BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, DC 20590 

 

 ) 

Establishment of Slot Exemption Proceeding ) 

At Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport ) Docket 

Pursuant to 49 USC §41718 ) DOT-OST-2012-0029 

 ) 

Communications with respect to this document should be addressed to: 

 

James Hnat Jonathan B. Hill 

Executive Vice President, J. Parker Erkmann 

Corporate Affairs, and General Counsel Dow Lohnes PLLC 

JetBlue Airways Corporation 1200 New Hampshire Ave., NW 

27-01 Queens Plaza North Suite 800 

Long Island City, NY 11101 Washington, D.C. 20036 

 (202) 776-2000 

 jhill@dowlohnes.com 

 perkmann@dowlohes.com 

Robert C. Land 

Senior Vice President for Government 

Affairs & Associate General Counsel 

JetBlue Airways Corporation Counsel for 

P.O. Box 1927 JetBlue Airways Corporation 

Rockville, MD 20849-1927 

(301) 279-9727 

 

March 12, 2012 

 
1

BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, DC 20590 

 

 ) 

Establishment of Slot Exemption Proceeding ) 

At Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport ) Docket 

Pursuant to 49 USC §41718 ) DOT-OST-2012-0029 

 ) 

A Capital to Capital Application 

JetBlue Airways (“JetBlue”) hereby applies for exemptions from 49 U.S.C. 41714 (h) (4) 

and 14 CFR Part 93, subparts K and S (“High Density Rule” or “HDR”), to allow JetBlue 

to add service in up to two unique markets: 1) one daily nonstop roundtrip flight 

between Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (“DCA”) and San Juan, Puerto 

Rico’s Luiz Munoz Marin International Airport (“SJU”), the capital of Puerto Rico, with 

connecting service to St. Thomas (“STT”), the capital of the United States Virgin 

Islands; and 2) one daily nonstop round trip flight between DCA and Austin-Bergstrom 

International Airport (“AUS”), the capital of Texas. JetBlue requests two (2) slot 

exemptions for new service between DCA and JetBlue’s focus city at SJU and, if the 

slots for SJU are granted, two (2) slot exemptions for new service between DCA and 

JetBlue’s growth city of AUS, both of which are capital cities located beyond the DCA 

perimeter pursuant the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (Pub. L. No. 112-

95).1

                                                            

1

 In making this application JetBlue seeks consideration of its request to serve DCA-SJU/STT as 

its first choice. Only if that service to our focus city (SJU) is granted does JetBlue request that 

DOT consider its second request for service to Austin, Texas.
2

On February 14, 2012, President Obama signed into law the FAA Modernization and 

Reform Act of 2012 (“FAA 2012”). Section 414 of FAA 2012 directs the Department of 

Transportation (“Department”) to grant an additional eight (8) slot exemptions “for 

nonstop service between DCA and airports beyond the 1,250-mile perimeter.” JetBlue 

Airways is a limited incumbent carrier at DCA and this application, as described below, 

satisfies the criteria Congress has directed the Department to consider (Section 414 of 

FAA 2012). 

JetBlue proposes to provide daily nonstop service between DCA and SJU utilizing its 

Stage 3 Airbus A320 single aisle jet. The JetBlue A320 has 150 seats in a three by 

three seating configuration, providing the most legroom in coach and JetBlue’s popular 

‘Even More Space’ product. The proposed daily nonstop service between DCA and 

AUS would utilize the Stage 3 Embraer E190 single aisle mainline jet. The JetBlue 

E190 has 100 seats in a two by two configuration and also offers the ‘Even More Space’ 

product.2

 Both applications have the strong support of the local communities.3

I. Introduction 

Created after deregulation, JetBlue has achieved profitability and customer loyalty 

through its commitment to customer service. Since our first flight more than twelve 

                                                            

2

 It is JetBlue’s expectation that the DCA-AUS capital to capital market will be stimulated with 

our low fares, thus enabling JetBlue to profitably upsize the aircraft to the Airbus A320 as 

market conditions warrant. 

3 See Exhibit A for initial letters of support, including from (1) Governor Luis G. Fortuño of 

Puerto Rico; (2) Mr. Arnaldo Deleo, Aviation Director and General Manager of SJU; (3) the 

Honorable Donna M. Christensen, Congressional Delegate for the U.S. Virgin Islands; (4) 

Governor John P. de Jongh, Jr. of the U.S. Virgin Islands; (5) the Honorable Pedro R. Pierluisi, 

Congressional Delegate for Puerto Rico; (6) President Ronald E. Russell, Esq. of the Senate of 

the U.S. Virgin Islands, and (7) Mayor Lee Leffingwell of Austin, Texas.
3

years ago, our commitment to bring humanity back to air travel has proven far more 

than a marketing slogan. JetBlue’s relentless focus on award-winning customer service 

has been widely acclaimed.4

 The loyalty of our customers, more than 26 million last 

year, has enabled JetBlue to receive the prestigious JD Power award for Customer 

Satisfaction for an unprecedented seventh year in a row. JetBlue’s customer focused 

approach has enabled its profitable growth and enabled JetBlue to become the fastest 

airline in United States aviation history to achieve the ranks of “major” airline as 

classified by the Department. 

JetBlue prides itself on delivering everyday fair fares coupled with a litany of standard 

features that exceed the extras provided for a fee by other carriers. These include: 1) 

no overbooking; 2) first checked bag free; 3) all one-way fares; 4) pre-assigned seats; 

4) the most legroom in coach of any domestic carrier; 5) the youngest all-jet mainline 

fleet of any major carrier; 6) unlimited snacks and drinks; 7) 136 channels of free 

entertainment5

 and 8) the award winning customer service delivered by our 14,000 

Crewmembers. 

Today, JetBlue operates a fleet of 171 new, large jet aircraft, comprised of 120 Airbus 

A320 jets, each with 150 seats6

 and 51 Embraer E190 jets, each with 100 seats. 

                                                            

4 See Exhibit B for list of most notable customer-service awards and rankings. 

5

 Every seat on all JetBlue aircraft is equipped with 36 channels of free LiveTV and 100 

channels of free XM Radio. In addition, each seat is equipped with pay-for first run movies, 

which are provided free of charge on Caribbean flights where satellite signal loss occurs with 

LiveTV and XM. 

6

 JetBlue has opted to configure its Airbus A320 fleet with only 150 seats, each with the most 

average legroom in coach of any domestic coach product. By contrast, for example, a Spirit 

Airlines’ Airbus A320 is configured with 178 coach seats, 19 percent more seats in the same 

aircraft operated by JetBlue, demonstrating one of the standard customer-friendly attributes 

(legroom) offered by JetBlue to all of its customers. 
4

JetBlue currently serves 71 markets, including 18 international destinations.7 JetBlue’s 

consistent and controlled growth since 2000 will continue this year as the fleet grows to 

180 aircraft. With its firm orders, JetBlue will see the fleet grow to 275 aircraft by 2021. 

This firm-order fleet growth is an important factor. As JetBlue has demonstrated in 

market after market, our philosophy is to stimulate markets and add frequency in order 

to satisfy growing demand brought about by our low fares. Our order book enables this 

consistent growth in successful markets. 

Since our first flight in 2000, JetBlue has always had a simple formula for deciding 

which markets to serve - the market needs to be either 1) under-served; 2) over-priced; 

or 3) have both characteristics. Once JetBlue decides to enter a market, it introduces a 

meaningful level of service at lower fares than the market has previously experienced. 

The markets between DCA and both SJU and AUS fit this description. 

Simply put, JetBlue’s model has a demonstrably successful history of stimulating 

demand rather than merely shifting existing traffic. As JetBlue grows, it creates new 

competitive markets. As such, when JetBlue enters a market, fares generally are 

lowered and enplanements generally rise. As traffic increases, JetBlue utilizes its firm 

aircraft order book to grow capacity further, satisfy demand and thus, be a strong 

competitor. This historical pattern has been replicated time and time again. 

Below are two recent market illustrations of the positive effect JetBlue has had on 

increased traffic and disciplined fares. The first is Jacksonville, FL – San Juan. 

                                                            

7

 Based on June 2012 schedule (seasonal markets are MVY, ACK and ANC).
5

 

The second illustrates the reduction in fare and growth in traffic in the Orlando, FL to 

Bogota, Colombia market. 

 

II. JetBlue’s Proposal 

JetBlue proposes to start nonstop service once daily in each direction between DCA 

and SJU within 90 days of the Department’s Final Order. All SJU service will be on 

JetBlue’s largest aircraft, the Airbus A320, each with 150 seats, as highlighted below. 

Origin Destination Depart Arrive Frequency Aircraft Seats Distance

DCA SJU 10:00 13:55 Daily A320 150 1,554 mi 

SJU DCA 11:05 15:05 Daily A320 150 1,554 mi 

In addition to the San Juan service, JetBlue proposes to start nonstop service once 

daily, in each direction between DCA and AUS within 90 days of the Department’s Final 

$187

$165

$146

$0

$40

$80

$120

$160

$200

2011 Q1 2011 Q2 2011 Q3

JAX‐SJU Industry Average Passenger Fare

B6 enters

(12%)

(11%)

(22%)

30

66

85

0

15

30

45

60

75

90

2011 Q1 2011 Q2 2011 Q3

JAX‐SJU Industry Passengers Per Day

B6 enters

121%

28%

184%

$252

$139 $148

$0

$50

$100

$150

$200

$250

$300

2008 Q1 2009 Q1 2010 Q1

MCO‐BOG Industry Average Passenger Fare

B6 enters

(41%)

30

70

120

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

2008 Q1 2009 Q1 2010 Q1

MCO‐BOG Industry Passengers Per Day

B6 enters

300%
6

Order. All AUS service will be on JetBlue’s Embraer E190 aircraft, each with 100 seats, 

as highlighted below. 

Origin Destination Depart Arrive Frequency Aircraft Seats Distance

DCA AUS 13:40 16:00 Daily E190 100 1,313 mi 

AUS DCA 8:30 12:55 Daily E190 100 1,313 mi 

These departure and arrival times fit well within the demand periods experienced at 

DCA and should allow the FAA to award these slots without imposing delays at the 

airport. 

