U.S. Department 

of Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

The Honorable Jeff Coleman 

Mayor of Pflugerville 

I 00 East Main Street 

Pflugerville, Texas 78660 

Dear Mayor Coleman: 

Assistant Secretary 

April 20, 2012 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington. DC 20590 

,··· .... ) 

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

beyond-perimeter slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) to be 

used for nonstop service to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS), Austin, Texas. 

Secretary LaHood asked me to respond to your letter. 

Under authority granted in the FAA Modernization and Refonn Act of2012, 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 applications proposing to serve AUS from two carriers, Southwest Airlines and 

JetBlue Airways. Each sought two slot exemptions, which would support one daily DCA-AUS 

round trip; JetBiue also applied for two slot exemptions to serve San Juan, Puerto Rico. Other 

timely applications were received from Air Canada, proposing one round trip to Vancouver, 

British Columbia; Alaska Airlines, one round trip to Portland, Oregon, and one round trip to San 

Diego; Frontier Airlines, one round trip to Colorado Springs and beyond to San Diego; 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 Department's action on this matter is being administered through a public docket, which 

allows all interested parties the opportunity to comment. Following our normal practice, I am 

placing a copy of your letter and this response in docket number DOT -2012-0029. 

I appreciate your interest in this matter. 

Sincerely yours, 

Susan L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
The Honorable 

Ray LaHood 

Secretary of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

Re: Docket No. DOT-OST-2012-0029. 

Dear Mr. Secretary, 

March 21, 2012 

As Mayor of the city of Pflugerville, Texas I am writing to express my strong support for 

applications that have been submitted to provide daily nonstop roundtrip flights between 

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Austin-Bergstrom International 

Airport. 

Pflugerville is a city in Travis and Williamson counties in Central Texas and is 

approximately 14 miles north of Austin. Pflugerville is a suburb of Austin and part of the 

Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area. Economic development in the Austin 

area has resulted in extremely rapid expansion in Pfluge1ville and our population has 

tripled since the 2000 census. 

At present nonstop service from our region to Washington DC is limited to flights to 

Washington (Dulles) or Baltimore/Washington International Airport. Those flights are 

inconvenient for travelers who have a need to visit Federal Government offices, 

legislators or organizations located in the District of Columbia and for residents of the 

District of Columbia who want to vacation in our region. In order to fly in or out of DCA, 

these travelers must make time-consuming connections. 

Award of beyond-perimeter slot exemptions for nonstop service between AustinBergstrom International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airp011 will 

improve the travel options for all the residents and businesses in Pfluge1ville and all of 

Central Texas. 

I respectfully urge you to grant slot exemptions to an airline that will provide nonstop 

AUS-DCA service. 

OClO 

CJ 

0 

CITY OF PFLUGERVILLE 

P.O.Box589 

STREET ADDRESS: 

100 East Main Street 

Pflugerville, TX 78660 

TEL: 512.990.4363 

FAX:512.990.4364 

www.cityofpflugerville.com