U.S. Department of 

Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

Mr. Ron Roberts 

Chairman 

San Diego County Board of Supervisors 

County Administration Center 

1600 Pacific Highway, Room 335 

San Diego, CA 92101-2470 

Dear Mr. Roberts: 

Assistant Secretary 

April 12, 2012 

1200 New Jersey Ave., S.E. 

Washington, DC 20590 

c:o 

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

application of Alaska Airlines, Inc., for two beyond-perimeter slot exemptions at Ronald 

Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) to serve San Diego International Airport with 

one round trip per day from DCA. Secretary LaHood asked that I respond to your letter. 

Under authority granted in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, the 

U.S. Department of Transportation will be awarding to new entrant or limited incumbent 

carriers a total of eight slot exemptions at DCA, which would support four daily round trips. 

We received Alaska's application, which also proposes one daily round trip to Portland, 

Oregon, on March 12. Other timely applications were received from Air Canada, proposing 

one round trip to Vancouver, British Columbia; Frontier Airlines, 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; Sun Country Airlines, one round trip to Las Vegas; and Virgin America, Inc., 

two round trips to San Francisco. 

As the matter is still pending, I cannot comment on the merits of the 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 specified in the 

statute. 
Page 2, Roberts 

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

allows 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-2012-0029. 

I appreciate your interest in this matter. 

Sincerely yours, 

Susan L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
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March 16,2012 

The Honorable Ray LaHood 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey A venue. SE 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

.. ·.·· ··'.' 

SUBJECT: Alaslm Airlines' Application for SAN~DCA, Docket No. DOT-OST-2012-0029 

Dear Secretary LaHood: 

I am pleased to write to you today in support of Alaska Airlines' application for air service 

between San Diego and Washington Reagan National Airp011 (DCA). As you know, San Diego 

is the largest region without direct service to DCA, despite generating significant market demand 

for this route. 

San Diego's sheer market size for travel to our nation's capital, coupled with the tltet that San 

Diego to Dulles average airfares are the highest of west coast cities, should gualif}' us tot· the 

limited slots available for this flight. 

As you may be aware, San Diego's economy is heavily reliant on the biomedical, 

telecommunications and government sectors, along with tourism. These industries require timely 

and convenient access to Reagan National Airport. Alaska Airlines' service would add a needed 

nonstop option to Washington, D.C. For these reasons, I join with the San Diego County 

Regional Airport Authority, the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, the ~ .... 

World Trade Center San Diego, and the San·Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce in suppo11 of 

Alaska Airlines' application for ::en:ice between San Diego and Wa1.hington Re.-tgan National 

Airport. 

On behalf of the San Diego business community, I thank you for your interest in our perspective 

on this matter of great importance to our regional economy and look forward to your favorable 

consideration ofthis request. 

RON ROBERTS 

Chairman 

San Diego County Board of Supervisors 

510-120327-134 

Cc.uNrY Ac•M•~u~:·rnAIH)N CtNHn • 1600 PA.CIFIC l·hGtNIA¥, RooM 335 • S"N D•c••o. CAutor.NIJ, 92101-2470 

(619) 531·5544 • FAx (619) 531·6262 • E·Mail: Ron.Roberts@sdcounty.ca.gov 

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