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offic~ oHhe Se~r~t!ltV 

otlront~o®tt<l>n 

UreHQnorable Ed Orcutt 

WashingtOn House ofRepresentiitives. 

Olympia, WA 935Jl4 .. 0600 

llear Mr. ·Orcutt; 

April 1:3,. 2012 y 2! [Q: ll 

Thank yottfor your left~r to· Se~tetaryofTransportation·Ray LaHood; supponingthe applieution 

of.AlaskaAidines,Jnc. for two beyqnd·per:iJ:neter slQtexemptionsat Ronald Reagan \V~hit}gtQn 

NJ;tfional ~Q.rt (PCA). Alaska~s applicati<>n propo~es to:set'Ve Portland International Airport 

with one round•trip pe:rc(lay from DCA. S'¢oretary LaHood has asked me'to respond to yQ;ur lett~r~ · 

Under authority ·gtantedl!l the FA.AM<>derniZation and Reform Act ·af'~Ol2, the. 

U.S. Qep~ent of Transportation will be awardingtQ new entrant odimited incumbent 

carriers a tc>tiit of eiglltslot exemptiQns at llCA, which would support fourdft.Uy round. trips. 

We received Alaska's application, which also propos~ one daily round, ttip to San lliego, on 

March 12. Other timely ~ppljeations wer~ received ttom Air Cana9a.; propq,sjng one t.'Ound trip 

t0 V.aneouver) British Cohmttiia; Frl)ntier Airlines, pne round trip to Colorado Springs and b~YQ:tld. to San:.Diego; JetBlue Airlines,· one round tflp to San Ju.an, Pl1erto Rico, and one ro.und 

trip to Austin, Texas; Southwest Airlines. one round trip to Austin and Sim Diego beyond; Sun 

Country Airlines, on.eroundtrip to Las Vegas; and Yirgin·America,lne., two round tripstO··S~ 

Fnmetseo. · · 

Af, the~matter is~ still pending, I cannot e0~ent on tlie .merit~ oftbe points raised ht your letter. 

Howe.ver? I~f,ln•·assure Y()tt.that. all applications the Department rec~ived wilt· be given fu.U ·and 

iair.:eonsideratron and. wiU be evllluated. against the selection criteria. specified in.1he stat:Ute. 
The Depar:tnlent'~aotirm on t~is trt~tter is being lidministe~d tlu't>ugh·a: publi<z dock~t~ Whi~~ 

allows all interested parties the opportunity to conunent. Followingournarmal practi.ce~ !:am 

placm~ a;copf afyour lette.r and $s response in .docket number DOT-20.12:..0'019. 

lappteciate:your intetest.itt:.this matter. 

usan.L. Kurland 

~sslstantSe,~r.etary.for .· Aviation·ail.tt·In~mationnl Affairs 
:-;I \It· Ill 1'1<1':-;J Yi \ 11\'1· 

!H·1'f.il-..f'ltl< I' 

ED O!Wl TT 

March 21,2012 

The Honorable Ray LaHood 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Ave, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Stat<' of 

\\'asllingt< H 1 

H< )USt' of 

I{< 'I >n 'St 'I H; HiH'S 

Re: Alaska Airlines' application for PDX-DCA; Docket No. DOT-OST-2012-0029 

Dear Secretary LaHood, 

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This letter is in support of the application by Alaska Airlines to provide one daily rmmdtrip flight between Reagan National 

Airport (DCA) and Portland International Airport (PDX). 

We are told that the Portland-Vancouver region is the second largest market to Washington DC, in terms of passengers per 

day, without nonstop service to DCA. It is the ideal candidate for such service. Nonstop service from Oregon/Southwest 

Washington is limited to just a single daily flight between PDX and Washington Dulles (lAD). With nonstop service from 

PDX to DCA, Oregon/Southwest Washington residents will benefit from enhanced competition and no longer be forced to 

use less convenient and more time-consuming service to reach our nation's Capitol. 

As a Southwest Washington customer of Alaska Airlines, I have had to travel either PDX to Seattle -then to DCA, or PDX to 

Denver- then to DCA. I have even had to fly POX to Philadelphia- then to DCA on a different air carrier. None of these 

make any sense. On one return trip via the Seattle route, it would have been faster for me to drive the 140 miles to my home 

than to wait for the connecting flight to even take off from Seattle to POX! It put me home 2-3 hours later than what a direct 

flight from DCA to PDX would have. And PDX is 40 miles from my home rather than 140 miles that Seattle is. 

Furthermore, I have difficulty with landings due to my ears not pressurizing properly, making landings painful. A non-stop 

flight would reduce the physical discomfort by eliminating one of the two current landings. 

Alaska Airlines and its regional sister carrier, Horizon Air, have a large hub presence at POX, operating an annual average of 

more than 640 flights per week to 33 destinations. As a result, Alaska's nonstop flight would also improve service levels to 

Washington, DC for the Oregon cities of Eugene, Medford and Redmond, in addition to the greater Portland-Vancouver 

region. Importantly, Alaska has a strong customer service focus, reliable operational performance and fmancial strength. In 

sum, we are fortunate to have regular access to the best performing airline in the country. These qualities make Alaska the 

ideal carrier- my carrier of choice- to provide Oregon/Southwest Washington residents with their first nonstop service to 

DCA. 

For the above reasons, I respectfully urge you to grant Alaska Airlines' application to provide PDX-DCA service. Thank you 

for your consideration. 

Sincerely, 

Representative Ed Orcutt 

181

h Legislative District 

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