I 

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U.S. Department 

of Trcmsporte2tion 

O.ffioe of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

The Honorable Ana Hernandez Luna 

State Representative, District 143 

Texas House of Representatives 

PO Box2910 

Austin, TX 78768-2910 

Dear Ms. Luna: 

Ass.istant Secretary 

January 18, 2013 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

, ••••• ;= 

Thank you for your letter to Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, supporting the application 

of Southwest Airlines (Southwest) for two within-perimeter slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan 

Washington National Airport (DCA). Southwest proposes to serve Houston's William P. Hobby 

Airport with one nonstop round trip per day from DCA. Secretary LaHood asked that I respond 

to you on his behalf. 

We received Southwest's application on December 5, 2012. Other timely applications were 

received from JetBlue Airways, proposing one nonstop round trip to Jacksonville International 

Airport, Florida, and from US Airways, proposing one nonstop round Uip to Will Rogers World 

Airport in Oklahoma City. 

As the matter is still pending, I cannot comment on the merits ofthe points raised in your letter. 

However, I can assure you that all applications received by the U.S. Department of 

Transportation will be given due and careful consideration. 

The Department's action on this matter is being administered through a public docket, which 

~mows all interested parties the opportunity to comment. Following our normal practice, I am 

placing a copy of your letter and this response in docket number DOT-OST-2000-7182. 

I appreciate your interest in this matter. 

Sincerely yours, 

Susan L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

CAPITOL Ornn:: 

P.O. Bnx 2~10 

AL ->trN, TX 78761!-29 J 0 

(512) 463-0614 

F.-\:\: (512) 463-0612 

ANA HERNANDEZ LUNA 

December 13, 2012 

The Hanorable Raymond H. LaHood 

Secretary of Transportation 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. 

Washington, DC 20590 

Re: Docket No. DOT-OST-2000-7182 

Dear Secretary LaHood: 

DISTRICT 143 

Dll'I'TRICT ()FTJCt;: 

i 233 MERCilnY DRlVE 

lit ll:STON, TX 77029 

(7J3) o75Cl\596 

F,\x: (713-) 6'75-i\599 

I write to express my support of Southwest Airlines' (Southwest's} application to begin daily nonstop service between 

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport {DCA} and Houston Hobby Airport (Hobby). 

Southwest has been an important part of the Greater Houston community for over 40 years. Southwest continues to 

grow in Houston, and now operates over 140 daily departures at Hobby to over three dozen cities throughout the 

United States. As the State Representative for part of Houston's East End as well as eastern Harrls County, I can attest to 

the benefit that Southwest has brought to the regional community. 

DCA is one of the few major airports not served directly by Southwest from Hobby. In fact, no airline flies directly 

between DCA and Hobby. It is long overdue for Houston's downtown airport and Washington, DC's downtown airport 

to be linked with daily nonstop air service. Through new DCA-Houston service, Southwest proposes to attract tens-ofthousand of new passengers and generate millions of dollars of consumer benefits annually in the DCA-Houston market. 

For these reasons, I respectfully ask the Department of Transportation to approve Southwest's application. As one of 

the largest and fastest growing cities in the United States, Greater Houston is deserving of more options and access 

to/from the nation's Capital. Thank you for your consideration of this request. 

Kind regards, 

Ana Hernandez Luna 

State Representative 

District 143