u.s. Department 

of Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

The Honorable David Dewhurst 

Lieutenant Governor of Texas 

Austin, TX 78711-2068 

Dear Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst: 

Assistant Secretary 

April 20, 2012 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington. DC 20590 

01 I q 

Thank you for your letter to Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, supporting the application 

of Southwest Airlines for two beyond-perimeter slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington 

National Airport (DCA). Southwest's application proposes to serve Austin-Bergstrom 

International Airport, Texas, with one round trip per day from DCA. Secretary LaHood asked 

me to respond to your letter. 

Under authority granted in the FAA Modernization and Reform ·Act of20 12, the 

----------------lJ.S. Department of Transportation will be awarding to new entrant or limited incumbent 

carriers a total of eight slot exemptions at DCA, which would support four daily round trips. 

We received Southwest's application on March 12. Other timely applications were received 

from Air Canada, proposing one round trip to Vancouver, British Columbia; Alaska Airlines, one 

round trip to Portland, Oregon, and one round-trip to San Diego; Frontier Airlines, one round trip 

to Colorado Springs and beyond to San Diego; JetBlue Airlines, one round trip to San Juan, 

Puerto Rico, and one round trip to Austin, Texas; Sun Country Airlines, one round trip to Las 

Vegas; and Virgin America, Inc., two round trips to San Francisco. 

As the matter is still pending, I cannot comment on the merits of the points raised in your letter. 

However, I can assure you that all applications the Department received will be given full and 

fair consideration and will be evaluated against the selection criteria specified in the statute. 

The Department's action on this matter is being administered through a public docket, which 

allows all interested parties the opportunity to comment. Following our normal practice, I am 

placing a copy of your letter and this response in docket number DOT-2012-0029. 

I appreciate your interest in this matter. 

Sincerely yours, 

Susan L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
David Dewhurst 

The Capitol 

Austin, Texas 78711-2068 

512-463-0001 

Lieutenant Governor of Texas 

President of the Senate 

The Honorable Ray LaHood 

Secretary of Transportation 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. 

Washington, DC 20590 

Dear Secretary LaHood: 

Apri13, 2012 

1-800-441-0373 

Fax: 512-936-6700 

Dial 711 for Relay Calls 

As the Lieutenant Govemor of Texas, I write to strongly suppOl't Texas-based 

Southwest Airlines' (Southwest's) application for two beyond~perimeter slot exemptions 

at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airpmt (DCA). With these slot exemptions, 

Southwest plans to initiate the first ever capital~to-capital nonstop service between DCA 

and Austin-Bergstrom International Aitport (ABIA). Southwest proposes using its new 

Boeing 737-800 aircraft, offering 175 seats in each direction. 

Southwest is the world's largest low-cost air carrier and the largest carrier in the 

United States in terms of passengers. Southwest's large domestic network from ABIAincluding 52 daily nonstop flights to 19 cities, including the Texas cities of Dallas, El 

Paso, Harlingen, Houston and Lubbock- combined with a 40-year history of lowering 

airfares and stimulating passenger traffic, will ensure that these slot exemptions are put to 

the highest and best use and that the public benefits are maximized to the greatest extent 

possible. 

Led by its vibrant high-tech industry, Austin is home to dozens of corporate 

headquarters and trade associations, many of which have regular business before the 

federal government. Also, with approximately 77,000 origin and destination passengers 

traveling between Austin and DCA annually, Austin is the fourth largest beyondperimeter market without nonstop DCA service today. 
The Honorable Ray LaHood 

April3, 2012 

Page 2 

Significantly, Austin-DCA is the most over-priced of the top ten largest beyondperimeter markets without existing nonstop service. Cun-ent fares between Austin and 

DCA are 57% higher than Southwest's average fare for the same distance. Therefore, 

Southwest's low fares in this market will produce major consumer and stimulate 

additional consumer demand for air travel. 

For these reasons, I strongly support Southwest's application for capital-to-capital 

nonstop service between ABIA and DCA. Such service is long overdue and would 

provide significant competitive and economic benefits to the Austin metropolitan area. 

Thank you for your consideration of my views in this matter. 

Sincerely, 

David Dewhurst 

Lieutenant Governor 

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