BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C.

__________________________________________ ) Application of ) ) CSI AVIATION SERVICES, INC. ) ) for an emergency exemption pursuant to ) DOT-OST-2009-0311 49 U.S.C. § 40109 and 14 C.F.R. § 302.11 to ) continue to perform und er General Services ) Administration Contra ct GS-33F-0025V, SIN ) 599-5, Air Charter Services–Brokers ) __________________________________________)

CSI AVIATION SERVICES, INC.’S RESPONSE TO GSA’S SUBMISSION

Communications with respect to th is document should be sent to:

David M. Hernandez, Esq. Vedder Price P.C. 875 15th Street NW, Suite 725 Washington, DC 20005 Direct: +1.202.312.3340 Fax: +1.202.312.3322 dhernandez@vedderprice.com

Attorney for CSI Aviation Services, Inc.

Dated: March 5, 2010BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C.

__________________________________________ ) Application of ) ) CSI AVIATION SERVICES, INC. ) ) for an emergency exemption pursuant to ) DOT-OST-2009-0311 49 U.S.C. § 40109 and 14 C.F.R. § 302.11 to ) continue to perform und er General Services ) Administration Contra ct GS-33F-0025V, SIN ) 599-5, Air Charter Services–Brokers ) __________________________________________)

CSI AVIATION SERVICES, INC.’S RESPONSE TO GSA’S SUBMISSION

Pursuant to the Department of Transportation’s (“DOT”) 1 March 3, 2010 request for

interested parties to submit comments to GSA’s submi ssion, CSI Aviation Services, Inc.

(“CSI”) hereby responds as follows:

1. On February 12, 2010, DOT asked GSA fo r a “a clear and definitive formal

statement of GSA’s position on [CSI’s] applicati on” and to “address the broader question of

whether broker services are essential to GSA’ s mission of procuring airlift for the Federal

government or whether GSA has other means to accomplish this mission.” 2

2. On March 1, 2010, GSA responded with a definitive formal statement that

“GSA would support action that DOT determines appropriate, via exem ption or otherwise,

1 Common names used.

2 Letter from Kris E. Durmer to Robert S. Rivkin at 2, dated February 12, 2010 (“DOT Letter”).Response to GSA Submission Page 2

that would permit air charter broker servic es to continue to perform their GSA MAS

contracts as well as contracts the broker s may have with other Federal agencies.” 3

3. GSA also stressed air charter broker services are essential to GSA’s mission

of acquiring airlift for the Federal Govern ment by, ironically, citing DOT’s Haitian Airlift

exemptions. “This example demonstrates how a critical need is sometimes met only via air

charter broker services.” 4

4. Next, CSI strongly supports GSA’s pos ition that “Acquisition by the Federal

Government, however, is distinct in several ways from acquisitions in the private sector and

does not present the consumer protections relate d concerns typically at issue in the private

sector.” 5

5. GSA lists a plethora of civil and crim inal protections en joyed by the Federal

Government under the Federal Ac quisition Regulations and othe r Federal laws not available

in the public charter arena. 6

6. CSI submits that GSA is a better aut hority regarding the protections afforded

to the Federal Government unde r the FARs than DOT and therefore DOT should defer to

GSA regarding whether DOT regulations concer ning public charter prot ections should apply

to GSA Federal government contracts. The two parties should meet face-to-face (as GSA

suggests) to resolve the matter on a permanent basis.

3 Letter from Robert S. Rivkin to Kris E. Durmer, dated March 1, 2010 (“GSA Response”).

4 Id. at 3.

5 Id. at 1.

6 Id. at 2.Response to GSA Submission Page 3

7. GSA’s submission also makes it clear that GSA has not conceded that DOT

economic authority is required for Federal agen cies to enter into c ontract with brokers. 7

8. CSI submits that it is GSA’s position that economic authority from DOT is

unnecessary given the unique nature of government versus public charter operations and the

applicability of the existing regulations to pub lic charters. Moreover, as noted in the GSA

Response, GSA supports CSI’s ex emption in this venue becaus e a favorable resolution would

permit air charter brokers to perform their Federal contract s. GSA’s response is not a de

facto acceptance by GSA that DOT economic authority is required to enter into contracts

with Federal agencies under the GSA Schedule.

