U.S. Department ofTransportation Office of the Secretary ofTransportation
The Honorable George Garver Mayor ofGeorgetown 113 E. 81h Street P.O. Box409 Georgetown, Texas 78627-0409
Dear Mayor Garver: Assistant Secretary April 20, 2012 - -**-------~~~~-~-**

1200 New JerseyAvenue, SE Washington, DC 20590

Thankyou for your letter to Secretary ofTransportation Ray LaHood, supporting the award of beyond-perimeter slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) to be used for nonstop service to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS), Austin, Texas. Secretary LaHood asked me to respond to your letter. Underauthority granted in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of2012, the U.S. Department ofTransportation will be awarding to new entrant or limited incumbent carriers atotal ofeight slot exemptions at DCA, which would support four daily round trips.
We received applications proposing to serve AUS from two carriers, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways. Each sought two slot exemptions, which would support one daily DCA-AUS round trip; JetBlue also applied for two slotexemptions to serve San Juan, Puerto Rico. 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; Sun Country Airlines, one round trip to Las Vegas; and Virgin America, Inc., two roundtrips to San Francisco.
As the matteris still pending, Icannot commenton the merits ofthe points raised in your letter. However, Ican assure you that all applications the Departmentreceived 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 apublic docket, which allows all interestedparties the opportunity to comment. Following our normal practice, Iam placing acopy ofyour letter and this response in docket number DOT-2012-0029.
Iappreciate your interest in this matter. Sincerely yours,

Susan L. Kurland Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs,l'H.**In·•~** EORGETOWN 

### TEXAS

March 21,2012

The Honorable Ray LaHood Secretary ofTransportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20590
Re: DocketNo. DOT-OST-2012-0029.
DearMr. Secretary, MAYOR GEORGE GARVER CITY or GF(lRGETOWN

As Mayor ofthe City ofGeorgetown, Texas I am writing to express my strong support for applications that have been submitted to provide daily nonstop roundtrip flights between Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Georgetown is a city and also the county seat ofWilliamson County, Texas, and is 26 miles north ofAustin with apopulation of47,400 atthe 2010 census. Southwestern University, founded in 1840, is the oldest university in Texas and is located in**Georgeto~,** about 112 mile east ofthe historic square. At presentnonstop service from ourregion to the Washington DC region is limited to flights to Washington (Dulles) orBaltimore/Washington International Airport. Those flights are inconvenient for travelers who have aneed to visit Federal Government offices, legislators or organizations located in the District ofColumbia and for residents ofthe District ofColumbia who want to visit Central Texas. In orderto fly in or out of DCA, these travelers must make time-consuming connections.
Award ofbeyond-perimeter slot exemptions for nonstop service between AustinBergstrom International Airport and Ronald Reagan WashingtonNational Airportwill · improve the travel options for all the residents and businesses in.Georgetown and all of Central Texas.**=~** Irespectfully urge you to grant slot exemptions to an airline that will provide nonstop AUS-DCA service. Sincerely,

# ~?.iJ-e-- George Garver Mayor**11:~** E. 8th Street I 

### P 0. Box 409 I Georgetown,Texas 78627-040H I (512) 930-r!6fi2 I f/112) 930-:l659 !fnxl 

# s10-120330-039 www.georgetown.ol'g I mayor@gecn·getown.org