U.S. Department of 

Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

Mr. Timothy E. Kelley 

President/CEO 

IVEDC 

1405 North Imperial A venue, Suite 1 

El Centro, CA 92243 

Dear Mr. Kelley: 

Assistant Secretary 

April 12, 2012 

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) to serve San Diego International Airport with one round 

trip per day from DCA. Secretary LaHood asked that I respond to your letter. 

Under authority granted in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of2012, 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 Portland, Oregon, 

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. 
Page 2, Kelley 

The Department'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-2012-0029. 

I appreciate your interest in this matter. 

Sincerely yours, 

Susan L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
March 21, 2012 

The Honorable Ray LaHood 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Ave, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Re: Alaska Airlines' application for SAN-DCA, Docket No. DOT-OST-2012-0029. 

Dear Secretary LaHood: 

IMPERIAl.. VAI..LEY ECONOMIC 

OEVEI..Of>MENT CORPORATION 

Imperial Valley Economic Development Corporation (IVEDC) fully supports the application of Alaska Airlines for 

air service between San Diego and Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA). San Diego is the largest region 

without announced service to DCA. Additionally, due to the profound community of interest between San Diego 

and the nation's capital, the region generates the largest passenger market demand without nonstop service to 

the convenient and close-in airport serving our nation's capital. 

San Diego's sheer market size to Washington coupled with the fact that San Diego - Dulles average airfares 

are the highest of west coast cities should qualify it for a pair of the limited slots available. The high airfare is 

exacerbated when factoring in taxi fares from Dulles to Washington's city center that average about $60 each 

way. This means travelers between Washington's city center and San Diego via Dulles can pay on average 

close to $400 one-way. 

Located next door to San Diego County, Imperial County residents are frequent visitors to the San Diego region, / 

using its airport for the majority of their travels. IVEDC works hand in hand with the San Diego Regional 

Economic Development Corporation in global marketing efforts for the region, called the Cali-Baja Mega 

Region. Bi-national business efforts are dealt with on a daily basis, calling for flights to our nation's capital for 

meetings with our federal leadership and industry programs which are headquartered in Washington, D.C. 

There are also countless other San Diego-based and Washington-based businesses that are engaged in health 

science, telecommunications, and national defense that need quick and convenient access to Reagan National 

Airport. IVEDC has an immediate need for additional nonstop air service to our nation's capital. Alaska Airlines 

service would add a needed nonstop option to a primary gateway to Washington, DC. IVEDC joins with the San 

Diego County Regional Airport Authority, the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, the 

World Trade Center San Diego, and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce in support of Alaska 

Airlines' application for San Diego - Washington Reagan National slots. 

We thank the Department of Transportation for the opportunity to comment on the above referenced docket and 

we hope to hear of a favorable review of Alaska Airlines' San Diego - DCA proposal soon. 

Sincerely, 

Timothy 

~~ 

E. Kelley 

President/ CEO 

1405 N. Imperial Avenue, Suite 1, El Centro, CA 92243 Phone 760-353-8332 Fax 760-353-9149 

www.ivedc.com