-1- BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

__________________________________________) In the Matter of ) ) 2010 U.S. Haneda Combination Services ) Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018 Allocation Proceeding ) __________________________________________)

ANSWER OF ALASKA AIRLINES, INC. TO MOTION OF DELTA AIR LINES, INC.

Megan Lawrence, Esq. Managing Director, Government and Community Relations Megan.Lawrence@alaskaair.com ALASKA AIRLINES, INC. 19300 Pacific Highway South Seattle, WA 98188 Kyle B. Levine, Esq. Deputy General Counsel & Managing Director, Legal Kyle.Levine@alaskaair.com ALASKA AIRLINES, INC. 19300 Pacific Highway South Seattle, WA 98188

August 8, 2012BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

__________________________________________) In the Matter of ) ) 2010 U.S. Haneda Combination Services ) Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018 Allocation Proceeding ) __________________________________________) ANSWER OF ALASKA AIRLINES, INC. TO MOTION OF DELTA AIR LINES, INC. Alaska supports Delta’s motion to transfer its Detroit-Haneda slots to the Seattle-Haneda
route.1 Seattle is a major hub for Alaska and is an ideal gateway for new international service to Haneda. Seattle has the natural advantage of geography, which supports consumer friendly Haneda schedules and convenient non-circuitous connections. The Alaska/Delta domestic marketing alliance will provide effective network feed, extending the benefits of Delta’s proposed Haneda flight to the Pacific Northwest region, and throughout the United States. Alaska operates a large network at Seattle, having carried 8 million passengers or 50.3% of all enplaned Seattle passengers for the twelve months ended June 30, 2012. Through its broad marketing alliance with Delta, Alaska provides convenient, non-stop connecting service for trans-Pacific passengers between Seattle and 71 destinations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.2 Delta’s proposed service would benefit local and connecting passengers alike, as Seattle is the largest U.S.-Tokyo O&D gateway without non-stop Haneda access. Moreover, Seattle is currently at a disadvantage to the large west coast rival gateways of San Francisco and Los

1 Alaska also supported Delta’s Seattle-Haneda application in the 2010 U.S.-Haneda Proceeding. See Consolidated Reply of Alaska, dated March 2, 2010.
2 Alaska’s presence at Seattle has grown substantially since the Department denied Delta’s 2010 application to serve Seattle-Haneda, based in part on the larger catchment area of the Detroit gateway. Order 2010-7-2, at 7.Angeles, 

### both

## of which have Haneda 

### flights operated 

### bythe Star, oneworld, and/or

Sky Team alliances. By opening SEA as a new Haneda gateway, the Department 

### will enhance inter-gateway competition and bring Alaska's large network into play for enhancing serving and competition for U.S.-Haneda passengers. Alaska and its employees 

### will, in turn, benefit from the increased 

### taffrc flowing throughout our network from our largest hub. Alaska therefore respectfully requests that the Department approve Delta's request to transfer its Detroit-Haneda slots to the Seattle gateway.

Kyle B. Levine Deputy General Counsel 

### & Managing Dire ctor, Legal

a-3- CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE A copy of the foregoing document has been served this 8thday of August, 2012, upon the following persons via email: carl.nelson@aa.com Francis.Heil@aa.com Robert.Wirick@aa.com dan.weiss@united.com thomas.bolling@united.com howard.kass@usairways.com benjamin.slocum@usairways.com jhill@dowlohnes.com paul.gretch@dot.gov keith.glatz@dot.gov esta.rosenberg@dot.gov todd.homan@dot.gov urskr@state.gov eugene_alford@ita.doc.gov info@airlineinfo.com