THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATJ():N,'\ 

The Honorable Bill Flores 

U.S. HouseofRepresentatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

Dear Congressman Flores: 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20590 

Aprill9, 2012 v 

l 0 

Thank you for your letter supporting the application of Southwest Airlines for two beyondperimeter slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). Southwest"s 

application proposes to serve Austin-Bergstrom International Airport with one round trip per day 

from DCA, 

Under authority granted in the FAA Modernization and Reform Aet 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 re¢eived Southwest's application ott March 12. Other timely applications were received 

from Air Canada, proposing one round trip to Vancouver1 British Columbia; Alaska Airlines, one 

round trip to Portlan~ Oregon. and one round trip to San Diego; Frontier Airlines~ one round trip 

to Colorado Springs and beyond to San Diego; J etBiue Airlines, one round trip to San Juan, 

Puerto Rico, and one round trip to Austin, Texas; Sun Country Airlines, one round trip to Las 

Vegas; and Virgin America, Inc .• two round trips to San Francisco. 

As the matter is still pending1 I c~ot comment o.n 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. 

The Department, s action on this matter is being administered through a public .docket, which 

allows all interested parties the opportunity to comment. Following our normal practice, I am 

placing a copy ofyour letter and · nse · ocket number DOT -2012-0(l29. 

I appreciate your interest in this 
- 'f/1 " ~· 8lLL FLORES 

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Dear Secretary LaHood: 

March 2a1 ZDlZ 

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1 write in support ofSouthwest Ajrlines' ~ppllcation f()r a pftir ofbe~nd,..p'erimeterslot 

exen1ptiG>ns between RG>nald Reagan WaS{lington NationaiAirpott: (DCA) and A'UStin-Betgstrom 

Intemati.G>nal Airport (AUS). Witb these bey~nd .. perimeter slot exemptions, Soutln.vest pmposes 

to operatethefirst'-ever ~'capital-toMcap.ital" nonstop.fligbtbetween.Austin and DCA. lbelieve 

such service is lQng overdue and deserving ofyour !Jepanment''s favorable consideration. 

Southwest has operated atAustin:-Bergstrom lntemation:at AirpG>tt: (ABIA) since 1977. 

However, despite a strong overall level G>fCOnlpetition atABIA, theairpm·t currently lack$ 

nonstop service to DCA. As a result, current travel options between ABIA and DCA ,are limited 

and relatively expensive. 

Southwest's proposal would provide much needed service between these two ·Qapital ciities; 

Moreover, Southwest proposes using a Boeing 73.7.;;8.00 aircraft with 17$ seats to serve this. t<)ute~ 

. ~~c~. wiltinQre~¢. capacity:sigbificantl~dn,the~A~~~n:-Wruibington, .. l}Q~at:ket 'and maximize 

the use of scarce beyond-perimeter slot exemptiG>ns. It will also increase job opportunities in 

G>rder to service the. new daily flight and to accommodate the increase in passenger traffic; 

It is my hope that.Southwest'.s applicatiun will receive every fair and p:tG>per consideratiG>n. 

Thank you for your attention to this matter. 

Sincerely, 

Bill Flores 

Member of CG>ngress 

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