Therefore, given the above and the ex tensive record already presented, CSI

respectfully requests that DOT grant CSI’s Emergency Exemption without further delay.

Respectfully submitted,

/S/ David M. Hernandez, Esq.

Vedder Price P.C. 875 15th Street NW, Suite 725 Washington, D.C. 20005 202.312.3340/(f) 202.312.3322 dhernandez@vedderprice.com

Attorney for CSI Aviation Services, Inc.

Dated: March 5, 2010

7 Some of the opposing parties have incorrectly argued that GSA has conceded that economic authority is required from DOT to operate under the GSA Schedule.CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on this 5th day of March, 2010, a copy of the foregoing Response to GSA’s Submission was served by e-mail on the parties named below:

Virginia Grebasch, Esq. General Services Administration 1800 F St. NW Washington, DC 20405 virginia.grebasch@gsa.gov James W. Tello (for Miami Air International) 1025 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20036 jamestello@earthlink.net

Thomas J. Spulak, Esq. King & Spalding LLP 1700 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Ste 200 Washington, DC 20006 tspulak@kslaw.com Carl M. Smith (for Omni Air International) McGovern & Smith, LLC 1129 20th Street, NW Washington, DC 20036 carl.smith@mcgovernandsmith.com

Ron Priddy National Air Carrier Association 1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1700 Arlington, Virginia 22209 rpriddy@naca.cc Robert Binns Global Aviation Holdings 101 World Drive Peachtree City, GA 30269 rbinns@glah.com

John Tasler Air Charter Team 10015 NW Ambassador #202 Kansas City, MO 64153-1437 jtasler@aircharterteam.com David McCown Air Partner, Inc. 1100 Lee Wagner Blvd, Suite 328 Ft Lauderdale, FL 33315 david.mccown@airpartner.com

S. Bickford Air Planning 12 Heritage Way North Reading, MA 01864-2800 sbickford@airplanning.com Nick Franzen Capital Aviation 44081 Pipeline Plaza Ste 220 Ashburn, VA Nick.franzen@capitalaviation.us

Jim Caro Private Jet Services Group 5 Batchelder Rd Seabrook, NH 03874-4402 Jim.caro@pjsgroup.com Aaron A. Goerlich & Victor H. Smith (Sundowner Oklahoma City, LLC) Garofalo Goerlich Hainbach PC 1200 New Hampshire Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036-6802 agoerlich@ggh-airlaw.com vsmith@ggh-airlaw.comGreg Cirillo (for Capital Aviation) Wiley Rein LLP 7925 Jones Branch Drive McLean, VA 22102 gcirillo@wileyrein.com Chip Credno Zephyr Aviation, LLC 390 Industrial Drive Unit 3 Louisa, VA 23093-4216 Chip.credno@zephyraviation.net

John S. Fredericksen VP – General Counsel (for Sun Country Airlines) MN airlines, LLC 1300 Mendota Heights Road Mendota Heights, MN 55120 john.fredericksen@suncountry.com Peggie Ramsey Bimini Island Air Fort Lauderdale Exec. Airport 3000 NW 59th Street Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309 pramsey@crestonaviation.com

Pierre Murphy (for USA 3000 Airlines) Law Offices of Pierre Murphy 1200 New Hampshire Ave, NW Suite 800 Washington, DC 20036 pmurphy@lopmurphy.com Thuy H. Cooper U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 thuy.cooper@dot.gov

Nelson Ramiz, Jr. UFLY 2601 NW 105th Avenue Miami, FL 33172 nramiz@mac.com Mark W. Atwood (for Xtra Airways) Sher & Blackwell 1850 M Street, NW Washington, DC 20036 matwood@sherblackwell.com

Clereece Y. Kroha U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings (C-70) 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 clereece.kroha@dot.gov Sam Podberesky U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings (C-70) 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 sam.podberesky@dot.gov

Peter S. Vincent Principal Legal Advisor DHS/ICE 500 12th Street, SW Washington, DC 20024 peter.vincent@dhs.gov Allan Horowitz Manager, Special Programs FAA - Office of the Chief Counsel 800 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20591 allan.horowitz@faa.govSubmitted by:

/S/ Cristina Richards Law Clerk Vedder Price P.C.

Dated: March 5, 2010