U.S. Department ofTransportation Office of the Secretary ofTransportation



### Mr. Wim Wiewel President Portland State University PO Box751 Portland, OR 97207-0751 Dear Mr. Wiewel: Assistant Secretary April 13, 2012 

### 1!: I b 1200 New Jersey Avenue. SE Washington. DC 20590



### Thankyou for your letter to Secretary ofTransportation Ray 

### LaHood, supporting the application ofAlaskaAirlines, Inc. for two beyond-perimeter slotexemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington · National Airport (DCA). Alaska's application proposes to serve Portland International Airport with one round trip per day from DCA. Secretary LaHood has asked me to respond to your letter. Underauthority granted in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of2012, the U.S. Department ofTransportation will be awarding to new entrant or limited incumbent carriers atotal ofeight slotexemptions at DCA, which would support four daily round trips. We received Alaska's application, which also proposes one daily round trip to San Diego, on March 12. Othertimely applications were received from Air Canada, proposing one round trip to Vancouver, British Columbia; FrontierAirlines, 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; Sun Country Airlines, one round trip to Las 

### Vegas;·and Virgin America, Inc., two round trips to San Francisco. As the matteris still pending, Icannot comment onthe merits ofthe points raised inyour 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.

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## SusanL.Kurland AssistantSectetacyfbr Aviation andlntem.ationaLAffairsOffice ofthe President Post Office Box 751 503-725-4419 tel Portland, Oregon 97207-0751 503-725-4499 fax www.pdx.edu

March 20, 2012

The Honorable Ray LaHood U.S. Department ofTransportation 1200 New Jersey Ave, SE Washington, DC 20590 Re: Alaska Airlines' application for PDX-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 (PDX). 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 PDX and Washington Dulles (lAD). With nonstop service from PDX 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 PDX, 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 PDX-DCA service. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely,

Wim Wiewel President