BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C.

In the matter of the application of CONCESIONARIA VUELA COMPAŇÍA DE AVIACIÓN, S.A.P.I. DE C.V. d/b/a VOLARIS for an exemption fr om 49 U.S.C. § 41301 Docket DOT-OST-2014-0167

ANSWER OF THE CITY OF HOUSTON

Communications with respect to this document should be sent to: Mario C. Diaz Director Ian Wadsworth Chief Commercial Officer Department of Aviation CITY OF HOUSTON 16930 John F. Kennedy Blvd. Houston, TX 77032 (281) 233-3000 (281) 233-1859 (fax) Rachel B. Trinder Jol A. Silversmith ZUCKERT, SCOUTT & RASENBERGER, L.L.P. 888 Seventeenth Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006-3309 (202) 973-7927 (202) 342-0683 (fax) rbtrinder@zsrlaw.com jasilversmith@zsrlaw.com For the City of Houston Dated: October 6, 2014BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C.

In the matter of the application of CONCESIONARIA VUELA COMPAŇÍA DE AVIACIÓN, S.A.P.I. DE C.V. d/b/a VOLARIS for an exemption fr om 49 U.S.C. § 41301 Docket DOT-OST-2014-0167

ANSWER OF THE CITY OF HOUSTON

The City of Houston (“Houston” or the “City”) respectfully subm its this answer in support of the application filed on September 22, 2014 by Conce sionaria Vuela Compaňía de Aviación, S.A.P.I. de C.V. d/b/a Volaris (“Volaris” ) for authority to operate scheduled foreign air transportati on between Houston and Guadal ajara.

Houston is fortunate that multi ple carriers – from the U.S. and from Mexico – recognize the tremendous opportuni ties that the Houston region offers for providing additional services between the City and Mexico. Already the n ation’s largest U.S.- Mexico air services gateway, sinc e the year 2000 the number of international passengers in Houston has increased by a phenomenal 60%; intern ational traffic

volume in 2014 is alr eady up 10% over 2013. This growth reflects Houston’s role as one of the key engines o f the U.S. economy. If the City of Houston were a State, it would rank 36 th in population – ahead of New Mexico. The area’s gross product was $533 billion in 20 13 – exceeding the GDP of all but 21 foreign countries. Houston is home to the he adquarters of 26 of theAnswer of the City of Houston Page 2

2 2014 Fortune 500 companies and 28 of the 2014 Forbes Global 200 0 companies, 1 and is the leading job creator among U.S. cities. 2 This remarkable economic strength provides opportunities for ca rriers, passengers and shippers, a nd ever-growing potential

for additional air services to m eet the community’s increasing needs. Houston’s strong and growing relationship with Mexico is a key component in the impressive traffic expansion bei ng experienced at the City’s ai rports. Mexico is the greater Houston area’s largest fo reign trade partner, with the annual transborder trade valued at $28.4 billion. Since 2000, Houston-Mexico trade has grown at an annual compound rate of 9.5 percent. Houston-Mexico 2014 air traffic is projected to increase by year’s end by 17 percent ove r that for 2013. When the new F ederal Inspection Facility at Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport (“Hobby”) opens in the fall of 2015, enabling new international service s in competition with interna tional services at

Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport, even more growth is ex pected. Houston strongly supports the ongoing effort s of the U.S. Government to secure additional liberalization of bilateral opport unities for U.S.-Mexico air s ervice, and hopes that this can be accomplished by the end of 2014 so that carriers have th e lead time they need for new service start-up planning. The new services proposed by Volar is will provid e the greater H ouston community with additional competit ion and air service options; Houston understands

1 Additionally, according to Greater Houston Partnership data, m ore than 1200 Houston companies currently do business with Mexico; 44 have subsidiaries in Mexi co; and numerous Mexican companies have subsidiaries in Houston.

2 See, e.g., “18 Facts That Make Houston The Best City In Americ a”, http://www.businessinsider.com/ houston-best-city-in-america-2014-6 (July 1, 2014) (noting that am ong the twenty most populous U.S

. MSAs, Houston has – by far – achieved the highest percentage of jobs recovered since the end of the economic downturn.Answer of the City of Houston Page 3

3 that the required designation by the Government of Mexico has a lready been

transmitted to the U.S. Government. Accordingly, Houston welcomes and strongly supports the applica tion of Volaris for Houston-Guadalajara authorit y, and asks that it be granted promptly by the Department. Respectfully submitted,

Rachel B. Trinder Jol A. Silversmith ZUCKERT, SCOUTT & RASENBERGER, L.L.P. 888 Seventeenth Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006-3309 (202) 973-7927 (202) 342-0683 (fax) rbtrinder@zsrlaw.com jasilversmith@zsrlaw.com For the City of Houston Dated: October 6, 2014CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I certify that on this 6th day of October 2014, a copy of the f oregoing was served on the parties named below in ac cordance with the Department’s Rules of Practice.

Jol A. Silversmith

rsilverberg@sgbdc.com, jjohnson@sgbdc.com, and mgoldman@sgbdc.com (Counsel for ABX Air) chuck.hill@airtransport.cc (Air Transport International) msinick@ssd.com (Counsel for Alaska Airlines) agoerlich@ggh-airlaw.com (Counsel for Allegiant Air) robert.wirick@aa.com , francis.heil@aa.com , and howard.kass@aa.com (American Airlines) jcanny@amerijet.com (Amerijet) jrichardson@johnlrichardson.com (Counsel for Amerijet) rpommer@atlasair.com (Atlas Air) john@mietuslaw.com (Counsel for Centurion Air Cargo) sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com , chris.walker@delta.com , and sametta.c.barnett@delta.com (Delta Air Lines) cefelts@fedex.com nssparks@fedex.com (Federal Express) stephen.lachter@lachterlaw.com (Counsel for Frontier) jhill@cooley.com and perkmann@cooley.com (Counsel for JetBlue Airways) matwood@cozen.com (Counsel for Kalitta Air) kevin.montgomery@polaraircargo.com and peter.beckett@polaraircargo.com (Polar Air Cargo) robert.cohn@hoganlovells.com and patrick.rizzi@hoganlovells.com (Counsel for Republic Airlines) ethan.blank@rjet.com (Republic Airlines) temerson@skywest.com (SkyWest Airlines) bob.kneisley@wnco.com and leslie.abbott@wnco.com (Southwest Airlines) dkirstein@yklaw.com and jyoung@yklaw.com (Counsel for Spirit Airlines) john.fredericksen@suncountry.com and thomas.ting@suncountry.com (Sun Country) hershel.kamen@united.com , dan.weiss@united.com , steve.morrissey@united.com , thomas.bolling@united.com , andabby.bried@united.com (United Airlines) sseiden@crowell.com and gmurphy@crowell.com (Counsel for United Airlines) anita.mosner@hklaw.com and jennifer.nowak@hklaw.com (Counsel for UPS) dsmalls@ups.com (UPS) john.varley@virginamerica.com and barbara.russell@virginamerica.com (Virgin America) charles.donley@squirepb.com (Counsel for Volaris) paul.gretch@dot.gov , brian.hedberg@dot.gov , brett.kruger@dot.gov , reese.davidson@dot.gov , todd.homan@dot.gov , peter.irvine@dot.gov , laura.remo@dot.gov , and robert.finamore@dot.gov (DOT) john.s.duncan@faa.gov (FAA) ronald.williams@ustranscom.mil (USTRANSCOM) englets@state.gov and cristinasa@state.gov (State Department) info@airlineinfo.com