U.S. Department 

of Transportation 

Assistant Secretary 1200 New Jersey Avenue. SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Office of the Secretary 

ofTransporlation January 22, 2013 

Mr. Herbert R. Tillery 

Executive Director 

College Success Foundation 

I 805 7'11 Street, NW, Suite 500 

Washington, DC 20001-3186 

Dear Mr. Tillery: 

(/) 

Thank you for yout·Ietter to Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, supporting the application 

of Southwest Airlines (Southwest) for two within-perin1eter slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan 

Washington National Airport (DCA). Southwest proposes 1o serve Houston's William P. Hobby 

Airport with one nonstop round trip per day from DCA. Secretary LaHood asked that I respond 

to you on his behalf. 

We received Southwest's application on December 5, 2012. Other timely applications were 

received from JetBlue Airways, proposing one nonstop round trip to Jacksonville International 

Airport, Florida, and from US Airways, proposing one nonstop round trip to Will Rogers World 

Airport in Oklahoma City. 

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 received by the U.S. Department of 

Transportation will be given due and careful consideration. 

The Departmern'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 of your letter and this response in docket number DOT-OST -2000-7182. 

I appreciate your interest in this matter. 

Sincerely yours, 

Susan L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
.. -

COLLEGE 

FOUNDATION 

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 

December 18, 2012 

The Honorable Raymond H. LaHood 

Secretary of Transportation 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. 

Washington, DC 20590 

Re: Docket No. DOT-OST-2000-7182 

Dear Secretary LaHood: 

I write in strong support of Southwest Airlines' (Southwest's) application to begin 

daily nonstop service between Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) and 

Houston Hobby Airport (Hobby). 

Southwest has been an important part of the Greater Houston community for over 40 

years. Southwest continues to grow in Houston, and now operates over 140 daily 

departures at Hobby to over three dozen cities throughout the United States. 

DCA is one of the few major airports not served directly by Southwest from Hobby. 

In fact, no airline flies directly between DCA and Hobby. It is long overdue for Houston's 

downtown airport and Washington, DC's downtown airport to be linked with daily nonstop 

air service. Through new DCA-Houston service, Southwest proposes to attract tens-ofthousand of new passengers and generate millions of dollars of consumer benefits annually 

in the DCA-Houston market. 

For these reasons, I respectfully ask the Department of Transportation to approve 

Southwest's application. As one of the largest and fastest growing cities in the United 

States, Greater Houston is deserving of more affordable and frequent access to/from the 

Nation's Capital. Thank you for your consideration of this request. 

Sincerely, 

Executive Director 

s 10-121226-009 500 Washington, D.C. 20001-3186 · 202.207.1800 toll free 866.240.3567 · dccollegesucxessfoundotion.org