The Honorable Edmund G. Brown, Jr. 

Governor of California 

Sacramento, CA 95814 

Dear Governor Brown: 

Aprl116~ 2012 

Thank you for your letter supporting the application of Virgin America, Inc., for four beyond .. 

perimeter slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). If awarded 

those exemptionst Virgin America would provide two daily round-trip flights from DCA to 

San Francisco. · 

Under authority granted in the FAA Modernization and Refonil Act of 2012, the 

U.S. Department of Transportation will be awarding to new entrant or limited incW11bent 

carriers a total of eight slot ex.:emptions at DCA, which would support four daily round trips. 

We received Virgin America~s application on March 12, 2012. Other timely applications were 

received from Air Canada~ proposing one round trip to Vancouver, British Columbia; Alaska 

Airlines, one round trip to Portland, Oregon, and one round trip to San Diego; 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; and Sun Country Airlines, one round trip to Las Vegas. 

As the matter is still pending~ I cannot comment on the merits of the point9 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 parti.es the opportunit o comment. Following our normal practice~ I am 

placing a copy of your letter and this in docket number DOT-201 29. 

I appreciate your interest in t · 
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR 

The Honorable Raymond H. LaHood 

Secretary 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey A venue, S.E. 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

Re: 

March 20, 2012 

lication for "Be and-Perimeter" Slots 

I am 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 of additional 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 of California is grateful for the work of the Depm1ment of Transportation, 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 2480 jobs- with plans 

to add 500 additional jobs annually over the next three to five years. For every one airline job 

there is a job multiplier of 5: 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 I understand 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 a real 

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 of improving 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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