u.s. Department 

of Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

The Honorable Kirk Watson 

Texas State Senate 

P.O. Box 12068 

Austin, TX 78711 

Dear Mr. Watson: 

Assistant Secretary 

April 20, 2012 OL! 

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 Refonn 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 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, 

S san L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
COMMITIEES: 

TRANSPORTATION & HOMELAND SECURITY -VICE-cHAIR 

BUSINESS & COMMERCE 

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 

HIGHER EDUCATION 

NOMINATIONS 

March 22,2012 

The Honorable Ray LaHood 

Secretary of Transportation 

U.S. Department ofTransportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. 

Washington, DC 20590 

KIRK WATSON 

STATE SENATOR 

DISTRICT 14 

Re: Docket DOT-OST-2012-0029 

Dear Secretary LaHood: 

CAPITOL ADDRESS 

P.O. Box 12068 

ROOM E1.810 

AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711 

512/463-0114 

FAX 512/463-5949 

I am the State Senator representing Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) in Austin, 

Texas. I write in strong· support of Southwest Airlines' application for a pair of beyond-perimeter 

slot exemptions at Washington National Airport. With these beyond-perimeter slot exemptions, 

Southwest proposes to operate the first-ever "capital-to-capital" nonstop flight between ABIA 

and Reagan National Airport. I believe such service is long overdue and deserving of your 

Department's favorable consideration. 

Southwest has operated in Austin since 1977. For the past 35 years, both Southwest and Austin 

have grown and prospered. While I served as Austin Mayor, I was pleased to oversee the 

construction of ABIA and the relocation of the Austin airport from its previous site to its current 

location on the former Bergstrom Airbase. Since the reopening of the Austin airport at ABIA, it 

has been recognized many times for quality, level of service and passenger experience. Last fall, 

ABIA earned a place on the Airport Council International's Roll of Excellence for airports that ~ 

have ranked among the top five in Airport Service Quality for five consecutive years. Only 14 

airports in the world received this recognition. 

Today, Austin-area residents benefit from tl:.e variety of air service options resulting from a 

healthy and competitive environment at ABIA. In 2011, a re\:ord 9 million passengers used 

ABIA. However, despite a strong overall level of competition at ABIA, the airport currently 

lacks nonstop service to National Airport. As a result, current travel options between ABIA and 

National Airp01t are limited and relatively expensive. 

S10-120329-019 
March 22, 2012 

Page2 of2 

Southwest's proposal would provide much needed low-cost carrier. competition to an un-served 

route. This will produce lower fares for Washington and Austin-area consumers and will 

stimulate further demand for air travel between these two capital cities. In fact, Southwest's 

average fare for flights of the same distance as Austin-DCA is more than 50% less expensive 

than the average fare in the Austin-DCA market today. 

Moreover, Southwest proposes using a Boeing 737-800 .aircraft with 175 seats to serve this route. 

Such a large aircraft will increase capacity significantly in the Austin-Washington market. It 

will also maximize the use of scarce beyond-perimeter slot exemptions. It will increase job 

opportunities in order to service the new daily flight and to accommodate the increase passenger · 

traffic. 

Austin's high tech economy and research heavy academic institutions generate significant 

passenger traffic between the capital cities. Direct Austin-DCA service will meet an existing 

need, strengthen the economic ties between the two cities and help grow the economy. 

For these reasons, I respectfully request the Department of Transportation grant a pair of beyondperimeter slot exemptions to Southwest so it can begin Austin-Washington nonstop air service. 

Sincerely, 

Kirk Watson 

s 1 0-'120329-0 19