III. JetBlue’s Growth at DCA 

An exception to JetBlue’s core philosophy of growing capacity to satisfy demand, 

regrettably, has been at airports where free-market entry has been thwarted due to 

artificial constraints, such as, but not limited to, the High Density Rule.8 In particular, of 

the airports once or currently governed by the HDR, DCA has been especially difficult to 

enter. Despite a decade’s worth of repeated failed attempts to reach commercial terms 

with incumbent carriers or to gain access through legislative means, JetBlue did not 

begin its very limited DCA operations until November 2010.9

Then, in 2011, as part of the FAA ordered divestiture of slots by US Airways and Delta 

relating to their slot swap deal, JetBlue demonstrated how uniquely important we view 

                                                            

8

 JetBlue began commercial operations in 2000, in part, utilizing 75 slot exemptions at JFK 

awarded by the Department. At the time, JFK was a woefully underutilized airport with nearly 

half as many total operations as it has today. JetBlue has also relied in part upon slot 

exemptions and commercial transactions in order to initiate operations at LGA, EWR and ORD. 

See DOT Order 99-9-11 (Sep. 16, 1999). 

9

 In November 2010, JetBlue began service to BOS, FLL and MCO operated with leased slots 

from American Airlines. 
7

growth at DCA by successfully bidding on and winning an unprecedented $40 million 

purchase of eight slot pairs.10 The new operations utilizing the recently acquired DCA 

slots are scheduled to begin in June of this year. The new slots will be utilized to 

expand JetBlue’s existing routes to ten daily roundtrips between DCA and BOS, up from 

seven, three daily roundtrips between DCA and both Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, 

each up from one, and add a new daily roundtrip between DCA and Tampa. 

Even with our newly acquired slots, leased slots that have been operating for just over a 

year, and with the potential of two new beyond-perimeter slot pairs pursuant to this 

application, JetBlue remains a new, very small, limited incumbent carrier at highly 

concentrated DCA. Despite this fact, JetBlue has a disproportionally large impact on 

disciplining fares and stimulating traffic. The charts below illustrate the composition of 

DCA customers and departures by carrier. 

As noted, customer response to JetBlue’s new DCA service since late 2010 has been 

overwhelmingly positive. JetBlue carries a larger percentage of customers than its 

                                                            

10 See FAA, Press Release, JetBlue, WestJet Gain Slots at LaGuardia, Reagan National 

Airports (Dec. 1, 2011), attached as Exhibit C.

US

46%

DL

23%

AA

13%

UA

8%

B6

2% Other

8%

DCA Departures Percentages by Carrier

US

38%

DL

22%

AA

15%

UA

10%

B6

3% Other

12%

DCA Customers by Carrier  
8

percentage of departures at DCA. Load factors on our new DCA service have been 75 

percent, and enplanements in JetBlue’s markets have increased. While this load factor 

is slightly lower than JetBlue’s system-wide average load factor of more than 82 

percent, it is significantly higher than the two competitor “shuttle” operators in the BOSDCA market, which had operated at load factors in the 46 percent to 56 percent range 

prior to JetBlue’s entry in the market.11 

The Boston – Washington market is the sixth largest origin and destination market in the 

nation (1,928 daily passengers each way (“pdew”)). Even on this large base, JetBlue’s 

low fare entry into the market, in only one year, has had a remarkable impact in 

disciplining fares and foretells the impact JetBlue expects in both the SJU and AUS 

markets as requested in this application. 

                                                            

11 For the year ending Q4 2009, the US Airways Shuttle between DCA-BOS had a 56 percent 

load factor and Delta had a 46 percent load factor in this market. JetBlue’s entry into this large 

business and leisure market not only provided significant price discipline on the incumbent 

carriers, it helped to raise their load factors. In the year ending Q3 2011, US Airways Shuttle 

between DCA-BOS had a load factor that had risen significantly to 77 percent and Delta had 

risen even more dramatically to 79 percent. 

$151

$115

$0

$20

$40

$60

$80

$100

$120

$140

$160

2010 Q3 2011 Q3

BOS‐DCA Industry Average Passenger Fare

B6 enters

(24%)
9

IV. JetBlue’s Growth in San Juan, Puerto Rico 

Puerto Rico has quietly become a major focus city for JetBlue. JetBlue’s growth in 

Puerto Rico has been extraordinary over the past ten years. Our service began in 2002 

with 3 daily roundtrip flights between JFK and San Juan. Over the years, this 

successful and well received service to Puerto Rico has expanded significantly. In 

2004, JetBlue began operations in Aguadilla on the northeast coast of the 

Commonwealth via JFK. The next year, following our success in Aguadilla, in 2005, 

JetBlue began operations in Ponce, on the south central coast of Puerto Rico also 

initially via JFK. Today, both Ponce and Aguadilla have service to Orlando as well as 

JFK.12

Today, the service at San Juan, Aguadilla and Ponce reflects years of planning and 

continued expansion. From the initial few flights at each of the three airports to and 

from New York’s JFK, the extensive increase in service is illustrated below, showing all 

of JetBlue’s nonstop service from San Juan. 

                                                            

12 See Exhibit D (Map of Service from Ponce and Aguadilla). 

778

1,438

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2010 Q3 2011 Q3

BOS‐DCA Industry Passengers Per Day

B6 enters

85%
10

Overall, JetBlue’s successful business model differs significantly from that of other new 

carriers and legacy carriers in numerous ways. In particular, JetBlue operates primarily 

as a point to point carrier. By not operating a traditional hub and spoke network, our 

customers have come to expect the convenience of nonstop service. In fact in 2011, 

almost 90 percent of JetBlue’s customers were local point to point customers, versus 34 

percent for the legacy carriers.13 In this regard, JetBlue does not seek to operate 

traditional hubs designed to feed outbound departures with customers from inbound 

arrivals. Rather, JetBlue operates six major focus cities, each of which has a majority of 

                                                            

13 See US DOT O&D DB1A database, “legacy” carriers include AA, CO, DL and US for this 

comparison. 
11

its customers flying point to point. Our focus cities are BOS, JFK, MCO, FLL, LGB and 

San Juan, a focus of this application. 

In San Juan, however, this point to point pattern has been deliberately evolving over 

time such that the market is transforming into a launching point for further domestic and 

international destinations on JetBlue and our partner Cape Air.14 With ongoing 

expansion at San Juan, not only to new destinations in the mainland United States, 

JetBlue provides large jet service to the domestic markets of St. Thomas and St. Croix, 

as well as the popular international markets of St. Maarten and Santo Domingo, the 

capital of the Dominican Republic. Continued frequency additions on existing JetBlue 

routes from San Juan, along with further new route expansion in San Juan, is currently 

planned.15

                                                            

14 See Exhibit E, letter of support from Cape Air for this application by JetBlue. 

15 "San Juan is the cornerstone of [JetBlue’s] growth in the Caribbean ... As Puerto Rico's 

number one carrier, JetBlue continues to seek growth opportunities." JetBlue Press Release 

(Dec. 14, 2011). 

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

YE 2002 YE 2006 YE Q3 2011

JetBlue SJU Passengers (Thousands)

B6's Annual SJUPassenger Growth

+28%

Compounded Annual Growth Rate
12

JetBlue’s continued growth and expansion in Puerto Rico, and San Juan in particular, 

has been augmented by our successful interline relationship with our partner Cape Air. 

Cape Air operates a high frequency pattern of flights throughout the northern 

Caribbean, all from its base at San Juan, with as many as 21 aircraft.16 Below is an 

illustration of the connecting opportunities at San Juan, where JetBlue and Cape Air 

connect customers. 

 

DCA-SJU connection opportunities 

Domestic International 

Mayaguez (Cape Air) Santo Domingo (JetBlue) 

St. Thomas (JetBlue or Cape Air) Anguilla (Cape Air) 

St. Croix (JetBlue or Cape Air) Tortola (Cape Air) 

Vieques (Cape Air) Nevis (Cape Air) 

                                                            

16 During peak season, Cape Air operates over 800 flights each week from SJU to seven 

locations, including St. Thomas, St. Croix and Vieques. See Exhibit E. A Cape Air SJU route 

map is attached as Exhibit F. 
13

San Juan, Puerto Rico 

San Juan is the capital of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The commonwealth has a 

population of 3.7 million, with more than ten percent living in San Juan, which is the 

nation’s 46th largest city. More than 1.6 million people, or 43 percent of the entire 

population of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, live within 30 miles of the airport at 

San Juan.17 Tourism is a major component of the Puerto Rico economy, with nearly 5 

million visitors to the island in 2010. In 2011, hotel occupancy averaged 70 percent, the 

highest rate on record and new hotel investment of $1.5 billion is underway, above and 

beyond the 17,000 hotel rooms already in the Commonwealth. 

One segment of the tourism economy that is a major growing component and 

particularly relevant to this application is the homeport cruise traffic. Unlike the vibrant 

and growing business of cruise ships paying visits to Puerto Rico, homeport ships see 

travelers flying to and from San Juan and boarding and disembarking from Caribbean 

cruises in Puerto Rico. Since 2007, homeport cruise passengers have grown by 20 

percent. With more ships opting to make their home port in San Juan, cruise 

passengers are forecast to rise another 9 percent for the fiscal year ending June 30, 

2012. The continued growth of the cruise and hotel sectors further strengthens the 

already robust air travel market at SJU. 

V. JetBlue’s Growth in Austin, Texas 

JetBlue began service in Austin, Texas in 2006, with daily nonstop service to both JFK 

and BOS. This initial service has been very well received and the results have been to 

                                                            

17 See 2010 Census. 
14

dramatically increase traffic while simultaneously reducing fares. Customer traffic in the 

BOS-AUS market has nearly doubled while the AUS-NYC market has increased nearly 

80 percent. In both markets, average fares have dropped as well. 

