TheHonorable Edmund G. Brown,Jr. Governor ofCalifornia Sacramento, CA 95814 DearGovernorBrown:**Aprl116~** 2012

Thankyoufor your letter supporting the application ofVirgin America, Inc., forfour beyond

.. perimeter slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan WashingtonNational Airport (DCA). Ifawarded those exemptionst Virgin America would providetwo daily round-trip flights from DCA to SanFrancisco. · Under authority granted in theFAA Modernization and Refonil Act of2012, the U.S. Department ofTransportation will be awarding to new entrant orlimited incW11bent carriers atotal ofeight slot ex.:emptions at DCA, which would support four daily roundtrips. Wereceived Virgin**America~s** application on March 12, 2012. Othertimely applications were received from Air**Canada~** proposing one roundtrip to Vancouver, British Columbia; Alaska Airlines, one roundtrip to Portland, Oregon, and one round trip to San Diego; FrontierAirlines* oneround trip to Colorado Springs and beyond to San Diego.; JetBlue**Airlines~** one roundtrip to San

### Juan, Puerto Rico, and one round trip to Austin, Texas; SouthwestAirlines, one round trip to Austin and San Diego beyond; and Sun Country Airlines, one round trip to Las Vegas. As the matter is still**pending~** Icannotcomment on the merits ofthe point9 raised in your letter.**However~** Ican assure you that all applications the Departmentreceived 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 apublic docket, which allows all interested parti.es the opportunit ocomment. Following ournormal**practice~** I am placing acopy ofyour letter andthis in docket number DOT-201 29. I appreciate yourinterest in t ·

### OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

The Honorable Raymond H. LaHood Secretary U.S. Department ofTransportation 1200 New Jersey A venue, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20590 Re: March 20, 2012

lication for "Be and-Perimeter" Slots

Iam writing to ex ress my strong support for Virgin America's application for two non-stop daily flights between San Francisco International Airport ("SFO") and Reagan International Airport ("DCA"). With no current service at DCA and as the only airline headquartered in Calitomia, Virgin America is uniquely suited to bring meaningful low-fare competition to the largest market in the nation previously without nonstop flight service to DCA: the San Francisco Bay Area. Allocation ofadditional beyond perimeter slots to SFO will provide assurances that the Bay Area will finally have efficient, modern and low-fare nonstop service to DCA. The State ofCalifornia is grateful for the work ofthe Depm1ment ofTransportation, Congress and the President on the recently signed FAA Modernization and Relonn Act of2012 which allows tor the opportunity to award these new routes between DCA and domestic airports located beyond the current 1,150 mile perimeter limit. SFO CUITently has no non-stop service to DCA and while I tmderstand United Airlines intends to begin one daily flight to DCA in mid-May, SFO is the second largest market for the Washington D.C. area after Los Angeles. The demand between SFO and DCA clearly warrants more than a single flight per day. Since 2007, Virgin America has expanded to 17 new markets and created 2480jobs- with plans to add 500 additionaljobs annually over the next three to five years. For every one airlinejob there is ajob multiplier of5: I. Virgin America continues to spur major growth, with plans to grow from its current 50 aircraft fleet to over 100 aircraft by 2019. The opportunity for this airline to grow into this new market is vital to the region and to the State.

GOVERNOR EDMUND G. BROWN JR. • SACRAMENTO. CALIFORNIA 95814 • (916) H5-2B-+I., Oi Secretary LaHood March 20, 2012 Page 2

As Iunderstand**it~** Virgin America is currently the only low cost carrier applying for slots between SFO and DCA. More than a single flight on more than one carrier would provide areal competitive advantage for the consumer and will also guarantee that local consumers and**bt~sinesses** reap the benefit that competition provides. When making this critical decision, I urge you to consider the positive impact ofimproving the connection between Washington D.C. and the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley, home to countless innovation-based companies. Thank you for your consideration.

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