and Bimini, the Bahamas. VPAA Co. d/b/a Gulfstream International Airlines 

("Gulfstream") submitted an Answer to the Application on September 30, 2011. In its Answer, it 

claimed that "Sun Air does not meet the citizenship or fitness requirements with respect to the 

proposed operations" because Gulfstream will prevent Sun Air fi-om offering commuter services 

between Florida and the Bahamas. 

Sun Air submits this Reply, objecting to Gulfstream's attempts to (a) delay the 

processing of the Application and (b) block Sun Air fi-om offering commuter services between 

Miami and Bimini, a market Gulfstream is not currently serving and has not indicated any 
REPLY OF 

SUN AIR EXPRESS, LLC d/b/a 

SUN AIR INTERNATIONAL 

Page 2 

immediate plans to serve. The Department should reject Gulfstream's blatant appeal for 

protection fi-om any potential competition that Sun Air's proposed Miami-Bimini services may 

have on Gulfstream's existing Fort Lauderdale-Bimini services. The Department, moreover, 

should grant Sun Air authority promptly to operate scheduled passenger service as a commuter 

air carrier. 

Gulfstream noted in its Answer that Sun Air will not provide scheduled service, for five 

years, on any "point to point passenger air transportation route" that Gulfstream also serves. 

Gulfstream quoted the pertinent provision in the Membership Interest Purchase Agreement 

between Cooper Trading Corporation, Thomas L. Cooper, and VPAA Co. (the "Membership 

Agreement").' It focuses on the statements: "flying or serving any point to point passenger 

transportation routes" or "providing scheduled passenger air transportation services in any point 

to point routes" in which Gulfstream may have "from time to time" operated. Answer at 3. 

Gulfstream apparently interprets these statements as meaning that Sim Air may not fly or serve. 

' Gulfstream stated that Mr. Cooper served at one time as Chairman and Chief Executive 

Officer of Gulfstream International Group ("GIG"), the former parent company of Gulfstream. 

See Answer at 2. This statement is not entirely correct. Nor is it relevant. Mr. Cooper never 

served as Chairman of GIG and resigned as Chief Executive Officer on July 1, 2007, well before 

VPAA purchased Gulfstream. 

In addition, Gulfstream stated that Mr. Cooper never mentioned his intention to operate 

scheduled services between Florida and the Bahamas. Id at 4. To the contrary, Mr. Cooper 

expressed his intentions in email communications, copies of which Sun Air can provide to the 

Department, if necessary. 
REPLY OF 

SUN AIR EXPRESS, LLC d/b/a 

SUN AIR INTERNATIONAL 

Page 3 

or provide scheduled passenger air transportation services in, any point to point route that 

Gulfstream may have served at one time in the past or may decide to serve in the next five years. 

Sun Air strongly disagrees with Gulfstream's interpretation of this provision. The 

Membership Agreement does not state that Sun Air may not serve the Florida-Bahamas market 

as a commuter air carrier. Nor does it state that Sun Air may not serve or provide scheduled air 

transportation services, as a commuter air carrier, on any point to point route that Gulfstream 

may have served in the past. The plain language of the Agreement states that Sun Air caimot fly 

or serve, or provide scheduled services, on any point to point route in which Gulfstream operates. 

In its amended Application, Sun Air does not propose commuter services on any point to 

point passenger route in which Gulfstream serves. By its own admission, Gulfstream does not 

offer scheduled services between Miami and Bimini. While Gulfstream may have served Miami 

in the past, it does not offer scheduled passenger services from Miami to any point in the 

Bahamas at this time. In fact, there currently is no scheduled passenger service between Miami 

and Bimini. Sun Air, thus, is proposing new scheduled services (as a commuter carrier) in this 

market - to benefit the flying public. 

Gulfstream wants the Department to be clairvoyant and anticipate that it will serve the 

Miami-Bimini market some day (but not now), and it want the Department to deny Sun Air's 

Application on this basis. Otherwise, as Gulfstream has warned, it will seek an emergency 

injunction stopping any Department-authorized commuter services between Miami and Bimini. 

Gulfstream apparently maintains that the Membership Agreement should be construed - by the 
REPLY OF 

SUN AIR EXPRESS, LLC d/b/a 

SUN AIR INTERNATIONAL 

Page 4 

Department and by a court - as precluding Sim Air from serving the Bahamas from any point in 

Florida that Gulfstream may have served at one time in the past or may decide to serve someday 

(but not now) in the next five years. The Department has not withheld authority in the past 

because of a contractual dispute, ^ and Gulfstream has not shown why the Department (or any 

court) should do so now. However, if the Department decides to consider the scope of the 

Member Agreement, it should follow the statutory mandate of promoting new service and 

competition. To this end, the Department should give Sim Air an opportunity to offer the 

proposed new air service. 

