U.S. Department 

of Transportation 

Office of the Secretory 

of Transportation 

The Honorable Craig Pridemore 

Washington State Senate 

Olympia, W A 98504-0482 

Dear Mr. Pridemore: 

Assistant Secretary 

April 13, 2012 II, l " ,.,, l I / 

1200 New Jersey Avenue. SE 

washington. DC 20590 

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

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

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

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

letter. 

Under authority granted in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of20 12, the 

U.S. Department of Transportation will be awarding to new entrant or limited incumbent 

carriers a total of eight slot exemptions attDCA, which would support four daily round trips. 

We received Alaska's application, which also proposes one daily round trip to San Diego, on 

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

to Vancouver, British Columbia; Frontier Airlines, one round trip to Colorado Springs and 

beyond to San Diego; JetBlue Airlines, one round trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and one round 

trip to Austin, Texas; Southwest Airlines, one round trip to Austin and San Diego beyond; Sun 

Country Airlines, one round trip to Las Vegas; and Virgin America, Inc., two round trips to San 

Francisco. 

As the matter is still pending, I cannot comment on the merits of the points raised in your letter. 

However, I can assure you that all applications the Department received will be given full and 

fair consideration and will be evaluated against the selection criteria specified in the statute. 
The, Department~:s action Qn this mattetiis being administered through~ publi~dooketrwl'doh allows allln~rested patties tht'tQppQrtunity tp eolll:nlent. Following our normal practice, rw 

piapipg a <ropy ofy()uf lett~r and. jltis r¢sport~. ih d()cJcet ilUhiber DOT ·2012-.()029. 

·Sus~m L. Kurland 

Assistant see:retarrfor . Aviation and Internaiiottal Affafrs 
l.~gisl:r!lw Building 

Olympia. \VA ')l)';i()ti-0'1H2 

March 22, 2012 

The Honorable Ray LaHood 

Washittgton State Sen.ate 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Ave, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

l'hOJK!: (;~(ill) 7H6·75'30 

Fr\X: c:·I()IJ'j 7H6·191)CJ 

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

Dear Secretary LaHood: 

I am writing to support the application of Alas.ka Airlines to provide on~ daily roundtrip flight between 

ll\lngon National Airport (DCA) und Por-tlnnd Intorn~tional Ait1port (PDX). 

The Portland~ Vancouver area is a vibrant and growing economic region. As a community, we would 

benefit greatly from direct se••vice on Alaska between DCA and llDX. Cut•rently, our only alternative for 

travel to DCA from POX is through Seattle or th1•ough aJ'lother distant city with even more limited 

connections. We understand that POX is the second largest market to Washington DC, in tet·ms of 

passengers pe1· day, without nonstop service, making it an ideal candidate for a direct DCA route. 

Cul'l·ently, nonstop servic~ from Oregon/Southwest Washington is limited to just a single duily flight 

between PDX and Washingtolt Dulles (lAD). Nonstop service from POX to OCA will give u.ren •·esidcnts 

the benefits of enhanced competitio11 o.nd mot•e convenient service to our n~tiot,'s capital. 

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

ao unnunl avet'3Q4' of more than 640 flights per week to 33 destinations. As a result, Alaska's nonstop 

flight would a.lso improve service levels to Washington, DC for the Ot'O(&Oll cities of Eugene, M~dford nnd 

Redmond, in addition to the. groatel' Portlattd-Vuncouvcr region. hnpol'hllttly, Alaska bas n str.ong 

c1.1stomer s~rvice focus, reliable operational performance and fia.luncial s~rength. We nre fortunate to have 

•~suhll' access to the best ped'orming uirlbte in the countr-y. These qualithis mnke Aln$ka the id~nl o~rie•· 

to provide 01•egon/Southwest Washington •·esidents with their first nonstop Sl.'ll'Vico to DCA. 

I respectfully urge you to grant Alaska Airlines' application to provide PDX~DCA service. Thank you for 

your· consideration. 

Sincerely, 

Sen. Craig Pridemore 

49111 Legislative District 

s 10-120327-009