**u.s.~ot** Traftsportaflon Office c:>t1h9Secretory ofTrOnsportatfon



### Mr. Mohsen Khaleghi General Manager Hyatt Regency LaJolla 3777 La JollaVillaae Drive Stm Diego, CA 92122
Dear

### Mr. Khaleghi: Al\SISfallt Secretary April U, 2012

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Thankyou foryour letterto Secretary ofTransportation 

### Ray LaHood, supporting the application ofAlaskaAirlines, Inc., for two beyond-perimeter slotexemptions at Ronald Reagan WashingtonNational Airport (DCA) to serve San Diego International Airport with one ro.und trip perday from DCA. SecretaryLaHood asked that Irespond to your letter. Under authority granted in the FAAModernization and Reform Act of2012, the U.S. Department ofTransportation will be awarding to new entrantorlimited incumbent carriers atotal ofeight.slatexemptions 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. Othertimely applications were received from AirCanada, proposing one round trip to Vancouver, British Columbia; FrontierAirlines, oneround trip to Colorado Springs and beyond to San 

### Diego; JetBiue 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 matteris still pending, Icannot comment onthe merits ofthe pointsraised in yourleUer. However, I ClaD·

### 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, Khaleghi

The DepartmenCs action on this matter is being administered through apublic docket, which allows all inte.rested parties the opportunity to comment. Following our normal practice, Iam placing acopy ofyour letterand this response In docket munber DOT-2012-0029. 

### Iappreciate yourinterest in this matter. Sincerely yours,

Susan L. 

### Kurland Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs

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HOTELS & RESORTS March 15, 2012 The Honorable Ray LaHood U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 NewJerseyAve, SE Washington, DC 20590**Moh~en** Khaleghi C<.'lll!r<ll Manager Hy&tt Regency La Jolla 3777 l.a Jolla Village Orive S.1n Diego, CA 92122 USA Telephone: 858.552.123-1- FAX: 858.552.6066 www.hyntt.com

Re: Alaska Airlines' application for SAN-DCA, Docket No. DOT-OST-2012-0029. Dear Secretary LaHood: Hyatt Regency La Jolla fully supports the application ofAlaska 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 ofwest coast cities should qualify it for apairofthe 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. 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. Hyatt Regency La Jolla has an immediate need for additional nonstop air service to our nation's capital. Alaska Airlines service would add aneeded nonstop option to aprimary gateway to Washington, DC. Hyatt Regency La Jollajoins 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 ofAlaska 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 afavorable review ofAlaska Airlines' San Diego- DCA proposal soon.

Mohsen Khaleghi



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