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## UreHQnorable Ed Orcutt WashingtOn 

## House ofRepresentiitives. Olympia, 

## WA 935Jl4

..0600 llear Mr. ·Orcutt; April 1:3,. 2012 

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## 2! [Q: 

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## 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 InternationalAirport 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 

## ofeiglltslot 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~** 

## stillpending, 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 ofTransportation 1200 New Jersey Ave, SE Washington, DC 20590 

### Stat<' of 

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### 1

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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 ofthe 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 ofpassengers 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 ofAlaska 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 ofthese 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 offfrom 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 ofthe 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 ofEugene, 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 ofchoice- 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 18 1

h Legislative District

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