# 0 U.S.Department

### of lrantporiatlon Offlceoffhe Secretary ot

### rronspottatfon



### Mr. John Blem General Manager Courtyard Inn Mission Valley 

## S9S Hotel Circle South San Diego, CA 92108
DearMr. Blem: April 11 • 2012 

## lD! Z



### Thankyou for your letter to 

### Secretary ofTransportation Ray LaHood, supporting the application ofAlaskaAirlines,**Inc.~** 

### fortwo beyond-perimeter slotexemptions at Ronald Reagan WuhingtonNational Airport (DCA) to serve San Diego International Airport with one round trip perday from DCA. Secretary LaHood asked that Irespond to your letter. Underauthority granted in the FMModem.ization and Reform Act of2012, the U.S. Department ofTransportation will be awarding to new entrant or limited incumbent carriers atotal ofeight slot exemptions at DCA, which would support fourdaily round trips. Wereceived Alaska's application, which also proposes one daily roundtrip to Portland, Oregon, on March 

## 12. Othertimely applications were .received from Air Canada, proposing one round trip to Vancouver, BritishColumbia; Frontier Airlines, one round trip to Colorado Springs and 

### beyond to 

### SanDiego; JetBlue Airlines, one round trip to San.Juan, PuertO Rico, and 

### one ro!lncl trip to 

### Austin, Texas; SouthwestAirlines, one roun4 trip to 

### Austin and San Diego beyoud; Sun CountrY Airlines, one ro!lnd trip to 

### Las Vegas; and Virgin America, Inc., two ro.und. trips to San Francisco. As 

### the matteris still pending, Icannot comment on the merits of**th~::** 

### points raisedin your lettert However, Ican 'assure you that all applications the Departmentreceived will be given fu1l and fairconsideration and will be evaluated againstthe selection criteria specified in the statute.

### Pagel.Blem
The Department's action on this 

### matteris being .administeredthrough 

### apublic docket, which 

### allows 

## all interestedparties 

## the opportunity to comment. Following 

## our normal practice, 

## Iam placing acopy ofyour letter and this response in docket number DOT-2012-0029. I appreciate your interestin this 

### matter. Sincerely yours,

Susan L. 

## Kurland Assistant Secretary for Aviation 

## and International AffairsCourtyard by Marriott•

.San Diego Mission Valley/Hotel Circle 

### ,. 595 Hotel Circle South

San Diego, CA 92108 T 619.291.5720 F 619.297.7362 courtyard.com/sancm

3/16/12 The Honorable Ray LaHood U.S. Department ofTransportation 1200 NewJerseyAve, SE Washington, DC 20590 Re: Alaska Airlines' application for SAN-DCA, Docket No. DOT-OST-2012-0029. Dear Secretary LaHood: Courtyard by Marriott San Diego/Mission Valleyfully supports the application of Alaska Airiines for air service between San Diego and Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA). San Diego isthe largest region without announced service to DCA. Additionally, due to the profound community of interest between San Diego and the nation's capital, the region generates the largest passenger market demand without nonstop service to the convenient and close-in airport serving our nation's capital. San Diego's sheer market size to Washington coupled with the fact that San Diego
- Dulles average airfares are the highest of west coast cities should qualify it for apair ofthe Hmited slots available. The high airfare is exacerbated when factoring in taxi fares from Dullesto Washington's city center that average about $60 each way. This means travelers between Washington's city center and San Diego via Dulles can pay close to $400 one-way on average. There are also countless other San Diego-based and Washington-based businesses that are engaged in health science, telecommunications, and national defense that need quick and convenient access to Reagan National Airport. Courtyard by Marriott San Diego/Mission Valley has an immediate need for additional nonstop air service to our nation's capital. Alaska Airlines service would add aneeded nonstop option to aprimary gatewayto Washington, DC. Courtyard by Marriott San Diego/Mission Valleyjoins with the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, the World Trade Center San Diego, and the San Diego Regional Chamberof Commerce in support of Alaska Airlines' application for San Diego
- Washington Reagan National slots. We thankthe Department ofTransportation for the opportunityto comment on the above referenced docket and we hope to hear of afavorable review of Alaska Airlines' San Diego- DCA proposal soon.

# S~oomly,**~~**
John Blem, General Manager Courtyard Inn Mission Valley 595 Hotel Circle South 

### San Diego, CA 92108

()peratecl undera license agreement from Marriott International, Inc. 

## ,.., Contains 30% oost oonsumer fibers**~.**