U.S. Department 

of Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

. The Honorable Ralph A. Infante 

Mayor of Niles 

Niles, OH 44446 

Dear Mayor Infante: 

Assistant Secretary 

July 3, 2012 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Thank you for your letter addressed to Secretary LaHood supporting the proposal submitted by 

the Youngstown~ Warren Regional Airport for a grant under the U.S. Department of 

Transportation's Small Community Air Service Development Program. The Secretary has 

requested that I respo~d on his behalf. 

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, 

Susan L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
\\'i!!iilrn f\ld(inlcy, 2Sth l'rcskkni 

of !.he United Sia!e~, 

Born in Niles J<mt:wry '29, 1843 

June 5, 2012 

The Honorable Ray LaHood 

Secretary of Transportation 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

400 7th Street, SW Room 6401 

Washington, DC 20590 

Office of the Mayor 

Ralph A. Infante I Mayor 

City of Niles, Ohio 

City Building I 34 West State Street I Niles, Ohio 44446 

Telephone: (330) 652-341? " (3~0) 540-4597 

E-Mail: Mayor@thecityofmles.com 

®~4n 

Re: Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport 

Small Community Air Service Development Program Grant Application 

Docket DOT-OST-2012-0069 

Dear Secretary LaHood, 

.. 

I am writing to respectfully express my support behalf of the Youngstown-Warren Regional 

Airport and the Airport's grant application for funding under the Smau·community Air Service 

Development Program. I feel that if this grant application is successful it is just one step closer 

to enhancing our Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport and supplying commercial air service to 

the Youngstown-Warren-Sharon metropolitan service area. 

During the past 15 years, the Airport has received in excess of $60 million from federal, state 

and local government agencies for capital improvements. The local community has formed a 

vital partnership of governments and private organizations and businessE:s through the creation 

of the Western Reserve Port Authority, which owns and manages the Airport. Although the 

community is strongly supportive of the Airport, the lack of competitive pricing and quality air 

services has now caused the Airport to be underutilized and has resulted in the 800,000 

residents of Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania to drive Cleveland or Pittsburg for their 

travel needs. In addition, larger airports now require an additional one to tow hours for air 

, S10~120612-013 ; Niles o Where flistory Lives 
Cant: Letter of Support 

Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport 

travelers to secure parking and check through security systems. The success of other regional 

airports such as Akron-Canton clearly demonstrates that there is a viable place for small to 

midsize airports in the aviation industry. With the assistance of this grant the Airport would be 

able to offer superior air service at lower costs to the community and would contribute greatly 

to securing the future of our airport. 

As Mayor to the City of Niles and member to the Western Reserve Port Authority, I feel that it is 

imperative that our Airport is successful in securing funding under the Small Community Air 

Service Development Program. The Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport is vital to our 

community and Economic Development, and with the wide unemployment in North-Eastern, 

Ohio it is greatly imperative to retain funding for our local Airport. 

The City of Niles supports and appreciate your positive consideration of the proposal for a Small 

Community Air Service Development Program Grant for the Youngstown-Warren Regional 

Airport and the community it serves. 

Respectfully, 

Ralph 

~~ A. Infante 

Mayor, City of Niles, Ohio