U.S. Department 

of Transportation 

Assistant Secretary 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

April 13, 2012 

The Honorable Ann Rivers 

Washington House of Representatives 

Olympia, WA 98504-0600 

Dear Ms. Rivers: 

~G P , 'Y 1 l .:\ ! ! : I b 

t200 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 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 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. 
.. ... 

Tpe'JieM~ent"s.~;t~ti~n onthis matter fs .being,administered thr(')ugh a· public P,oot<¢t, Wh.igb 

allowsalUntetested parties the opportunity to comment F'ollowins Qur normalpractice; I am 

placing a copy ~ofyour letter and this response.1n .. 4oc\{et number" POT~2'Pl2-0Q~9. 

·.1 aPJ!reelate;yourinte:rest·in·this matte~. 

· Susan,L~.Kutland 

Assist~t $ecreta~y.for .. Aviation and .International Affairs 
March 22, 2012 

The Honorable Ray LaHood 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Ave, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

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

Dear Secretary LaHood: 

This letter is in support of the application of Alaska Airlines to provide one daily roundtrip flight between 

Reagan Natic::mal Airport (DCA) and Partland international Alr13ort (POX). 

As a state legislator representing southwest Washington and whose home is a scant twenty minutes 

from POX, I am aware that the Portland-Vancouver resion is t~le seeond largest rnarket to Washington 

DC, in terms of passengers per day, withoiJt nonstop servlc;e to DCA. It is the ideal candidate for such 

service. Nonstop service from Oregon/southwest Washingtcm I$ limited to just a single dally flight 

between POX and Washington Dulles (lAD). With t'lonstop service from PDX to DCA, Oregon/southwest 

Washington residents, like myself, will benefit from enhanced competition and no longer be foreed to 

use less convenient and more time-consuming service to reach our nation's capital. 

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

annual average of tl'lore than 640 flights per week to 33 destinations. As a l'eault, Ala$ka's nonstop flight 

would also improve service levels to Washington, DC for the Oregon cities of Eugene, Medford nnd 

Redmond, In addition to the greater Portland .. Vancouver region. Importantly, Aliiska has a strong 

customer service focus, reliable operational performance and financial strength. In sum, we ~re 

fortunate to have regular access to the best performing airline In the country. These qualities make 

Alaska the ideal carrier to provide Oregon/southwest Washington residents with their first nonstop 

$ervice to DCA. 

As a strong supporter of business, I respectfully urge you to grant Alaska Airlines' application to provide · 

PDX .. QCA service. Thank you for your consideration. 

Sincerely, 

Representative Ann Rivers 

18th Legisl(ltlve District 

s 10-'120327 -008 

_,..