Two years after introducing the successful service between Austin and both JFK and 

BOS, in 2008, JetBlue expanded its service to include daily nonstop flights to both San 

Francisco and Los Angeles/Long Beach in California, and Orlando and Fort Lauderdale 

in Florida. JetBlue’s Austin presence has benefitted the community not only with the 

point to point service to California and Florida, but the flights to Orlando and Fort 

Lauderdale provide three connections each throughout the Caribbean. With JetBlue’s 

Austin service to these four key markets, like the New York and Boston markets before 

them, traffic in each market has increased while fares have decreased, as shown below. 

Q1 2005 Q1 2006 Change

327 585 +79%

$212 $161 -24%

$69,324 $94,185 +36%

* Includes JFK, LGA, and EWR

Q1 2005 Q1 2006 Change

88 174 +98%

$216 $156 -28%

$19,008 $27,144 +43%

PDEW

Fare

Market Rev

AUS-NYC*

PDEW

Fare

Market Rev

AUS-BOS
15

Source: U.S. DOT O&D Summary Report 

Austin 

Austin, the capital of Texas, the second most populous state in the nation, is “America’s 

number one boom town” according to Forbes Magazine.18 According to the 2010 

Census, the metropolitan area of Austin currently has a population of 1.8 million, a 

staggering 37 percent increase from 2000, and this figure is expected to reach two 

million by 2015. This makes Austin the 14th largest city in the nation and the third 

fastest growing. Austin is centrally situated in the midst of the Texas’s Golden Triangle, 

the area between the cities of Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, where 80 

percent of all Texans reside.19 Austin also leads the nation’s largest metropolitan areas 

in job growth, and it has the highest median household income among all Texas 

metropolitan areas.20

                                                            

18 See Joel Kotkin, The Next Big Boom Towns in the U.S., FORTUNE (Jul. 6, 2011) (available at: 

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/edgl45fkm/no-1-austin-texas/#gallerycontent). 

19 JetBlue serves Houston from both JFK and BOS and begins service to Dallas/Fort Worth, 

from BOS, this May. 

20 Nonfarm payroll jobs from Dec. 2006 to Dec. 2011. See US Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

AUS-FLL* Q3 2007 Q3 2008 Change AUS-LGB* Q3 2007 Q3 2008 Change

PDEW 157 218 +38% PDEW 674 778 +15%

Fare $145 $120 -17% Fare $155 $136 -12%

Market Rev $22,816 $26,148 +15% Market Rev $104,493 $105,774 +1%

* Includes FLL, MIA, and PBI * Includes LGB, LAX, ONT, SNA, and BUR

AUS-MCO Q3 2007 Q3 2008 Change AUS-SFO* Q3 2007 Q3 2008 Change

PDEW 175 250 +43% PDEW 624 706 +13%

Fare $137 $116 -15% Fare $170 $158 -7%

Market Rev $23,941 $28,948 +21% Market Rev $106,140 $111,477 +5%

* Includes SFO, OAK, and SJC
16

Austin is a growing center for business and tourism. In 2010, tourism was up 6.8 

percent, year over year, to 18.2 million visitors, who collectively spent $4.5 billion which 

directly supported 45,000 regional jobs. Leisure travel represented 67 percent of 

visitors in 2010 while business travel represented 33 percent. In 2011, hotels in Austin 

had occupancy rates rise 8 percent year over year. 

JetBlue has also become a growing part of the Austin community by not only connecting 

the capital of Texas to major population centers around the country and successfully 

stimulating that market with our low fares, frequency of operations and award winning 

service, but also having become the official airline of the University of Texas at Austin 

athletic department and all twenty of the Longhorn’s sports teams. The University of 

Texas at Austin is a Tier One research university, with annual research expenditures 

exceeding $500 million, further strengthening its ties to Washington. Also, with more 

than 50,000 students, the University is the fifth largest single campus in the nation. 

Against the background of a thriving economy in Austin and a booming population 

center, not surprisingly, overall traffic at AUS has actually risen over the last five years. 

Indeed, during this time of economic weakness, AUS is one of only five medium hub 

airports in the nation that did not experience reductions in enplanements.21 However, 

while overall enplanements in AUS have increased, that is not the case for service to 

Washington. Air service between Washington and Austin has long been a monopoly 

market only served by the dominant hub carrier at Dulles - United. Capacity has been 

decreasing as fares have been rising. Since 2007, fares have risen 9 percent, while 

capacity has significantly decreased, having dropped by 33 percent. 

                                                            

21 See US DOT T-100. 
17

VI. Statutory Criteria 

Congress has directed the Department to consider seven criteria in determining if an 

application merits an award of the new beyond-perimeter slots made possible through 

FAA 2012. Congress has not, however, directed the Department as to how it should 

weigh these factors, increased by three and slightly altered since the Department was 

last charged with allocating beyond-perimeter slot exemptions at DCA (12 in total) under 

Vision-100 in 2004 (P.L. 108-76). JetBlue’s application for service to both San Juan 

and Austin meets each of the seven criteria established by Congress. Moreover, 

because of JetBlue’s established history of entering new markets, lowering fares, 

improving customer service and growing market size, JetBlue’s proposal creates the 

greatest public benefits. JetBlue’s proposed new service to these two innovative 

destinations will have an immediate and significant impact on the traveling public’s 

access to and from DCA, San Juan and Austin. The seven criteria DOT “shall consider” 

are: 

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

Jan‐05 Jan‐06 Jan‐07 Jan‐08 Jan‐09 Jan‐10 Jan‐11

Passenger Fare/PDEW's

Annual Flights

AUS‐IAD Historical Fares, PDEW's, and Capacity

PDEW's Annual Flights Average Passenger Fare
18

a. Domestic Network Benefits 

San Juan 

As the Department has asserted in previous orders for beyond perimeter slots, it is 

axiomatic that neither new entrant nor limited incumbent carriers at DCA can provide 

many, if any whatsoever, domestic network benefits behind DCA itself. JetBlue is no 

exception to this. JetBlue’s entry into DCA late in 2010, limited because of regulatory 

restrictions, has enabled it to freely and successfully compete in the Washington – 

Boston market with seven daily roundtrip flights. JetBlue’s only other service, given the 

limit on slots at DCA, is a single daily flight to both Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. Given 

that JetBlue will have as many as four daily nonstop flights already scheduled between 

San Juan and Boston this summer, network benefits behind DCA itself, while present to 

and from Boston, are minimal. 

However, as discussed above, JetBlue’s presence and growth in Puerto Rico, 

especially at San Juan, provides precisely the type of network benefits “beyond the 

perimeter” that Congress delineated. The grant of JetBlue’s application is consistent 

with President Obama’s direction that it is “the policy of the executive branch to improve 

the treatment of Puerto Rico in Federal programs and to promote job creation, 

education, health care, clean energy, and economic development on the islands.” 

Executive Order 13517 (Oct. 30, 2009). JetBlue’s new service to SJU from DCA would 

be a significant boon to the economic development of Puerto Rico.  JetBlue provides 

multiple domestic network benefits beyond San Juan. JetBlue itself flies twice daily to 

the capital of the United States Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, as well as once daily to St. 
19

Croix (“STX”) in the United States Virgin Islands. Both markets will benefit from direct 

and the timely connections with the DCA nonstop being requested in this application. 

Beyond the domestic connection opportunities on JetBlue to both STT and STX, 

JetBlue’s interline partner, Cape Air, provides additional high frequency domestic 

connections at San Juan. Cape Air will provide added domestic network benefits with 

nonstop service for JetBlue customers in the DCA-SJU market with flights between San 

Juan and Mayaguez, Puerto Rico (“MAZ”), Vieques, Puerto Rico (“VQS”), as well as 

additional service and frequency to both STT and STX in the US Virgin Islands. Cape 

Air also provides service between San Juan and these international markets: Anguilla, 

Tortola, St. Maarten and Nevis, as illustrated below. 
20

As the map above illustrates, domestic network benefits from San Juan are achieved on 

both JetBlue and Cape Air. In addition, international network benefits are gained as 

well, including connections on JetBlue to the capital of the Dominican Republic, which 

has as many as five daily flights between SJU and SDQ, the capital and largest city in 

the Dominican Republic. The SJU connecting services shown above are elaborated 

below.22

Cape Air service from SJU: 

Domestic International

MAZ (4x daily) AXA (3x daily) 

STT (10x daily) EIS (9x daily) 

STX (8x daily) NEV (2x daily) 

VQS (11x daily) 

Source: OAG Schedules by Diio Mi 

Austin 

JetBlue has served Austin, Texas, for six years. Today, JetBlue has a strategic 

presence at AUS with twice daily nonstop service to JFK, and single daily roundtrip 

service between Austin and San Francisco, Los Angeles/Long Beach, Fort Lauderdale, 

Orlando and Boston. Our Austin presence, with service to six key destinations, has 

been strategically built to serve the local Austin community and as a result, only 

JetBlue’s Long Beach flight would serve as a viable connection from DCA. While not 

meeting this one of seven criteria as strongly as JetBlue’s proposed DCA-SJU service, 

the DCA-AUS service will provide strong and meaningful competition primarily in the 

                                                            

22 See Exhibit G for a detailed schedule of connecting flights at SJU. 
21

local market, one of the seven criteria that Congress directed the Department to 

consider, as discussed below. 

b. Increased Competition in Multiple Markets: 

San Juan 

Historically, the local San Juan – Washington market has suffered from minimal service 

and high fares. In 2004, there were four daily nonstop flights from Dulles to San Juan. 

Today, there is only one nonstop flight from Washington. This service is from 

Washington Dulles, and it is operated by United Airlines with an Airbus A320 aircraft 

configured with 24 fewer coach seats than JetBlue’s A320.23 The coach fares on 

United’s flight range from $147 to $1244, versus JetBlue’s planned fares of $127 to 

$667. Further, JetBlue will not only introduce new service from DCA, the preferred 

business airport nearby to downtown Washington, D.C., but this service will inject much 

needed competition with United’s IAD-SJU service. JetBlue’s service will compete on 

both convenience and price, but also introduce its differentiated coach product (as 

discussed above) into the market. 

