U.S.Departmentof Tr<lnsporlatton Office of

### thesecretary ofTransportation



### Ms. Kate Ullrich Travel Industry Sales Manager USS Midway Museum 910

### North HarborDrive San Diego. CA 92101


### DearMs. Ullrich: April 11.**20f.~ll** 

### y ')Cj 

### O ,.l

..,



### Thankyou for your letterto Secretary ofTransportation Ray LaHood, supporting the application of

### Alaska Airlines,**Inc.~** 

### for two beyond-perimeter slotexemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport {DCA) to serve San Diego International Airport with one round trip per day fromDCA. Secretary LaHood asked that I 

### respond tQ your letter. Underauthority granted in the FAA Modernization and Reform Actof2012, the U.S. DepartmentofTransportation will 

### be awarding to new entrant or limited incumbent carriers atotal ofeight slot exemptions 

### at DCA, wl:dch would support four daily round trips. We received Alaska's application, whichalso proposes one daily round trip to Portlandt**Orego~** 

### on March 

### 12. Othertimely applications were received from Air Canada, proposingone round tripto Vancouver, BritishColumbia; FrontierAirlines, one round trip to Colorado Springs and beyond to SanDiego; Jet81ue Airlines. one round trip to San 

### Juant Puerto Rico, and one round trip 

### to Austin, 

# r.,xtt$; SouthWest Airlinest one round trip to Austin and San

### Diego beyond; Sun Country Airlines, one round trip 

### to 

### Las Vegas; and Virgin America. Inc., two round trip$ to 

### San Francisco. As the matter is still pendingtIcannot comment on the merits ofthe points raised in your letter. HoWever, Ican assure yo\1 that all applications the Department received wiJl be given full and fairconS'ideration and

## wm be evaluated against the selection criteria specified in the statute.

1111-1 1111-111

# .. Page 2, Ullrich
The Department's action on 

### this matter is being administered through apublic docket, 

### which allows all interested parties the opportunity to comment. Following ournormal**practice~** 

### Iam placing acopy ofyourletterand this response in docket number DOT-2012-0029. Iappreciate yourinterest in this matter. Sincerely yours,

Susan L. Kurland Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs

# .. '

Friday, March 16, 2012 The Honorable Ray LaHood U.S. Department ofTransportation 1200 New JerseyAve, SE Washington, DC 20590 the

Re: Alaska Airlines' application for SAN-DCA, Docket No. DOT-OST-2012-0029. Dear Secretary LaHood: The USS Midway Museum fully supports the application ofAlaska Airlines for airservice 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 centerthat average about $60 each way. This means travelers between Washington's city center and San Diego via Dulles can pay on average over $400 one-way. San Diego has the most active-duty military personnel in the country engaged in the noble cause of national defense. San Diego's significant Defense Department presence needs the quick access to the Pentagon that nonstop air service can provide. 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 convenientaccess to Reagan National Airport. The USS Midway Museum has an immediate need for additional nonstop air service to our nation's capital. Alas!& Airlines service would add aneeded nonstop option to aprimary gateway to Washington, DC. The USS Midway Museum 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 ofAlaska Airlines' application for San Diego -DCA slots. We thank the Department of Transportation forthe opportunity to comment on the above referenced docket and we hope to hear ofafavorable review ofAlaska Airlines' San Diego
- DCA proposal soon. Sincerely,

Kate Ullrich USS Midway Museum Travel Industry Sales Manager 

# MQiriJU"'-idway Museum· 910 N. Harbor Drive • San Diego, CA 91101 · (619) 544-9600 · www.midway.org