Gulfstream is correct about one thing. It is the "largest air carrier based in Florida" that 

provides "scheduled services primarily between Florida and the Bahamas." See Answer at 3. As 

a Part 121 air carrier, Gulfsfream operates "51 scheduled flights per day, serving seven 

^ See, e.g., TNT SAVA Servicios Aereos do Vale Amazonico S.A. (SAVA) Exemption 

Renewal Application. Order 95-3-24, Docket 47507 (March 13, 1995) (finding that alleged 

nonpayment of obligations was a private contractual matter that should be resolved in other 

fora); Faucett Exemption Application, Order 93-7-34, Docket 48853 (July 22, 1993) (rejecting 

arguments by other carrier that the exemption should be denied because Faucett failed to meet a 

business commitment and was under investigation by Pemvian authorities); Nicaraguense de 

Aviacion ("NICA") Exemption Application. Order 92-7-6; Docket 48138 (July 6, 1992) 

(determining that a legal dispute with NICA's predecessor airline should be "properly resolved 

in other fora"); Union de Transports Aeriens ("UTA") Exemption Renewal Application, DOT 

Order 91-4-48, Docket 44323 (April 25, 1991) (rejecting ground handler's claim that authority 

should not be granted for terminating a contract early). Gulfstream's plea to delay processing of 

the Application is not supported by the 1990 order it cited. Order 90-8-32 concerned American 

and Iberia's joint application for an exemption relating to their CRS operations. The Department 

granted the requested exemption so that the paities could settle a CRS dispute and avoid further 

intergovernmental evaluation. 
REPLY OF 

SUN AIR EXPRESS, LLC d^/a 

SUN AIR INTERNATIONAL 

Page 5 

destinations in Florida and eight destinations in the Bahamas." Id. Using 19-seat Beech craft 

1900 aircraft, it currently operates between West Palm Beach and/or Fort Lauderdale on the one 

hand and Andros Town, Freeport, Georgetown, Governor's Harbour, Marsh Harbour, Northern 

Eleuthera, Bimini, and Treasure Cay on the other hand. Id Gulfsfream currentiy serves Bimini 

from Fort Lauderdale. 

Sun Air has no intention in providing the same services as Gulfstream. It simply wants to 

offer (as a commuter air carrier) one scheduled flight each day on one point to point route: 

Miami-Bimini-Miami. It plans to operate this service with smaller Piper Chieftain aircraft, 

which have only 9 passenger seats. Considering the weight of accompanied baggage. Sun Air 

anticipates that only 8 of these seats will be available for sale. With an estimated 50-70 percent 

load factor (depending upon the season). Sun Air expects to fransport 4 to 5 passengers each day 

between Miami and Bimini. This proposed commuter air carrier service hardly compares to the 

51 daily flights Gulfsfream operates between seven Florida points and eight Bahamian points. 

Since Sun Air is not proposing to offer service between the same points as Gulfstream, 

the underlying reason for filing an Answer is obvious: Gulfsfream does not want its existing Fort 

Lauderdale-Bimini service to face any competition from Sun Air's proposed Miami-Bimini 

service. A desire to insulate itself from competition, however, cannot serve as a basis for asking 

the Department to delay consideration of or deny Sun Air's Application. 

Gulfstream has not supported in any way whatsoever its allegation that "Sun Air does not 

meet the Department's citizenship and fitness requirements." See Answer at 6. Gulfsfream is 
REPLY OF 

SUN AIR EXPRESS, LLC d/b/a 

SUN AIR INTERNATIONAL 

Page 6 

not questioning the financial summaries or forecasts submitted by Sun Air. Id. at 5. Instead, it is 

attempting to push the Department not only into becoming involved in a contractual matter, but 

also into protecting Gulfstream's existing Fort Lauderdale-Bimini service. The Department 

should not entertain any request to limit Sun Air's entry into the Miami-Bimini market. 

WHEREFORE, for the reasons stated above. Sun Air Express, LLC d/b/a Sun Air 

International respectfiilly requests that the Department deny VPAA Co. d/b/a Gulfstream 

International Airlines' demand for (a) a delay in processing of the Application, (b) a denial of the 

Application, and (c) any Order restricting the commuter authority issued to Sun Air. Sun Air 

also requests such further, different, and additional relief as the Department may deem to be 

appropriate. 

Respectfiilly submitted, 

ZUCKERT, SCOUTT & RASENBERGER, 

L.L.P. 

888 Sevenleenth Sfreet, N.W. 

Suite 700 

Washington, D.C. 20006 

(202) 973-7913 

Counsel for Sun Air Express, LLC d/b/a Sun Air 

International 

Dated: October 7, 2011 
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

I hereby certify that on this 7"^ day of October, 2011, a copy of the foregoing REPLY OF 

SUN AIR EXPRESS, LLC d/b/a SUN AIR INTERNATIONAL TO THE ANSWER OF VPAA 

CO. was served by email or first class mail, postage prepaid, on the parties named below: 

Mr. Edward M. Danilova 

FUght Standards District Office-17 

Federal Aviation Adminisfration 

2895 S.W. 145* Avenue 

Suite 120 

Miramar,FL 33027 

Edward.m.dasilva(a)faa.gov 

Ms. Laura Remo 

Air Carrier Fitness Division, X-56 

Office of Aviation Analysis 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E., 8"' Floor 

Room W-86-306 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

Laura.remo(a!dot. gov 

Mr. Ernesto Rodriguez 

Air Service Development Manager 

Marketing Division 

Miami-Dade Aviation Department 

P.O. Box 025504 

Miami, FL 33102-5504 

David M. Hernandez 

VEDDER PRICE P.C. 

1401 I Sfreet, N.W. 

Suite 1100 

Washington, D.C. 20005 

dhemandez@vedderprice.com