U.S. Department 

of Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

Mr. John Saputo 

President/Owner 

Gold Coast Eagle Distributing 

7051 Wireless Court 

Sarasota, FL 34240 

Dear Mr. Saputo: 

July 3_. 2012 I I' ''~-i 28 

·1200 New Jersey Avenue, SC 

Washington, DC 20590 

' ,, 

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

the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport for a grant under the U.S. Department of 

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

requested that I respond 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 ofthis matter. I appreciate your interest in 

this program. 

Sincerely yours, 

Susan L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
Re: Small Community Air Service Development Program 

Dock~t DOT -ost,.~!012--0069 

$are~sota Br~de:nton International Airport (SRQ) 

The Honorable Ray·H. Larlood 

s~ctetary of Transportation 

Unltt:)d States Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jet.s$y Avenue., S.E. 

Washington, DC 20590 

Bear Mr: L;aHood, 

:1 am w~iJir;tg as President/Owner of GoJd CoastE;agle Distributing to .e~press. o\Jnslrong 

$YppmHor the above: refe:ren¢ec::J gr,ant app.li¢afion to the Small dornmunityAlr Service: 

Development Rrogram. the·re:cent dlifcision by southwest Airlines to pull AifTtan service 

from SRQ<iS, .a major blow to th~Jair service and.·economi~ com!letitiveness pfthe enti.re 

:te.gi.on setved:sny· Sarasota B.nade:ntc;u:'llnternational Al~pe>rt. Alrtran acca.unted tor oMet 

360,0Qt) pas$$n,Q'et& orneafly SOo/(rof ~If passeheJE!i"ftaffi'ealSRQ in 2011. 

Sarasota eradenton.aiS9'sUffers from ·a lack pf ~ccess tQ<~Westbound airline .gateway. 

This forces local consumers to drive to other airports, thereby Inflicting economic 

damage on ~he local economy. 

A 1 Qst·ecortomHUmr.>aot Study completed as part of .the SRQ Master Plan Update 

reveal.ed that57<~J() of all enplanements>atSRQ were out of atea visitors~.spel'lding an 

average of;$665. 00 per visit. U.sing the CY 2011 AirTran· passen,et traffiC t~ts;equates 

to 102;601)VI$itdrstothe SRQare~. ,\4f!len cornbinecl with the 100~000 passeng~rs lost 

dlle to no ·westbound service tj'\is ·e.q,uates.·to a loss ofover $105;000.000 of direct visitor 

expenditUres anliUally; Wheh·the multiplier effect is f(liotored in·ltequates. be. loss of 

nearlY $285 .• 000,000 of.economlc impact and 2,aoo jobs .to,the area. 

The comr:nu:nftyJs partnering ~ittt·th~ aitPQrt to match the g~ahtfunds (Iollar f~r dollar on 

this crJtiQal rpa.tt~·r. We a~k tne·t)epa.rt~Emt 'consider m~:~~ri6tis n~gatht~ · e]Je~t~;rthe 

reP~ot approval provided to Southwest .Aldin~ to acquire Air 'fran Airway$ has hat1 on 

Q.ur ~omrnt~nlty,an~ approvs the applicaliao for asslstanee. ·rnank you for yCiur 

oon~i<Jeration.