As discussed in the introduction, customers have spoken with their wallets in preferring 

JetBlue to other carriers when identical nonstop routes are offered by JetBlue and the 

competition. JetBlue’s coach customers, as part of their airfare and without purchasing 

anything extra, receive their first checked bag free, pre-assigned seats, the most 

legroom in coach of any domestic carrier, the youngest all-jet fleet of any major carrier, 

                                                            

23 June 2012 IAD-SJU schedule (OAG), United A320 with 126 coach seats and JetBlue A320 

with 150 coach seats. 
22

unlimited snacks and drinks, 136 channels of free entertainment and JetBlue’s award 

winning customer service while having the guarantee of no overbooking or routinely 

being denied boarding, as is common on other carriers.24

The above illustrations demonstrate that the WAS-SJU marketplace, while historically 

dominated by one carrier, is currently dominated by two, with minimal competition. 

When American left the WAS-SJU nonstop market from Dulles, fares increased, traffic 

decreased and shifted as well, to United and its one daily nonstop. 

Unfortunately for the travelling public, the DCA one stop connecting service also saw 

fares rise when competition ceased at Dulles. Of note, although DCA connecting fares 

rose when American withdrew from Dulles – San Juan service, traffic levels in the DCASJU market remained nearly constant, demonstrating the inherent attractiveness of the 

DCA, nearby to downtown, market. This is illustrated below: 

                                                            

24 Every seat on all JetBlue aircraft has 36 channels free LiveTV and 100 channels of free XM 

Radio. In addition, each seat is equipped with multiple pay-for first run movies, which are 

provided free of charge on Caribbean flights where satellite signal loss occurs with LiveTV and 

XM. As a matter of policy, JetBlue does not overbook its flights. Accordingly, JetBlue’s rate of 

passengers denied boarding is many times lower than other carriers. See U.S. Department of 

Transportation, Air Travel Consumer Report (June 2011), at 31 (available at: 

http://airconsumer.dot.gov/reports/2011/June/2011JuneATCR.pdf). 

AA

25%

B6

8%

CO

DL 7%

9%

FL

8%

NK

2%

UA

35%

US

6%

WAS‐SJU Passenger Market Share Q3 2011

AA

56%

B6

DL 5%

6%

FL

2%

NK

4%

UA

20%

US

7%

WAS‐ SJU Passenger Market Share Q1 2011

Average

Passenger

Fare $190

Average

Passenger

Fare $194
23

Today, San Juan is the ninth largest market at DCA without nonstop air service. 

JetBlue’s new nonstop service between DCA and San Juan will not only bring much 

needed competition to this single carrier market, but it will also introduce new 

connecting opportunities onward to the capital of the United States Virgin Islands, St. 

Thomas, as well as St. Croix in the USVI. Not only will this route be a successful 

business connection between the nation’s capital and the capital city of the nearest U.S. 

territory, Puerto Rico, but it will develop a leisure market beyond Puerto Rico as a 

gateway to the Caribbean at large, domestic and internationally. Currently, from the 

Washington market to either STT or STX, customers transit through hubs at Charlotte, 

Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale or Miami. JetBlue’s new proposed nonstop DCA-SJU service 

will also introduce first of its kind connections from DCA to the domestic destinations of 

Vieques and Mayaguez. JetBlue’s new San Juan nonstop will provide more direct 

travel and shorter times to all of these connecting destinations.25

                                                            

25 See Exhibit H, illustrating trip time savings. 

0

100

200

300

400

500

$0

$50

$100

$150

$200

$250

2010 Q1 2010 Q2 2010 Q3 2010 Q4 2011 Q1 2011 Q2

Enplanements/PDEW's

Average Fare

WAS‐SJU Enplanements have been declining as the

average fare has been rising

Average Passenger Fare Enplanements DCA‐SJU PDEW's

+20%

‐64%

April 2011:

AA exits
24

Austin 

The Washington – Austin market is currently served with two daily nonstop flights from 

Dulles Airport, both on United Airlines, with one served on a smaller regional jet by 

United Express. Austin is the fifth largest market beyond the perimeter that does not 

have nonstop service from DCA. The average fares in this market are $246 and the 

daily number of passengers in each direction is only 108 for the year ended Q3 2011. 

United’s current coach fare structure is $222 - $1,473 each way. JetBlue’s new 

proposed nonstop service from the capital of the nation’s second largest state to the 

national capital will be priced significantly lower at $125 to $665. These fares and new 

nonstop service from DCA, will help to discipline market fares, provide service 

competition and grow the overall market size. 

As the illustration above demonstrates, JetBlue’s proposed service between DCA and 

Austin, at JetBlue’s fare structure should be welcomed by the public and grow the 

overall market size. This large capital to capital market is both under-served and highly 

150

175

200

225

250

275

300

325

350

$140

$160

$180

$200

$220

$240

$260

$280

2006 Q4 2007 Q3 2008 Q2 2009 Q1 2009 Q4 2010 Q3 2011 Q2

Quarterly Enplanements

Average Passenger Fare

AUS‐IAD: Average fares have been increasing as

enplanements decline

Average Fare Enplanements

+23%

‐34%
25

priced, making it precisely the type of market JetBlue has historically had the most 

meaningful impact on with regards to fare discipline. 

c. No Reduction in Travel Options 

JetBlue is a limited incumbent carrier at DCA and no service reductions at small hub or 

medium hub airports will occur if JetBlue is awarded the two routes it is herein applying 

for. The award of both requested slot pairs will not take away service from a small or 

medium hub, and the FAA will schedule these slots as provided in Section 414 FAA 

2012. Those provisions of Section 414(a) require the Secretary to provide a scheduling 

priority to limited incumbents, new entrants and foreign air carriers certified by the 

government of Canada over other air carriers.26 The statutory increase of no more than 

5 operations per hour between the hours of 7 AM and 9:59 PM by definition are allowed 

under the statute. The grant of slots in compliance with the new statute will not result in 

a reduction of service to small or medium hubs. Indeed, because SJU and AUS are 

both medium hubs, medium hub service will increase. 

d. No Increase in Travel Delays 

JetBlue believes, based on two studies performed by the General Accounting Office 

describing ample airport capacity at DCA, that the addition of the single daily roundtrip 

                                                            

26 FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (Pub. L. No. 112-95) § 414(a) (adopting 49 

U.S.C. § 41714(h): “Scheduling Priority – In administering this section, the Secretary shall – (1) 

afford scheduling priority to operations conducted by new entrant air carriers and limited 

incumbent air carriers over operations conducted by other air carriers granted additional slot 

exemptions under subsection (g) for service to airports located beyond the perimeter . . . [and] 

for service to airports located beyond the perimeter described in section 49109, to the extent 

necessary to protect the viability of such service.”). 
26

between DCA and both San Juan and Austin, will not result in increased travel delays.27 

Again, section 414 (a) of the FAA 2012 specifically allows the increase in slots during 

the slot controlled operating hours at DCA. The increase of 8 slot operations for new 

entrant and limited incumbent air carriers spread throughout the day will not result in 

increased travel delays. Indeed, the times requested by JetBlue in this application for 

both the proposed DCA-SJU and DCA-AUS service are for times that are not during 

morning or evening peak operational periods. The ease with which JetBlue’s proposed 

services will fit into DCA’s existing schedule is yet another reason for granting JetBlue’s 

application. 

e. Enhanced Travel Options for Nonstop Travel 

San Juan 

JetBlue’s’ proposed service between DCA and SJU will certainly enhance nonstop 

travel options for the public in Washington and Puerto Rico. Presently there is no 

nonstop service between DCA and SJU. JetBlue’s unique proposal provides both the 

business and leisure traveler the opportunity to travel nonstop between the nation’s 

capital and this important Caribbean capital city. The growing Washington metropolitan 

region, including nearby northern Virginia and suburban Maryland, will benefit from new 

nonstop service so nearby to the business and tourist centers of downtown Washington. 

                                                            

27 See REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT, Update on Capacity to Handle Additional Flights and 

Impact on Other Area Airports GAO-07-352, March 16, 2007, and REAGAN NATIONAL 

AIRPORT, Capacity to Handle Additional Flights and Impact on Other Area Airports, 

GAO/RCED 99-234, September 1999. 
27

Likewise, tourists originating from Puerto Rico or connecting Caribbean points can enjoy 

new nonstop service to Washington’s preferred downtown airport as never before.28

Austin 

Austin, like San Juan, has limited nonstop service to Washington, but only from IAD and 

none from DCA. Service between the capital of the largest state in the contiguous fortyeight states and the nation’s capital, through Washington’s downtown airport can only 

be characterized as enhancing travel options. JetBlue currently provides service to 

Austin as described herein from six major metropolitan markets, but none from 

Washington. Travel between these the two capital cities, Washington and Austin, will 

be enhanced allowing those who have business in Washington or Austin to access their 

representatives in a manner and with an ease that has not and will not exist until 

JetBlue’s proposed service is approved.29

f. Positive Impact on Overall Level of Competition 

The entry of JetBlue into any market, as discussed in the introduction, provides a 

proven and unique level of price and service competition that has not and will not be 

realized without approval of the proposed service to San Juan and the service to Austin. 

The dramatic and immediate impact of the introduction of JetBlue into what are 

otherwise stagnant markets characterized by high prices and low traffic is well 

documented. As set out above, the introduction of lower prices and excellent service 

                                                            

28 JetBlue forecasts that its new low fare service will initially stimulate 41,610 annual new 

customers in the market. 

29 JetBlue forecasts that its new low fare service will initially stimulate 36,500 annual new 

customers in the market.
28

stimulates the market, growing the number of travelers between DCA and both new 

destinations. Few, if any, carriers can point to a record of developing markets for the 

benefit of consumers as JetBlue has during its twelve-year operating history, while 

simultaneously establishing the highest standards for coach travel as described above. 

g. Produce Public Benefits, such as Lower Fares, Higher Capacity and 

Service Options 

San Juan 

The public benefit from the approval of JetBlue’s service to San Juan will satisfy all of 

the statutory criteria for approval. Lower fares, increased capacity and expanded 

service options are the hallmark of JetBlue and have resulted in almost every instance 

where JetBlue has entered a market dominated by carriers that have not faced 

competition on any basis, price or service. The unique benefit of approval of the Puerto 

Rico service is the fulfillment of the Obama administration’s goal of fostering and 

sustaining the economic development in Puerto Rico by providing San Juan with a new 

nonstop service to and from the nation’s capital.30 The projected reduction in air fares 

and the provision of new modern aircraft in a market serviced today only by a mainline 

carrier from the less convenient Dulles Airport produces unique public benefits far 

beyond any that other carriers’ can offer. 

