## 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 ofTransportation Ray LaHood, supporting the application ofAlaska 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 of2012, the U.S. Department ofTransportation will be awarding to new entrant or limited incumbent carriers a total ofeight 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 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.

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March 14, 2012 theHonorable Ray LaHood U.S. Department ofTransportation 1200 NewJersey 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 ofthe applicationofAlaska Airlines 

### to provide onedaily roundtrip flight betweenReagan National Airport (DCA) and Portland International Airport (POX). We are told that the Portland-Vancouverregion is the second largestmarket to Washington DC, in terms ofpassengers per day, withoutnonstop service to DCA It 

### is the idealcandidate for such service. Nonstop service from Oregon/southwest Washington is 

### limited tojust

### a single daily flight betweenPOX andWashington Dulles (lAD). Withnonstop service fromPOX to DCA, Oregon/southwest Washington residents will benefitfroll1 enhancedcompetition and no
· longer be forced to use less convenient and more time-consuming seivice to reach ournation's

. capital. · ··

Alaska Airlines and its regional sister carrier, Horizon 

### Air, have a large hub presence atPDX, operating an annualaverage ofmore than 640 flights per week to 33 destinations. 

### As a result, Alaska's nonstop flight would also improve service levels to Washington, DCfor the Oregon. cities ofEugene, Medford and Redmond, in addition to the greater Portland-Vancouver region. Importantly, Alaska has a strongcustomer service focus, reliable operationalperformance and finan.cial strength. In sum, we are fortunate to have regular access to the bestperforming airline in the country. These qualities make Alaska the idealcarrier 

### to provide Oregon/southwest Washington residents with their first nonstop·service to DCA.

' .. . I respectfully urge you to grantAlaska Airlines' application to provide POX-DCA service. Thankyou for your consideration.

.· Sincerely,.

Malia H. Wasson