### U.S.

### Departmentof Transportation 

### Office ofthe Secretary ·ofTransportation 

## Mr. Aaron Demerson Executive Director Ass1stanr Secretary


### April 23, 2012 

## Governor's Office ofEconomic DevelopmentandTourism P.O. Box 12428 Austin, Texas 78711 · DearMr. Demerson: 1200 New Jersey Ave

.. S E Washington, DC 20590

C:J 

## Thankyou for your letterto Secretary ofTransportation Ray LaHood, supporting the aWatd of beyond-perimeterslot 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 inthe FAA Modernization and Reform Act of2012, the U.S. DepartmentofTransportation will be awarding to new entrant or limited incumbent carriers atotal ofeight slotexemptions at DCA, which would support four daily round trips. We received applications proposing to serve AUS from two carriers, SouthwestAirlines and JetBlue Airways. Each soughttwo slot exemptions, which WO'Uld 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 AirCanada, proposing one round trip to Vancouver, British Columbia; AlaskaAirlines, one round trip to Portland, Oregon, and one round trip to San Diego; FrontierAirlines, 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 round trips to San Francisco. As the matteris still pending, Icannot comment on 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 onthis matteris being administered through apublic docket, which allows all interested parties the opportunity to comment. Following ournormal practice, Iam placing acopy ofyour letterandthis response in docket number DOT-2012-0029. Iappreciate your interest in this matter. Sincerely yours,

Susan L. Kurland Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs0F1 1 ICE OF THE GOVERNOR 

### E coNo.M.rc 

### D nv ELOPMENT & 

### TouRISM

RICK l'f\RRY CO\'ERNOR April2, 2012 Honorable Ray LaHood Secretary U.S. Department ofTransportation 1200 New Jersey Ave, SE Washington, DC 20590
Dear Mr. Secretary, I am writing this letterin support ofthe development ofa non-stop route between Austin- BergstromInternational Airport (AUS) and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). This new capitol-to-capitolroute will help support travel and encourage greaterbusiness relationships between the two capitol cities. Travelers from Texas and the Washington D.C. area will benefit from increased competition and more efticient travel between the two capitols. As one ofthe country's leading travel and tourism destinations, Texas hosted more than 200 million travelers in 2010, with direct spending totaling $57.5 billion across the state. With

### 90% oftravel to Texas destinations coming from domestic markets, increasing the number ofdirect routes from major

## U.S.,mt:;tropolitan areas sta,nds to onlyincrease travel to the state. In 2010 the Austin area was visited by an estimated 18.2 million domestic visitors, with total direct spending totaling $4.5 billion for the year. Austin is one ofthe state's top travel destinations due to its growing meeting and conventions market, hosting numerous international events like South by Southwest and Formula I, and having a large array ofother attractions as the Live Music Capitol ofthe World. In addition to being a top domestic travel destination in the U.S., Austin is one ofthe nation's leading high-tech hubs and one ofthe top 10 metro areas for economic growth in the U.S. Austin and Washington D.C. are both growing technology hubs, with'multiple Fortune 500 companies having operations in both Austin and Washington. As the technology industry grows in Austin, so will the corporate relationships, which will benefit from a greaterfreedom ofchoice, betterpricing, and more efficient travel. I support the development ofthis non-stop route between Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Austin to provide greater competition and more efficient travel between Washington D.C. and Texas. Thank you for yourregard to this ,.... important route development effort and you support ofthe addition ofthis key DCA-ADS route. Sincerely,

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