0 

Q .. $. p~pcirtt\'tt9i'1t 

9f Ttpl"'~poq<Jflon 

Offtc~.ofthe Secr~toty 

of rrQn~pdrttlftofl 

!Vft. Gregg S>l{~tor 

President& CEO 

NW t;at\ital 2l0NW 1nit Avenue' 

l~ortland, OR, '272()9 

Dear Mr. Kantor: 

April 13~ 2012 

10: 03 

~h~'youfor yeurJetter to .. sectetaty of., Transportation Ray LaHood" supporting thea}?pllcadon 

of Alaska A.irllnes~.lnc:..for two ·b~yond•perime~t: slot e~emptioJ?.s at ~Q~ld .~t\g~tl Wll$)lJhgfoJ.! 'N~tiP'lialA.it:Poit (J.?~A.) •. Alaska's appli¢1Uionproposesto serve Portland International AJq;art 

with bne round trip per day ·from: .DCA. Secretary Laftood has ask~:<.tme to r.espond to your 

le~r. · 

Under authority granted in the FAA Modernl~ation and Reform Act of20l2, the 

U .$, Oe,partmen.tOfTransportlWon will he awarding t9 neW: entrant or limited in¢\lmberit 

.catfiersa·t(;1ta! of:eightslOt·.e}{emptionsatDOA,which wonld·.support·fourdailyroundtrips. 

We receivedb\l~kl!''s appltcati'oh, Which atst) ptop(jses ()ne dailyrot~rtdtrip to S~h Dle~p, on 

Match i:t Othcer timely applications were received Jrom Air Canada~ proposing one round trip: 

fQ Vancm.wer, British Columbi~; Ftont\erAitljnes! one round trip to Golota<:le> Springs anti b~ya,ndto San Diego~ .JetBlue Airlines; one round td:P: to Smt Juan, Puerto .rueo, and.·bne round 

trip to Austin~ Texas; Southwest Airlines~ one ro.und trip .to Austin and San Diego;heyond; Sun 

Couutry Airlines, <>rte (omld tt.ip to L~~: Yeg~; and Vi~gi!t Ain~tie~, lne.,.two ro\lnel Jijpst~ S~ 

Ft~oi'S,co. 

As the t1'1Att~ris'$tlll p:ending,Tc~ot cu@tnent·ontlie.@erits.ofthe points raised in y(lut Jetter. 

However? I can. assute you that·alla}:')plications/theDepartment'received will be Siven'full .and. 

fair consi(ileratio)l;and will. be. eva}ut;tted againstthe. selection crlteria.spec,ifie$,{ in ~e s~wte:. 
T:h~.Q~p~~ntts acdonl'ill this matter i~:beihtl administered. through a public. dock~t~ wruolj. 

allows allinterested parties the opportunity, to co~J)nlent. Following qtir normalpractic~, l'atn . 

placinJ a ~QP¥ ()f your letter and, tl)i~ te$pJ)nse in d()cket number DOT;.,i() 12-0.029. 

l appteei·are·ytlur interest in this. matter: 

Sincerely yours. 

Susan L~ Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
Gregg S. Kantor 

President & CliO 

Tel: 503.220.2425 

Fax: 503.220.2584 

Toll Free: 1.800.422.4012 

E-mail: gsk@nwnatural.com 

March 14, 2012 

The Honorable Ray LaHood 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Ave, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Re: Letter in support of 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 National Airport (DCA) and Portland International 

Airport (POX). 

We are told that the Portland-Vancouver region is the second largest market to 

Washington DC, in terms of passengers per day, without nonstop service to DCA. It is 

the ideal candidate for such service. Nonstop service from Oregon/ southwest 

Washington is limited to just a single daily flight between POX and Washington Dulles 

(lAD). With nonstop service from POX to DCA, Oregon/ southwest Washington 

residents will benefit from enhanced competition and no longer be forced 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 more than 640 flights per week to 33 destinations. 

As a result, Alaska's nonstop flight would also improve service levels to Washington, 

DC for the Oregon cities of Eugene, Medford and Redmond, in addition to the greater 

Portland-Vancouver region. Importantly, Alaska has a strong customer service focus, 

reliable operational performance and financial strength. In sum, we are 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 service to DCA. 

I respectfully urge you to grant Alaska Airlines' application to provide POX-DCA 

service. Thank you for your consideration. 

S10-120314-039