y ^ - ..viT OPERATIONS 

ULS. Departmen t o f Assistant Secretary 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Transportatio n ,,.,.,,.- , ,^ p |. j ^ ^ashington, DC 20590 

Off ice Of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

m 2 5 2010 

Mr. Ross P. Woodstock 

Administrator 

Mid-Micliigan Business Travel Coalition 

c/o Kolt Communications, Inc. 

2104 Jolly Road, Suite 200 

Okemos, MI 48864 

Dear Mr. Woodstock: 

Thank you for your letter of October 6 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-mile 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 currently 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. Ross P. Woodstock 

Page 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. 

rely yours^ 

Tusan L. Kurfand 

assistant Secretary for 

Hation and International Affairs 
SI 0-101015-070 

MID-MICHIGAN 

m BUSINE 

• COAI 

BUSINESS TRAVEL 

COALITION 

October 6,2010 

The Honorable Raymond L. Lahood 

Secretary of Transportation 

United States Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Re: Sun Country Airlines Application - #DOT-OST-2000-7182 

Dear Secretary LaHood: 

The Mid-Michigan Business Travel Coalition represents more than 200 businesses, 

governmental and educational organizations in the Mid-Michigan area. Our mission is to 

work toward the development of the strongest possible air service in our region. To that 

end, we write this letter to support and request approval of the Sun Country application 

referenced above. 

The members of our organization collectively spend approximately $25 million per year 

on air travel. Our periodic surveys of our member's travel habits consistently show that 

Washington DC is the number one destination of our business travelers. As the home of 

a thriving manufacturing and insiuance sector, Michigan State University, more than 400 

state associations and as Michigan's state capital, direct service to Washington DC is of 

vital importance to our region. 

The Mid-Michigan Business Travel Coalition views strong air service as a critical 

component of our region's economic groAvth strategy. We also view direct service to 

Washington DC as something that addresses a demonstrated community need. 

Accordingly, we would greatly appreciate your approval of the Sun Country slot 

application. 

Sincerely, 

Ross P. Woodstock 

Administrator 

Mid-Michigan Business Travel Coalition