THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTAT10N

.



### The Honorable Zoe Lofgren U.S. House ofRepresentatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Congresswoman Lofgren: WASHINGTON, D.C. 20590 

### Aprill6, 2012

Thank you for your letter supporting the application ofVirgin America, Inc., fol' beyondperimeter slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). Ifawarded those exemptions, VirginAmerica would provide two 

### daily round-trip flights from DCA to San Francisco. Under authority granted in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of2012, the U.S. DepartmentofTransportation will be awarding to .new entrant or limited incumbent carriers a total ofeight slot exemptions at**DCA~** 

### which would support four daily round trips. We rec.eived Virgin America's application on March 12,2012. 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 Airli.nest one round trip to Colorado Springs and beyond to San Diego; JetBlue Airlines. one round trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and one round trip to**Austin~** 

### Texas; Southwest Airlines, one round trip to Austin and San Diego beyond; and Sun Country Airlines, one round trip to Las 

### Vegas. 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 the Department received will be given full and fair consideration and will be evaluated against the selection criteria spe.cified in the statute. The Department's action on this matter is being administered through a public docket, which allows all 

### interested parties the oppo to comment. Following our normal practice, I am placing a copy ofyour letter and this nse in docket number**DOT~2** 

### 029.2023663675 line OSTW85 31 0 

## •**MkR~2/2012/THU** 

## 04:45 PM REP. ZOE LOFGREN

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### .. ,, ZOE LOFGREN 16TH DISTRICT, CAUFORNIA

The Honorable 

### Ray LaHood, Secretary

. U.S. Department ofTransportation
· 1200New Jersey Avenue SE**Wasbingto~** DC 20590. 

### March 22, 2012 03 22 2012 1 /1

. 

### P.002

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Re: Docket.No. OST
..2012
..0029, Applleation ofVirgin America Inc. for "Beyond-

·-:.**Perbneter'~** Slots Dear Secretary LaHood, I write insupport ofVirgin America Inc.'s application for two nonstop slots between Ronald ReaganWashingtonNational Airport (DCA) and San Francisco Intemational Ahport (SFO). A!J 

### you know, the FAA Modernization and Reform Aot of2012 authorized new "beyondperimeter'" flights from DCA. California, the mostp9Pulous state in the country, currently has only one flight from DCA, to Los Angeles, and the Bay Arearmnains the latgostmetropolitan area without**servi~** to DCA. It is**~y** understanding that Virgin America's proposal would provide Bay 

### Area. businesses and consumers more transportation options and lower fares through increased competition. The proposal would also provide the Washington, D.C. area with inoreased access to the economic centers ofSan Francisco and Silicon Valley. This proposal provides a great opportwrlty for bothNorthem California and the Washington, D.C. area. Thank you far the Department's full and fair consideration ofthis application.



# . . . Sincerely,

PAINIIIO ON RIICYC:UD PAPER