Austin 

Likewise, service between the capital of Texas and Washington, D.C., with fares and 

service that will only stimulate and grow the market, are unique public benefits 

                                                            

30 See Executive Order 13517 (Oct. 30, 2009) (directing that it is “the policy of the executive 

branch to improve the treatment of Puerto Rico in Federal programs and to promote job 

creation, education, health care, clean energy, and economic development on the islands.”). 
29

unavailable from any other carrier. JetBlue’s proven track record of entering a market, 

offering lower fares, stimulating the market and providing superior service should be the 

foundation for any decision based upon the weighing of public benefits. No other carrier 

can combine the use of the newest fleet, and the unquestioned superior product and 

proven track record of developing new markets for the public. 

VII. Conclusion 

Based upon the forgoing, JetBlue respectfully requests the Department award it two (2) 

slots to operate service between DCA and SJU for the reasons set forth above. If, and 

only if, the SJU service proposal is selected, JetBlue also requests that it be awarded 

two (2) slots for service between DCA and Austin, Texas, again for the reasons set forth 

herein. 

March 12, 2012 Respectfully submitted, 

 

 Robert C. Land 

 Senior Vice President for Government Affairs 

 and Associate General Counsel 

 
30

Certificate of Service 

I, J. Parker Erkmann, hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing Application of JetBlue 

Airways Corporation was served this 12th day of March 2012 via email transmission on the 

following persons: 

dhainbach@ggh-airlaw.com 

john.varley@virginamerica.com 

jyoung@yklaw.com 

leslie.abbott@wnco.com 

howaard.kass@usairways.com 

carl.nelson@aa.com 

dan.weiss@united.com 

rbkeiner@crowell.com 

Sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com 

john.fredericksen@suncoutry.com 

robert.cohn@hoganlovells.com 

marshall.sinick@squiresanders.com 

charles.donley@squiresanders.com 

quince.brinkley@mwaa.com 

Susan.Kurland@dot.gov 

Esta.Rosenberg@dot.gov 

Todd.Homan@dot.gov 

brian.ctr.meehan@faa.gov 

fbavent@airlineinfo.com 

and via First Class Mail: 

Arnaldo Deleo 

General Manager Aviation Bureau 

Port Authority 

Government of Puerto Rico 

PO Box 362829 

San Juan, PR 00936-2829 

Jim Smith 

Executive Director 

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport 

3600 Presidential Blvd 

Austin, TX 78719

 

s/ J. Parker Erkmann

J. Parker Erkmann
Exhibit A 

Letters of Support 
Lu1s G. FoRTUNO 

GovERNOR 

March 8, 201 2 

The Honorable Ray LaHood 

Secretary 

GOVERMENT OF PUERTO RICO 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Dear Secretary LoHood: 

On behalf of the 3.7 million U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico, I write to express 

my full support for the application by JetBiue Airways for beyond perimeter slot 

exemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), to provide 

nonstop round trip service to San Juan, Puerto Rico as filed under Docket DOTOST-2012-0029. 

Throughout my administration, I have been committed to turning around Puerto 

Rico's economy. With the implementation of creative initiatives and new 

reforms, we are creating a better business environment in Puerto Rico and 

positioning the Island for long-term growth. To support this continued growth, 

our business and tourism sectors depend heavily on essential air access to 

strategic routes in the mainland U.S., where over 80 percent of our tourism traffic 

is generated. Our focus and efforts are already producing results with a 5 

percent increase in weekly flight departures in 2012, sustaining Puerto Rico's 

position as the largest air services market in the Caribbean. 

The addition of this unique and new direct service to DCA provides a key 

opportunity for Puerto Rico and the traveling public. This direct link between the 

heart of our nation's capital and the Caribbean would increase the 

competitiveness of our Island, as well as other U.S. destinations in the region. 

Visitors to and from the greater Washington area would be provided a low-fare 

direct option, something lacking over the last few years, that would feed the 

successful tourism growth in our hotel and cruise sectors. Business and 

government officials would be able to easily connect to and from the Island, 

LA FORTALEZA, SAN JuAN, PR 00901 * PO Box 9020082, SAN JuAN, PR 00902-0082 

PHONE:(787) 721-7000 *FAX: (787) 722-4300 
The Honorable Ray LaHood 

Page 2 

March 8, 201 2 

increasing economic opportunities and fostering essential business ties key to 

the long-term economic growth of our region. 

JetBiue is Puerto Rico's largest air carrier and since arriving on the Island, has 

expanded to key markets in the region, including St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. 

Maarten and Santo Domingo. JetBiue also partners with Cape Air for added 

regional service connecting at San Juan. On the mainland, JetBiue's nonstop, 

large jet service has expanded from JFK to Boston, Hartford, Newark, Fort 

Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville. 

The level of direct air service from San Juan to Washington has decreased over 

recent years, while fares have continued to rise. Remaining direct service is 

through either Baltimore Washington International Airport or Dulles International 

Airport, both quite distant from downtown Washington's business corridor and 

government offices. 

I thank you for your consideration and urge you to award JetBiue the slot 

exemptions necessary to serve customers with nonstop round trip service 

between DCA and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The addition of this unique nonstop, a 

first of its kind, would create growth opportunities in the Caribbean region and 

be of great benefit to all residents of and travelers to Puerto Rico. 

Sincerely, 

Lui ~ 
March 12, 2012 

The Honorable Ray LaHood 

Secretary 

US Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

Dear Mr. Secretary: 

GOVERNMENT OF PUERTO RICO 

As the Aviation Director and General Manager for Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (SJU) 

in San Juan, Puerto Rico, I am writing to express my strong support for the application by 

JetBiue Airways for slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), for 

nonstop round trip service to San Juan. 

Puerto Rico serves as a hub for many Caribbean destinations and is the largest air service 

market in the region. Since its introduction in the Island, JetBiue has grown to become Puerto 

Rico's largest low fare, hometown airline. On the U.S. mainland, their nonstop, large jet service 

has expanded from JFK to Boston, Hartford, Newark, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, 

Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville, while in the caribbean, JetBiue has also expanded to key 

markets including St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. Maarten and Santo Domingo. The airline has also 

partnered with Cape Air for additional regional service connecting at San Juan. 

The level of service from San Juan to DC has decreased over the years and fares have risen. 

Current limited nonstop service from San Juan to DC is through either BWI or Dulles, which can 

be inconvenient and quite distant for travelers visiting downtown Washington and federal 

government offices. The addition of this unique nonstop, a first of its kind, would be of great 

benefit to SJU and indeed all Puerto Rico residents and visitors. 

I urge you to award JetBiue the slot exemptions necessary to serve DCA on a nonstop round 

trip basis from San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

P .0. Box 362829, San Juan, PR 00936·2829 
DONNA M . CHRISTENSEN 

DELEGATE, VIRGIN ISLANDS 

COMMITIEE ON 

ENERGY AND COMMERCE 

MEMBER, SUBCOMMITTEE ON 

OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS 

MEMBER, SUBCOMMITTEE ON 

COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY 

FIRST VICE PRESIDENT, 

CONGRESSIONAL B LACK C AUCUS 

MEMBER, CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS FOR 

WOMEN'S ISSUES 

ASSISTANT M INORITY WHIP 

Hon. Ray LaHood 

Secretary 

([ongre9'9' of tbe 1lntteb ~tate9' 

J!}ou~e of l\epre~entattbe~ 

Masbington, tJB(( 20515-5501 

March 12, 2012 

United States Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

Dear Mr. Secretary: 

D 

D 

D 

D 

PLEASE RESPOND To: 

WASHINGTON OFFICE 

1510 LONGWORTH HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING 

WASHINGTON, D C 20515 

(202) 225-1790 

FAX (202)225- 5517 

DISTRICT OFFICES 

SUNSHINE MALL SPACE #204- 205 

#1 ESTATE CANE 

FAEDERIKSTED, VI 00840 

P.O. Box 5980 

C'STED, ST. CROIX, VI 00823 

1340) 778- 5900 

FAX (340) 778- 5111 

8000 N ISKY CENTER, SUITE No. 207 

S T. THOMAS, VIRGIN ISLANDS 00802 

I 340 I 77 4-4408 

FAX (340) 774- 8033 

#1 09 CONTANT-ENIGHED 

CRUZ BAY, ST. JOHN 

U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS 00831 

(340) 776-1212 

I am writing to express strong support for the application of JetBlue Airways for exemption 

slots at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) for non-stop service to Luis 

Munoz Marin International Airport in Carolina, Puerto Rico (SJU). 

JetBlue already flies between SJU and Cyril E. King Airport in St. Thomas (STT) and Henry E. 

Rohlsen Airport in St. Croix (STX) in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It also partners with Cape Air 

for service within the Virgin Islands. 

Tourism is the mainstay of the economy of our territory. This industry would be greatly 

enhanced by non-stop service from DCA to SJU connecting with flights to STT and STX. It 

would provide a much more direct and lower fare option for tourists as well as business 

and government travelers. 

Service between the Washington, DC area and the USVI has decreased over the years and 

fares have risen. Much of the remaining service is through either Thurgood Marshall 

Airport (BWI) or Dulles International Airport (lAD), which are both much more distant 

from the District of Columbia and close-in suburbs. The addition of this first non-stop 

service from DCA would be of great benefit to our economy and all USVI residents and 

visitors. 

I urge you to award JetBlue the slots necessary to serve the DCA-SJU route on a non-stop 

basis. 

Thank you for your consideration. 

PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER 
THE UNITED STATE..'i VIRGIN ISLANDS 

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR 

GOVERNMENT HOUSE 

Charlotte Amalie, V.I. 00802 

340-774-0001 

The Honorable Raymond H. LaHood 

Secretary of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey A venue, SE 

Washington, D.C. 20590-1898 

Dear Mr. Secretary: 

March 9, 2012 

I am writing to express the strong support of the Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands 

for the application of JetBlue Airways for exemption slots at Ronald Reagan Washington 

National Airport (DCA) for non-stop service to Luis Mufioz Marin International Airport in 

Carolina, Puerto Rico (SJU). 

JetBlue already flies between SJU and Cyril E. King Airport in St. Thomas (STT) and 

Henry E. Rohlsen Airport in St. Croix (STX) in the U.S. Virgin Islands. JetBlue also partners 

with Cape Air for service within the Virgin Islands. 

Tourism is the mainstay of the economy of the Virgin islands. The competitiveness of 

our industry would be greatly enhanced by new non-stop service by JetBlue from DCA to SJU 

connecting with flights to SIT and STX. It would provide a more direct and lower fare option 

for tourists as well as business and government travelers. 

Direct service between the Washington, DC area and the Virgin Islands has decreased 

over the years and fares have risen. Much of the remaining service is through either Thurgood 

Marshall Airport (BWI) or Dulles International Airport (lAD), both of which are much more 

distant from the District of Columbia and Washington's close-in suburbs. I believe that the 

addition of non-stop service from DCA to the U.S. Caribbean will have tremendous appeal to the 

traveling public as well as greatly benefit our economy. 
The Honorable Raymond H. LaHood 

March 9, 2012 

Page2 

Accordingly, I respectfully urge your support for JetBlue's application and the award of 

the requested slots necessary to serve the DCA-SJU route on a non-stop basis. 

Thank you for your consideration. 

~f~~ ~;.de~WU. Governor 

pc: The Honorable Luis Fortufio, Governor of Puerto Rico 

Beverly Nicholson-Doty, Commissioner, Department of Tourism 
PEDRO R. PIERLUISI 

PUERTO RICO 

WASHINGTON OFFICE: 

1213 LONGWORTH HOUSE OFFICE B UILDING 

(202) 225-2615 FAX: (202) 225-2154 

SAN JUAN OFFICE: 

157 A VENIDA DE LA CONSTITUCION 

ANTIGUO EDIFICIO DE M EDICINA T ROPICAL 

A LA DE ENFERMERfA 2DO PISO 

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO 00901 

(787) 723-6333 FAX: (787) 729-7738 

March 9, 2012 

Qtnngr.e!l6 nf tq.e l!tnit.eb :§tat.es 

1!fous.e of l.epr.es.entatiu.es 

1In.al7tngton, 1!1(!120515-5401 

The Honorable Ray LaHood 

Secretary 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. 

Washington, DC 20590 

Re: JetBlue Airways DCA-SJU Application for DOT-OST-2012-0029 

Dear Secretary LaHood: 

COMMITTEES: 

ETHICS 

JUDICIARY 

NATURAL RESOURCES 

I write to express my strong support for the application filed by JetBlue Airways for two of the 

eight beyond-perimeter slot exemptions being made available to limited incumbent carriers for 

new service at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) pursuant to Section 414 of 

the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. If this application is approved, JetBlue would 

commence nonstop service between Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (SJU) in San Juan, 

Puerto Rico and DCA. 

I support timely approval of this application for two principal reasons. First, nonstop service 

between SJU and DCA would expand consumer choice for the 9.4 million residents of both 

markets-that is, the 5.6 million residents of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and the 3.8 

million residents of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. JetBlue would fill a void for these 

markets, since there is no direct flight currently offered between these two airports. 

Second, I support the application because such nonstop service would enhance travel and trade 

between San Juan- a U.S. jurisdiction and the leading economic, industrial and political center 

in the Caribbean region-and our nation's capital. Such direct service would further business 

ties, ath·act investment, and facilitate government-to-government contacts between the two cities. 

Importantly, direct service would provide U.S. travelers an additional means to connect with the 

maritime cruise industry that operates in and out of Puerto Rico. Increasing the number of cruise 

ships that choose to homeport and embark passengers in San Juan is an economic development 

goal of the govenunent of Puerto Rico, and this flight would give the cruise industry added 

incentive to make San Juan its homepmi since there would be an additional air link for its 

customers. 

JetBlue is repmied to have grown nearly 40 percent over the last year in Puerto Rico, and now 

offers more seats to and from the Island than any other airline. Currently, JetBlue operates nonstop flights between San Juan and JFK, Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, 

Santo Domingo, and St. Maarten. Next month, JetBlue is scheduled to add nonstop service 

between San Juan and Newark. These flights complement the twice-daily flight the airline 

PRINTED ON RECY CLED PA PER 
operates between San Juan and St. Thomas and the once-daily flight it operates between San 

Juan and St. Croix- which cmmect the U.S. Virgin Islands to key hub airports in the national air 

transportation system. 

JetBlue has also established a codeshare agreement with Cape Air to ensure its passengers can 

cmmect seamlessly to flights from San Juan to the westem Pue1io Rico city of Mayagiiez and 

from San Juan to Vieques, a non-contiguous Puerto Rico municipality that is dependent upon 

this air link. Cape Air also connects Pue1io Rico with Tortola and Anguilla. 

JetBlue's impressive presence in the San Juan and Caribbean markets-and its partnership with 

Cape Air-demonstrate its strength as one of our nation's leading low-cost airlines, its capacity 

to sustainably operate the route it seeks approval to offer, and its commitment to the U.S. 

jurisdiction ofPuerto Rico. 

As you make decisions as to which carriers to grant these new slot exemptions at DCA, I 

respectfully request that you take into full account my support for JetBlue's DCA-SJU 

application, consistent with all applicable laws, agency regulations and established guidelines. 

Thank you for your consideration. 

Sincerely, 

Pedro R. Pierluisi 

Member of Congress 
Ronald E. Russell, Esq. 

President 

29th Legislature 

Chair: 

Committee 

of the Whole 

Member: 

Committee on Rules 

and the Judiciary 

Committee on 

Government 

Operations, Energy & 

Veterans' Affairs 

Committee on Public 

Safety, Homeland 

Security 

& Justice 

::ommittee on Planning 

& Environmental 

Protection 

1Legtslature of tbe )}trgtn 3Jslanb~ 

No.1 Lagoon Street Complex, Frederiksted, VI 00840 

Capitol Building-Old Barracks Yard 

P.O. Box 1690, St. Thomas, VI 00804·1690 

Office of the Senate President 

Hon. Ray LaHood 

Secretary 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

Dear Mr. Secretary: 

March 9, 2012 

TEL: (340) 712·2379 

FAX: (340) 712-2340 

SIT: (340) 693-3608 

I am writing to express strong support for the application of JetBlue Airways for 

exemption slots at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) for non-stop 

service to Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in Carolina, Puerto Rico (SJU). 

JetBlue already flies between SJU and Cyril E. King Airport in St. Thomas (STT) and 

Henry E. Rohlsen Airport in St. Croix (STX) in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It also partners 

with Cape Air for service within the Virgin Islands. 

Tourism is the mainstay of the economy of our territory. This industry would be 

greatly enhanced by non-stop service from DCA to SJU connecting with flights to STT 

and STX. It would provide a much more direct and lower fare option for tourists as 

well as business and government travelers. 

Service between the Washington, DC area and the USVI has decreased over the years 

and fares have risen. Much of the remaining service is through either Thurgood 

Marshall Airport (BWI) or Dulles International Airport (lAD), which are both much 

more distant from the District of Columbia and close-in suburbs. The addition of this 

first non-stop service from DCA would be of great benefit to our economy and all USVI 

residents and visitors. 

I urge you to award JetBlue the slots necessary to serve the DCA-SJU route on a nonstop basis. 

Thank you for your consideration. 

Ronald E. Russell, ~ Esq. 

"Your Future, Our Mission" 
Mayor Lee Leffingwell · 301 Willie Nelson Boulevard, Austin, Texas 78701 · www.mayorleffingwell.com 

 Office (512) 974-2250 · Fax (512) 974-2337 · Lee.Leffingwell@austintexas.gov 

March 12, 2012 

The Honorable Ray LaHood 

Secretary 

US Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

RE: Docket DOT-OST-2012-0029 

Dear Mr. Secretary: 

On behalf of the residents of Austin, Texas, I am writing to you to express my very 

strong support for the application by JetBlue Airways for exemption slots at 

Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), for nonstop 

capital to capital service to Austin. 

Austin is the 14th largest city in the United States with a population of over 800,000, an 

increase of 37 percent since 2000. We anticipate continued growth to reach two 

million by 2015, making Austin the third fastest growing city in the nation. 

The City of Austin is the owner and operator of Austin-Bergstrom International 

Airport (ABIA) which has enjoyed 25 consecutive months of passenger growth and 

which set another passenger record in 2011. ABIA is the third largest airport in Texas 

(after DFW and Houston IAH) and serves 5.1 million Texans residing within 100 miles 

of ABIA. Nonstop service between the capital of Texas and the capital of the U. S. is 

long overdue. 

The citizens of Austin have worked hard for and supported service additions by new 

carriers. Since JetBlue began daily nonstop service from Austin to New York JFK 

International Airport and Boston Logan Airport in 2006, fares have dropped as the 

number of Austinites traveling has increased. With further expansion to San Francisco 

and Orlando, the community responded to JetBlue service with support and benefited 

from lower fares. The community, both business and leisure, stands ready to support 

this new service to DCA as well. 

The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request
Austin has important commercial and governmental links with Washington, D.C. 

Twenty-nine Austin companies are headquartered in the D.C. area and Austin is home 

to a dozen national associations. In addition to the natural linkages between the capital 

of the third largest state and the U. S. capital, Austin’s high tech industry provides IT 

services to a variety of federal agencies. The growing local economy in Austin relies on 

quality air service to foster business, government and leisure travel. 

I urge you to award the slot exemptions necessary to serve DCA on a nonstop basis 

from Austin, Texas. 

Thank you for your consideration. 

