U.S. Department 

of Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

Mr. Wim Wiewel 

President 

Portland State University 

PO Box 751 

Portland, OR 97207-0751 

Dear Mr. Wiewel: 

Assistant Secretary 

April 13, 2012 

1!: I b 

1200 New Jersey Avenue. SE 

Washington. DC 20590 

Thank you for your letter to Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, supporting the application 

of Alaska Airlines, Inc. for two beyond-perimeter slot exemptions 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. 

Under authority granted in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, 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 received Alaska's application, which also proposes one daily round trip to San Diego, on 

March 12. Other timely applications were received from Air Canada, proposing one round trip 

to Vancouver, British Columbia; 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; Sun 

Country Airlines, one round trip to Las Vegas;·and Virgin America, Inc., two round trips to San 

Francisco. 

As the matter is still pending, I cannot comment on 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 Departmenfts.action on this matter is being administered thtough.a public docket,whioh 

~\lW$ •u in~r~ste4 pArties tlt~. opportunity to comm®t. FQllowing our l'lOntl~ practice. l:atn 

.placing a cop)t of your letter and· this response in doclcet number DOT~tll2;.0029. 

Sincerely yours, 

Susan L. Kurland 

Assistant Sectetacy fbr 

Aviation andlntem.ationaLAffairs 
Office of the 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 of Transportation 

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