U.S. Department 

of Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

Assistant Secretary 

April 20, 2012 (:Jll ;~ ? 2 

General Ralph E. Eberhart, USAF (ret.) 

President, Armed Forces Benefit Association 

909 North Washington Street. 

Alexandria, VA 22314 

Dear General Eberhart: 

OL: 

1200 New Jersey Avenue. SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

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

of Frontier Airlines for two beyond-perimeter slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington 

National Airport (DCA). Frontier's application proposes to serve Colorado Springs, Colorado 

with one round trip per day from DCA, with direct service beyond to San Diego, California 

Secretary LaHood asked me to 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 Frontier's application on March 12. Other timely applications were received from 

Air Canada, proposing one round trip to Vancouver, British Columbia; Alaska Airlines, one 

round trip to Portland, Oregon and one round trip 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 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, 

usan L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
-

*AFBA Ralph E. "Ed" Eberhart 

General, USAF (Ret.) 

President 

April 10, 2012 

The Honorable Ray LaHood 

Secretary of Transportation 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey A venue, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Re: Application of Frontier Airlines for Two Beyond-Perimeter Slot Exemptions for 

Washington National-Colorado Springs Nonstop Service (Docket DOT-OST-2012-0029) 

Dear Secretary LaHood: 

As Chairman of 5 Star Bank, owner of three full-service state banks located in Colorado 

Springs, Colorado, one of which is situated on Peterson Air Force Base for the convenience of its 

principal military clientele - I respectfully urge your early granting of the Frontier Airlines 

application. 

In addition to 5 Star Bank, I oversee from headquarter offices in Alexandria, Virginia, the 

affairs of a 64 year-old nationally recognized non-profit Association also devoted to the financial 

well-being of persons in the uniformed services of the U~ited ~tates a.D:d their families. . . . 

Current travel costs for operational support staff between the Colorado Springs Airport and 

Washington Reagan National, range from $1,000 to $3,000 monthly, and one-way travel time can 

exceed eight (8) hours, since there are no non-stops from Reagan National to Colorado Springs, and 

just one flight daily on a small regional jet from Dulles International Airport. 

Approval of the Frontier application to establish more efficient and less costly service 

between the airports of Colorado Springs · and Reagan National would not only benefit the 

~conomies of Colorado Springs and Alexandria, Virginia, but would go a long way towards 

translating my organization's cost savings into greater benefits for American military families. 

Very truly yours, 

f!t£tL,/ 

Ralph E. Eberhart 

General, USAF (Ret.) 

Armed Forces Benefit Association 

Washington Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 • 703-706-5940 • eeberhart@afba.com