Sincerely, 

Lee Leffingwell 

Mayor 

The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request
Exhibit B 

JetBlue Customer Service 

Awards 
Year Award Source

2011 Best Airline Website Booking Experience U.S. Air Travelers’ Choice Award

2011 Best U.S. Budget Airline About.com

2011 Excellent Web Service 2010 Compuware Gomez Web & Mobile Performance

Awards

2011 Best Value Airline (Domestic), Most Customer Friendly

Airline, and Best Coach Class Experience

Travel 2011 Editor's Choice Awards

2011 Top Low Cost Airline for Customer Satisfaction JD Power and Associates

2010 Top Low Cost Airline for Customer Satisfaction JD Power and Associates

2010 Spot on list of Top Technology Innovators Across America Information Week 500

2010 Top Rated Large Domestic Airline' for Economy and 'Best

In‐flight Entertainment' for Domestic Flights

Zagat Airline Survey

2010 Best Cabin Ambiance Passenger Choice AwardsTM, Airline Passenger

Experience Association (APEX)

2010 #1 Airline Brand 2010 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement

Index®

2010 CIO 100 Award Honoree CIO Magazine

2010 Best Concessions Program Design (T5/JFK) ARN's Best Airport and Concessionaires Awards

2010 Most Unique Services (T5/JFK) ARN's Best Airport and Concessionaires Awards

2010 Best Overall Concessions Program (T5/JFK) ARN's Best Airport and Concessionaires Awards

2010 Best Concessions Management Team (T5/JFK) ARN's Best Airport and Concessionaires Awards

2010 Best Coach‐Class Experience SmarterTravel Editors' Choice Awards

2010 Most Customer‐Friendly Airline SmarterTravel Editors' Choice Awards

2010 Most Pet‐Friendly Airline for Carry‐on Pets SmarterTravel Editors' Choice Awards

2009 Best Airline Brand 2009 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement

Index®

2009 Best Environmental Campaign ‐ Jetting to Green Cause Marketing Forum

2009 Best Rated Large Domestic Airline in the Economy

Category

Zagat Airline Survey

2009 #1 Airline Brand 2009 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement

Index®

2009 Richard A. Griesbach Award of Excellence Winner ACI‐NA 2009 Airport Concessions

2009 #1 U.S. Routes/Single‐Class Service Airline Condé Nast Traveler

2009 Top‐Rated Large Domestic Airline ‐ Economy Seating Zagat Airline Survey

2009 Best In‐Flight Entertainment ‐ Domestic Zagat Airline Survey

2009 5th Annual Extra Miles Awards Budget Travel Magazine

2009 CIO 100 Award Honoree CIO Magazine

2009 Top Low Cost Airline for Customer Satisfaction J.D. Power and Associates

2009 AIGA Corporate Leadership Award AIGA ‐ The Professional Association for Design

2008 Best Large U.S. Economy Class Zagat Airline Survey

2008 Best Inflight Entertainment Zagat Airline Survey

2008 Most Eco‐Friendly Zagat Airline Survey

2008 Silver Halo‐ Best Environmental Campaign ‐ Jetting to

Green

Cause Marketing Forum

2008 Best In‐Seat Comfort SmarterTravel Readers' Choice Awards

2008 Best Onboard Entertainment, Domestic Airline SmarterTravel 2008 Readers' Choice Awards

2008 Top Low Cost Airline for Customer Satisfaction J.D. Power and Associates

JetBlue Customer Service Awards Exhibit B
Year Award Source

2007 Best Domestic Airline Condé Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards

2007 Top Low Cost Airline for Customer Satisfaction J.D. Power and Associates

2007 Best North American Low Cost Airline Skytrax World Airline Awards

2007 World's Most Reliable A320 Fleet Airbus Operational Excellence Awards

2007 #1 Airline Brand 2007 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement

Index®

2007 Best Low Cost/No Frills Airline OAG, 2007 Airline of the Year Awards

2007 Leading Provider of Domestic Airfare Deals Travelzoo Awards

2007 Best U.S. Airline Airline Quality Ranking Survey

2007 #2 rated airline University of Nebraska at Omaha Aviation Institute

and W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita

State University

2007 Best Domestic Airline for Value Travel + Leisure, World's Best Values Awards

2007 Most Admired Companies Fortune magazine, #3 rated airline

2007 Best Airline for Customer Satisfaction Market Metrix

2006 Best Domestic Airline Condé Nast Traveler, Readers' Choice Awards

2006 Extra Mile Award (shut‐eye/snack bar services) Frommer's Budget Travel

2006 Top U.S. Airline for Consumer Demand Kanbay Research Institute 2006 Travel Demand

Today Report

2006 Best Domestic Airline Travel + Leisure World's Best Values Awards

2006 Best Domestic Airline for Value Travel + Leisure, 2006 World's Best Values Awards

2006 #1 Airline Brand 2006 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement

Index®

2006 Highest Low‐Cost Carrier Customer Satisfaction J.D. Power and Associates

2006 Best U.S. Airline Airline Quality Ranking Survey, University of

Nebraska at Omaha Aviation Institute and W. Frank

Barton School of Business at Wichita State

University

2006 Best Low Cost/No Frills Airline OAG Airline of the Year Awards

2006 Best Airline Value Entrepreneur Magazine

2006 Passenger Service Award Air Transport World Magazine

2005 Best Value for Cost Condé Nast Traveler Business Travel Awards

2005 Best Low‐Cost Carrier Condé Nast Traveler Business Travel Awards

2005 Best Domestic Airline Condé Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards

2005 Best Airline for Economy Class Global Traveler magazine

2005 Best Low‐Cost Carrier Global Traveler magazine

2005 #1 Airline Brand 2005 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement

Index®

2005 #2 Domestic Airline Zagat Airline Survey

2005 Great Gay Marketing Award Out & About Travel Magazine Travel Awards

2005 #10 Top Performing Medium Airline Aviation Week & Space Technology Magazine Top‐

Performing Companies

2005 #17 Most Improved Medium Airline Aviation Week & Space Technology Magazine, 2005

Top‐Performing Companies

2005 #47 & 48 Reasons to Love Your Country GQ Magazine, "62 Reasons to Love Your Country"

2005 Silver Award (JetBlue's Self‐Service Check‐In Kiosk) Business Week Magazine, 2005 Annual Design

Awards

2005 #25 JetBlue/Sky's The Limit Wired Magazine, The Wired 40 "masters of

technology and innovation"
Year Award Source

2005 Best Branding The Association of Travel Marketing Executives

(ATME), 2005 Atlas Awards

2005 World's Best Low‐Cost Airline Skytrax Airline of the Year Survey

2005 #2 Airline in North America Skytrax Airline of the Year Survey

2005 Top‐Hospitality Airline Market Metrix Hospitality Index

2005 Best Airline Quality The Wall Street Journal Airline Quality Survey

2005 Best Airline Service The Associated Press, 2005 Annual Survey

2005 Corporate Community Partnership Award American Red Cross

2005 Best U.S. Airline Customer Satisfaction J.D. Power and Associates

2005 Best Domestic Airline North American Travel Journalists Association

2005 Best Value for Cost Condé Nast Traveler Business Travel Awards

2005 Great Gay Marketing Award Out & About Travel Magazine Travel Awards

2005 #10 Top Performing Medium Airline Aviation Week & Space Technology Magazine Top‐

Performing Companies

2005 #17 Most Improved Medium Airline Aviation Week & Space Technology Magazine Top‐

Performing Companies

2005 Silver Award (JetBlue's Self‐Service Check‐In Kiosk) Business Week Magazine Annual Design Awards

2005 JetBlue/Sky's The Limit Wired Magazine, The 40 "masters of technology

and innovation"

2005 Best Branding The Association of Travel Marketing Executives

(ATME) Atlas Awards

2005 World's Best Low‐Cost Airline Skytrax Airline of the Year Survey

2005 #2 Airline in North America Skytrax Airline of the Year Survey

2005 Top‐Hospitality Airline Market Metrix Hospitality Index

2005 Best Airline Quality The Wall Street Journal Airline Quality Survey

2005 Best Airline Service The Associated Press Annual Survey

2005 Corporate Community Partnership Award American Red Cross

2005 Best U.S. Airline Airline Quality Ranking Survey, University of

Nebraska at Omaha Aviation Institute and W. Frank

Barton School of Business at Wichita State

University

2005 Best U.S. Airline Customer Satisfaction J.D. Power and Associates Reports, 2005 Airline

Satisfaction Index Study

2005 Best Domestic Airline North American Travel Journalists Association

2004 #1 Airline Brand 2004 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement

Index®

2004 Best U.S. Service Business 2.0, 2004 Omaha Aviation Institute's

Quality Ranking Survey

2004 Best Corporate Service USTA/Eastern Corporate Service

2004 Best U.S. Airline Airline Quality Ranking Survey, University of

Nebraska at Omaha Aviation Institute and W. Frank

Barton School of Business at Wichita State

University

2004 Best Domestic Airline Condé Nast Traveler, 2004 Readers' Choice Awards

2004 Best Domestic Airline Condé Nast Traveler Business Travel Awards

2004 Best Value for Cost Condé Nast Traveler Business Travel Awards

2004 #2 Domestic Airline Travel & Leisure World's Best Awards

2004 #2 Domestic Airline Service Travel & Leisure World's Best Service Readers' Poll

Awards
Year Award Source

2004 Best Domestic Airline North American Travel Journalists Association, 5‐

Star Award

2004 North America's Leading Budget Airline 11th Annual World Travel Awards

2004 Top 5 Domestic Airline Departures Readers' Favorite Survey

2004 Best Low Cost Carrier in the World Global Traveler Magazine

2004 Best Low Cost Carrier (Second Place) Executive Travel Magazine

2004 Best in Executive Travel Executive Travel Magazine

2004 Airline Excellence Award, North America Skytrax, 2004 Airline of the Year Survey

2004 Best Low Cost Airline Skytrax Airline of the Year Survey

2004 Best Cabin Staff, North America Skytrax Airline of the Year Survey

2004 Best Airline New York Press, Best of Manhattan Readers' Poll

2004 Favorite U.S. Airline Salon.com, Readers' Choice

2004 Most Wanted List Gotham

2004 Best Company in North America Global Finance Magazine

2004 Best CFO (John Owen) Institutional Investor Magazine

2004 Airline Customer Loyalty Award Brandweek

2004 Corporate Service Award United States Tennis Association, Eastern Corporate

Service Award

2003 Best Domestic Airline Condé Nast Traveler, 2003 Readers' Choice Awards

2003 Best Value for Cost Cond ́ Nast Traveler, 2003 Readers' Choice Awards

2003 Best Domestic Airline North American Travel Journalists Association, Five‐

Star Award

2003 #1 Airline Brand Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index®

2003 #2 Domestic Airline Travel & Leisure World's Best Awards

2003 Top 5 Domestic Airline Departures, Readers' Favorite Survey

2003 #3 World's Best Low Cost Airline (Best U.S. Low Cost

Airline)

