BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

__________________________________________

)

In the Matter of )

)

Establishment of Slot Exemption Proceedings ) Docket DOT-OST-2012-0029

At Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport )

Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 41718 )

__________________________________________)

MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE AND

MOTION TO STRIKE OF ALASKA AIRLINES, INC.

Megan Lawrence, Esq.

Managing Director, Government and

Community Relations

Megan.Lawrence@alaskaair.com

Kyle Levine, Esq.

Deputy General Counsel and

Managing Director, Legal

Kyle.Levine@alaskaair.com

ALASKA AIRLINES, INC.

19300 Pacific Highway South

Seattle, WA 98188

Marshall S. Sinick, Esq.

Marshall.Sinick@squiresanders.com

Edward W. Sauer, Esq.

Edward.Sauer@squiresanders.com

Squire Sanders (US) LLP

1200 19th Street, NW, Suite 300

Washington, DC 20036

(202) 626-6651

Counsel for Alaska Airlines, Inc.

DATED: April 10, 2012
BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

__________________________________________

)

In the Matter of )

)

Establishment of Slot Exemption Proceedings ) Docket DOT-OST-2012-0029

At Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport )

Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 41718 )

__________________________________________)

MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE AND

MOTION TO STRIKE OF ALASKA AIRLINES, INC.

Alaska Airlines, Inc. (“Alaska”) respectfully files this motion for leave to file its motion

to strike, as set forth below, supplementary pleadings filed in the captioned docket by various

applicants. Since the March 27, 2012 comment submission deadline multiple supplements have

been filed in this proceeding, many of which address substantive issues in this case. The

Department of Transportation (“Department”) should accept this brief motion and strike all

supplementary pleadings other than those consisting of supporting letters and the one limited

pleading filed by Virgin America clarifying the readiness of its A319 aircraft.

Since March 27, no fewer than four “supplements” and “responses” have been filed in

this docket by Sun Country, Southwest, Frontier and JetBlue.1 None of these supplemental

filings were authorized by the Department’s Notice instituting this case, and none of them add

anything of substance to the record. Instead, the supplemental filings are duplicative of

arguments made previously in comments submitted on March 27, and contain replies to the

March 27 comments of other applicants. Regardless of the content, the Department should not

1 Alaska does not object to the Motion for Leave to File and Response of Virgin America, Inc., or its Erratum, filed

on March 30 and April 2, respectively, in response to Alaska’s Reply Comments. Virgin America clarifies that its

CFM56 engines will be upgraded prior to any potential commencement of service in the DCA-San Francisco

market.
entertain supplemental substantive pleadings in an expedited case such as this one. The

Department was given only ninety days from passage of the FAA Modernization and Reform

Act on February 14, 2012, to render its final decision in this case. The Department and its staff

should not be burdened with the unprecedented and seemingly unending submission of multiple

late comments cast in the form of supplemental pleadings. Each applicant had an opportunity to

submit its comments on March 27, and there is no justification for allowing the submission of

further unauthorized substantive pleadings.

Alaska has not—and will not—submit supplemental pleadings reiterating its March 27

comments or in reply to arguments raised by other applicants. Instead, Alaska will limit any

supplemental filings to the submission of supporting letters as all applicants should and as has

occurred in all previous beyond-perimeter slot proceedings. Alaska therefore moves the

Department to strike the supplemental pleadings of Sun Country, Frontier, Southwest and

JetBlue, and any additional supplemental pleadings filed by any party to this proceeding that

consist of anything other than letters and statements of support.

Respectfully submitted,

________________________________

Marshall S. Sinick, Esq.

Marshall.Sinick@squiresanders.com

Edward W. Sauer, Esq.

Edward.Sauer@squiresanders.com

Squire Sanders (US) LLP

1200 19th Street, NW, Suite 300

Washington, DC 20036

(202) 626-6651

DATED: April 10, 2012
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that one copy of the foregoing Motions of Alaska Airlines, Inc. has this

day been served on each of the following individuals via telecopier or email.

susan.kurland@dot.gov; todd.homan@dot.gov; james.dann@dot.gov;

grady.stone@dot.gov; brian.ctr.meehan@faa.gov

john.allen@faa.gov

dan.weiss@coair.com; steve.morrissey@united.com; jonathan.linde@united.com

rbkeiner@crowell.com

carl.nelson@aa.com

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com; jeff.morgan@delta.com

jhill@dlalaw.com; robert.land@jetblue.com

jyoung@yklaw.com; dkirstein@yklaw.com

bob.kneisley@wnco.com; leslie.abbott@wnco.com

john.varley@virginamerica.com

howard.kass@usairways.com; benjamin.slocum@usairways.com

john.fredericksen@suncountry.com

agoerlich@ggh-airlaw.com

patrick.rizzi@hoganlovells.com

anita.mosner@hklaw.com

rick.finn@portofportland.com

hbrown@san.org

Michael.Daum@cantwell.senate.gov

Alexandra.Hackbarth@wyden.senate.gov

James.Feldman@begich.senate.gov

______________________________

Marshall S. Sinick

DATED: April 10, 2012