u.s. Department 

of Transportation 

Assistant Secretary 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

April 13. 2012 :< :

7 ''! '' 1 "' ic, '' f .: ! 

Ms. Malia H. Wasson 

President 

U.S. Bank-Oregon & SW Washington 

Ill SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 400 

Portland, OR 97204 

Dear Ms. Wasson: 

il: l b 

1200 New Jersey Avenue. SE 

Washington. DC 2059:l 

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

of Alaska Airlines, Inc. for two beyond-perimeter slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington 

National Airport (DCA). Alaska's application proposes to serve Portland International Airport 

with one round trip per day from DCA. Secretary LaHood has asked me to respond to your 

letter. 

Under authority granted in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, 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 Alaska's application, which also proposes one daily round trip to San Diego, on 

March 12. Other timely applications were received from Air Canada, proposing one round trip 

to Vancouver, British Columbia; 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; Southwest Airlines, one round trip to Austin and San Diego beyond; 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 O~t'3 &CitM on ibis matteds beinR adn!l~ Jhr\>Uglj li1)tiblill ~~~. Wlltch' 

alln:ws all int~st~d pttrti~sij)e'~PPO~ity ~o comment. Following our normal pmclice, lam 

placing a ~OP:Y ofyour letter and this\respon'Se in docket ntunl:ler DQT.;.2012·()l)29. 

J.appreoiate your:irttei>est in this ·matter. 

Sllsan L. Kurland 

Assistant Sect~tmy for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
[$J)ank 

111 .SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 400 

Portland, OR 97204 

March 14, 2012 

the Honorable Ray LaHood 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Ave, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

MaliaH.Wasson 

President, U.S. Bank-Oregon 

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

Dear secretary LaHood: 

This letter is in support of the application of Alaska Airlines to provide one daily roundtrip 

flight between Reagan National Airport (DCA) and Portland International Airport (POX). 

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 POX and Washington Dulles (lAD). With nonstop service from POX to 

DCA, Oregon/ southwest Washington residents will benefit froll1 enhanced competition and no 

· longer be forced to use less convenient and more time-consuming seivice to reach our nation's 

. capital. · ·· 

Alaska Airlines and its regional sister carrier, Horizon Air, have a large hub presence at PDX, 

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 

finan.cial 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 to provide Oregon/ southwest 

Washington residents with their first nonstop· service to DCA. 

' .. . 

I respectfully urge you to grant Alaska Airlines' application to provide POX-DCA service. 

Thank you for your consideration. 

.· Sincerely,. 

Malia H. Wasson