Business Traveler World's Best Airlines Awards

2003 Best Budget Airline 10th Annual World Travel Awards

2003 Best US Airline (Non‐Major) Business Travel News Airline Survey

2003 Best Low Cost Airline Entrepreneur Magazine

2003 Best Low Cost Airline Skytrax Airline of the Year Survey

2003 Best Cabin Staff, North America Skytrax Airline of the Year Survey

2003 Airline of the Year Airfinance Journal Deal of the Year

2003 North American Corporate Finance Deal of the Year Airfinance Journal Deal of the Year

2003 Airline Customer Loyalty Award Brandweek

2003 IPO of the Year Corporate Finance Magazine

2003 Marketing Award Airline Business Strategy Award

2003 Editors' Choice Travel‐Holiday

2003 Outstanding Inflight Entertainment Onboard Services Onboard Services Awards

2003 Outstanding Safety Video Onboard Services Onboard Services Awards

2002 Best Domestic Airline Condé Nast Traveler, 2002 Readers' Choice Awards

2002 Best Domestic Airline, coach Condé Nast Traveler, 2002 Readers' Choice Awards

2002 Best Domestic Airline, Value For Cost Condé Nast Traveler, 2002 Readers' Choice Awards
Year Award Source

2002 Best Domestic Airline North American Travel Journalists Association, Five‐

Star Award

2002 #2 Domestic Airline Travel and Leisure, 2002 World's Best Awards

2002 Best Low‐Cost Carrier (Runner‐Up) Business Traveler Best in Business Travel Awards

2002 "It" Airline Entertainment Weekly It List

2002 Editor's Choice Worth

2002 Marketer of the Year Advertising Age

2002 #4 Brand of the Year brandchannel.com, 2002 Readers' Choice

2002 Finance Award Airline Business Airline Strategy Awards

2002 Market Development Award Air Transport World Industry Achievement Awards

2002 Best Overall Airline Onboard Services Onboard Service Awards

2002 Best Inflight or Onboard Service Onboard Services Onboard Service Awards

2002 Best Onboard Entertainment Onboard Services Onboard Service Awards

2002 Best Uniforms (2nd Place) Onboard Services, 2002 Onboard Service Awards

2001 Best Domestic Airline, Coach Condé Nast Traveler Business Travel Awards

2001 Best Domestic Airline North American Travel Journalists Association, Five‐

Star Award

2001 #2 Domestic Airline Condé Nast Traveler Reader's Choice Awards

2001 #2 Domestic Airline Zagat Airline Survey

2001 Best New Airline Money

2001 Favorite U.S. Airline Orange County Register/Knight Ridder

2001 Seal of Approval Diversion

2001 "A" Rating Planetfeedback

2001 #2 Airline Epinions.com

2000 "It" Airline Vanity Fair It List
Exhibit C 

Department of Transportation 

Press Release 
Home About Briefing Room Services

Home / Releases & Speeches

DOT 156-11

Thursday, December 1, 2011

JetBlue, WestJet Gain Slots at LaGuardia, Reagan National Airports

JetBlue Airways will gain additional slots at New York LaGuardia Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and WestJet Airlines will gain its first slots at 

LaGuardia, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced today.

The two carriers have reached binding agreements with Delta Air Lines to acquire some of its operating authority, or “slots,” at the two airports. A “slot” refers to a 

carrier’s authority to take off or land at an airport where flight operations are limited by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). DOT and the FAA required Delta and US 

Airways to divest a total of 48 slots amongst the two airlines as a condition for being able to exchange other slots they hold at the two airports. JetBlue and WestJet submitted 

successful bids for those slots in an auction conducted by the FAA. JetBlue currently operates a limited number of flights at both airports, and WestJet has no service at 

LaGuardia. 

“As a result of the conditions we placed on the transfer between Delta and US Airways, consumers will benefit from new competition and services at both airports from 

airlines that previously had limited access, or no access at all, to those airports,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said.

JetBlue will pay $40 million for eight pairs of daily slots at Reagan National and $32.0 million for eight slot pairs at LaGuardia. WestJet, a Canadian carrier, will pay $17.6 

million for eight slot pairs at LaGuardia. A slot pair, or two slots, is required for a takeoff and landing during times when these rights are limited.

On Oct. 7, DOT approved a request by the carriers under which Delta would trade 42 daily slot pairs at Reagan National for 132 of US Airways’ daily slot pairs at 

LaGuardia. The Department placed a number of conditions on the trade to promote competition and protect consumers, including a requirement that the carriers divest 

themselves of eight pairs of daily slots at Reagan National and 16 pairs at LaGuardia by means of a blind auction administered by the FAA. 

The bidding took place between Nov. 14 and Nov. 22, with bids submitted via e-mail. Only carriers having less than five percent of the slots at LaGuardia or Reagan 

National, and not code-sharing at the respective airport with a carrier that has five percent or more of the slots, were eligible to bid for the divested slots at that airport. In order to 

ensure that a purchaser would be able to provide meaningful new competition, all eight slot pairs at Reagan National were sold in a single bundle, and the 16 pairs at LaGuardia 

were sold in two bundles of eight slot pairs each. JetBlue submitted the highest bids for all three slot bundles, but WestJet was awarded one bundle at LaGuardia because no 

carrier was permitted to acquire more than one bundle at that airport.

A total of seven carriers participated in the bidding for the slots. The others were Allegiant Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Sun Country Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Spirit 

Airlines.

-ENDContact: Bill Mosley • Tel: 202-366-4570

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Exhibit C
Exhibit D 

JetBlue Service from Ponce and 

Aguadilla 
Exhibit D 

JetBlue Service From Ponce and Aguadilla 

Additional JetBiue Puerto Rico Service 

'd 

• 0 

b 

a not to scale ___________________ ____. 
Exhibit E 

Letter of Support from Cape Air 
Exhibit E

March 12, 2012 

The Honorable Ray LaHood 

Secretary 

660 Barnstable Rd., Hyannis, MA 02601 

sos 790~3122 

US Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

Dear Mr. Secretary: 

On behalf of the men and women of Cape Air, I am writing to express our strong support 

for the application of our partner JetBlue Airways as it seeks exemption slots at Ronald 

Reagan Washington National Airport for the first-ever nonstop service to San Juan, 

Puerto Rico. 

San Juan is a key base of operations for Cape Air. During the peak season, we operate 

over 800 flights each week from SJU, to seven locations, including St. Thomas, St. Croix, 

and Vieques. We currently have 80 employees based in Puerto Rico and 149 in the 

Caribbean. JetBlue, as the largest carrier in San Juan, has an interline agreement with 

Cape Air, and we connect customers with each other. With the addition of the new 

nonstop service, the regional economy will expand, tourism will grow and regional 

connections beyond San Juan, on JetBlue and Cape Air will grow. 

The addition of nonstop service between San Juan, Puerto Rico and DCA will be of great 

benefit to the economy of Puerto Rico and as such, I urge your favorable review of 

JetBlue's application. 

Sincerely, r ~?irl President 
Exhibit F 

Cape Air SJU Route Map
SJU

MAZ VQS

STX

STT

EIS

AXA

NEV

Cape Air SJU Route Map
Exhibit G 

JetBlue/Cape Air Connecting 

Flights for SJU-DCA Service

 
Exhibit G 

JetBlue/Cape Air Connecting Flights for SJU-DCA Service 

Outbound 

Origin Destination Depart Arrive 

DCA SJU 10:00 13:55 

(Domestic) 

Origin Destination Depart Arrive 

SJU MAZ 16:00 16:40 (Cape Air) 

SJU STT 15:30 16:05 (JetBlue) 

SJU STX 14:50 15:31 (JetBlue) 

SJU VQS 15:40 16:04 (Cape Air) 

(International) 

Origin Destination Depart Arrive 

SJU AXA 14:55 16:15 (Cape Air) 

SJU EIS 15:55 16:42 (Cape Air) 

SJU NEV 15:21 17:00 (Cape Air) 

SJU SDQ 17:49 18:50 (JetBlue) 

Return 

Origin Destination Depart Arrive 

SJU DCA 11:05 15:05 

(Domestic) 

Origin Destination Depart Arrive 

MAZ SJU 9:20 9:58 (Cape Air) 

STT SJU 9:25 10:00 (JetBlue) 

STX SJU 7:30 8:11 (JetBlue) 

VQS SJU 9:40 10:01 (Cape Air) 

(International) 

Origin Destination Depart Arrive 

AXA SJU 8:45 10:05 (Cape Air) 

EIS SJU 9:25 10:00 (Cape Air) 

NEV SJU 7:45 9:15 (Cape Air) 

SDQ SJU 8:00 9:02 (JetBlue) 

The minimum connect times are reflected for JetBlue to Cape Air of 0:50 for domestic and 1 hour 

international. 
Exhibit H 

JetBlue’s Proposed Service Will 

Reduce Travel Time
    Exhibit H 

JetBlue’s Proposed Service Will Reduce Travel Time 

Minimum JetBlue one-way trip 

duration 

Minimum one-way trip duration over 

ATL, MIA, FLL, or CLT 

DCA-STT 6 hours 5 mins DCA-STT 6 hours 19 mins 

DCA-STX 5 hours 31 mins DCA-STX 6 hours 10 mins 

DCA-MAZ 6 hours 40 mins DCA-MAZ 8 hours 20 mins 

DCA-VQS 6 hours 15 mins DCA-VQS 6 hours 51 mins