U.S. Department of Transportation Office of the Secretory ofTransportation



### The Honorable Craig Pridemore Washington State Senate Olympia, W A98504-0482
Dear Mr. Pridemore: Assistant Secretary April 13, 2012

II, 

### l " ,.,, l I / 1200 New Jersey Avenue. SE washington. DC 20590



### Thankyou for your letterto Secretary ofTransportation Ray LaHood, supporting the application ofAlaska Airlines, Inc. for two beyond-perimeter slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). Alaska's application proposes to serve Portland International Airport with one round trip per day from DCA. Secretary LaHood has asked me to respond to your letter. Under authority granted in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of2012, 

### the U.S. Department ofTransportation will be awarding to new entrant or limited incumbent carriers atotal ofeight 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. 

### Othertimely 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, Icannot comment on the merits ofthe points raised in your letter. However, Ican assure you that all applications the Department received will 

### be given full and fair consideration and will be evaluated against the selection criteria specified in the statute.

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. Aviation andInternaiiottal 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 ofTransportation 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;** DocketNo.**DOT~OST**-2012-0029
Dear Secretary LaHood:
I am writing to support the application ofAlas.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 tojust a single duily flight between PDX and Washingtolt Dulles (lAD). Nonstop service from POX to OCA 

### will give u.ren •·esidcnts the benefits ofenhanced 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' ofmore than 640 flights per week to 33 destinations. As aresult, Alaska's nonstop flight would a.lso improve 

### service levels to Washington, DC for the Ot'O(&Oll cities ofEugene,**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'Vicoto 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



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