U.S. Department 

of Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

The Honorable Daniel Guerrero 

Mayor of San Marcos 

630 East Hopkins 

San Marcos, Texas 78666 

Dear Mayor Guerrero: 

Assistant Secretary 

April 20, 2012 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

)·-.......; 

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

beyond-perimeter slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) to be 

used for nonstop service to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS), Austin, Texas. 

Secretary LaHood asked me to respond to your letter. 

Under authority granted in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of2012, the 

U.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 applications proposing to serve AUS from two carriers, Southwest Airlines and 

JetBlue Airways. Each sought two slot exemptions, which would support one daily DCA-AUS 

round trip; JetBlue also applied for two slot exemptions to serve San Juan, Puerto Rico. 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; 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 ofthe 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 
Daniel Guerrero 

Office of the Mayor 

The Honorable 

Ray LaHood 

Secretary of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

Re: Docket No. DOT-OST-2012-0029. 

Dear Mr. Secretary, 

March 22,2012 

As Mayor of the city of San Marcos, Texas I am writing to express my strong support for 

applications that have been submitted to provide daily nonstop roundtrip flights between 

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Austin-Bergstrom International 

Airport. 

San Marcos is a city in Hays County, Texas between Austin and San Antonio which are 

two of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country. San Marcos is part of the 

Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metropolitan area. 

At present nonstop service from our region to Washington DC is limited to flights to 

Washington (Dulles) or Baltimore/Washington International Airport. Those flights are 

inconvenient for travelers who have a need to visit Federal Government offices, 

legislators or organizations located in the District of Columbia and for residents of the 

District of Columbia who want to visit Central Texas. In order to fly in or out of DCA, 

these travelers must make time-consuming connections. 

A ward of beyond-perimeter slot exemptions for nonstop service between AustinBergstrom International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport will 

improve the travel options for all the residents and businesses in San Marcos and all of 

Central Texas. 

I respectfully urge you to grant slot exemptions to an airline that will provide nonstop ~ 

A US-DCA service. 

Sincerely, 

aniel Guerrero 

Mayor 

East Hopkins • San Marco~. Texas 78666 • 512/393-8090 • FAX 5 I 2/396-1576