U.S. Department 

of Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

The Honorable Ronald E. Russell, Esq. 

Office of the Senate President 

P.O. Box 1690 

St. Thomas, VI 00804-1690 

Dear Mr. Russell: 

Assistant Secretary 

April 19, 2012 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

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

of JetBlue Airways for beyond-perimeter slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington 

National Airport (DCA). JetBlue's application proposes to serve Luis Munoz Marin Airport, 

Puerto Rico, 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 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 JetBlue's application, which also proposes one daily round trip to Austin, Texas, 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; Frontier Airlines, one round trip to Colorado Springs and beyond to San 

Diego; 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, 

Susan L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
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:·: . .... :-.··::-

'legislature of tbe 1Jirgin ]slanb~ 

No.1 Lagoon Street Complex, Frederiksted, VI 00840 

Capitol Building-Old Barracks Yard 

P.O. Box 1690, St. Thomas, VI 00804·1690 

------------------------ Office of the Senate President <''•'•'•'•~~·!•'':" ... ::_,,,,,.,,.., ..... ,.,,,,,, .. , .... ,,,.,~,,, .. ,_, ... .,,,•,•,•n•~,, ... ..,:,.~•>•n:/V•"W'":"Y•"•"•'•'mM•'•••'"''''I"•...J••: .. :.;Y .. ~:.,: ...• __ ,_ 

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TEL: (340) 712·2379 

FAX; (340) 712·2340 

STT: (340) 693·3608 

· ........... dorrtrniUee::on .•· .··.·• .. · ...•••. J ~~ft·wdtihg to express strong .support foftl1e application oflet}3h.le Airways for 

Op~~~Xh~l~~~~gy &< .· •... • .. · ~~~p1ptlqry. ~Ipts ~t. ~.9rt~l~ ~.~~.~~~ W~.~hln~~9rt.~;;t!iP.I.}i:llAirp9rt: (J)SAJ. for no.n-stop 

· ..veterans' Affairs•'..... ~~ryi¢.~ tq Luis Mi.irJ.():?;.M~tiri;Ifi~ernati(:)J:l~I.Airp(irtJri Carolina, Puerto Rico (SJU). · ·.·.· ·•·····.·.·. > ' · • >: ·• ·.··.·. ·•· J.~t$~gg:.~)te.~c:ly flieS. b.~tW¢ei{sj(J. a#cl: ¢}1Hi.Ei Kirigl\irportJn St. Thomas (STT) and 

················•·.·.. . < :i ': :· .> ••... t.J~#ry ~;··Ro~l~~J:lL\fd)()ft)fi $.(¢f.()ix (s'fxj··i~.the tJ3fvirgin 'isiands. It also partners 

. ComMitieeoil Public . with Cape Mr: fcH~servi<;e withiilthe Yirgi~ilsiands~.· . . . safety;. Homeland · . · . . · .. · . · . · ... · . . . . . . . 

· .. ···.···· .. •·•····i~~~}~e:··.' • · .. · ... · .· .. ·.·Tourf~rnisthemainstayofthe ec()nol11ydfdur{~I·ritory .. This industry would be 

.. gr~(ltly emhaxic~ci hi tlOll~Stop service from PG.A to SJU comiecting with flights to STT ... · •. · .. ···:·.··· ··•••·· .. · .. · .. ·.·.·a·n··d'.S.T·X··.·•.••:.·• .. •It·w· .····o· .. ·;"-t·l.d• .... p· ··.I~ov···.·~··d··e····:··a···.·m· .···u···.·c·· .. l.l···:··m· .. ·····o···r····e·· .. ·.d·t~l·~e····.·c····t•·•·a··· ... n'···a·· ·Jo····.w····e···r·:.·c.a· ··r···e·.-·:o····pt·l··o····n· i:o···r·· t·o··u·····r··~··s··t·s· as ~ofu,hWtiJiciAP,i~liriiri9< L 

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· & EnVironmental· . · Well as business arid government. travelet~~ · · · · · 

· Protection 

.. · ... S.~fyi¢¢petvyeen ~ll<:! W}~~4illgton, I:)C a.;eaaQcl,.tl}etJ$Vih~~.decreased over the years 

·.•·.ahdJare~ h.ct\rexi~~lli·M#C.hqfthe i·erliainings~r.vlceisithr6tigh either Thurgood 

Marshall Airport (BWI) or Dulles Inteniatiohal Airport (iAD), whiCh' are both much 

more distant froi:n the District of Columbia and close-in suburbs. The addition of this 

• .· if~~$~ J'l9n-stop servk~ from ricA::wa·uid be of great benefitto tiu~ ·~coridmy and all usYJ' . residents·and visitors .... ·. · 

. I urge yci~to awal~d JetBlue the slots necessary toserve the DCA-SJlfraute on a·non-· .. 

. · ... s~op ~~~i~_;;. 

·.·'-~~ 

/'Ronald E. Russell, Esq. 

"Y . . qur F .... ~. t ure, 0 ur M" •ss1on . " 

s 10-120323-051 
txgislatttn nf t!Tt Jfslanas 

OFFICE OF THE SENATE PRESIDENT 

100 Lagoon Homes Ste. 2 

Frederiksted • St. Croix, V.I. 0084D-3912 

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RONALD E. RUSSELL, ESQ. 

Senate President 

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.· .,._ 

•, ! Ill; . . . ·l 

Hon. Ray LaHood 

Scretary 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

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