The Honorable Diane Feinstein United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 DearSenatorFeinstein: AprillO, 2012

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Thank you for your letter supporting proposals to provide nonstop flights from Ronald Reagan Washington Natio.nal Airport {DCA) to the San Francisco Bay area. Under authority grantedin the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of2Q12, the U.S. Department ofTransportation will be awarding to new entrant or limited incumbent carriers atotal ofeight slotexemptions atDCA, which would support four daily roundtrips beyond the 1,250-mileperimeter. In addition, the statute directs the Department

### to make two slot · exemptions each for beyond-perimeter service available to four qualifying incumbent carriersat DCA, on the Gonditio1l that, priorto initiating dle new operations, they discontinue use oftwo slots they used for within-perimeter, large

.. hub service. None ofthese beyond-perimeter slot exemptions may beused to operate multi,..aisle or widebody aircraft. With regard to the new entrant/limited incumbentcategory, on March 12, Virgin Ame.rica, Inc. submitted an application for fourDCA exemptions, wid\ which it would provide two daily round-tripsto San Francisco International Airport (SFO). Odler timely applications were received from AirCanada, proposing one round.;trip to Vancouver, British Columbia; Alaska Airlines, one round-trip to Portland, Oregon, and one round-trip to San Diego; FrontierAirlines, oneround-trip to Colorado Springs and beyond

### to San**Di~go;** JetBlue Airlines, .one round-trip to SanJuan, Puerto Rico, and one round-trip to Austin, Texa$; SouthwestAirlines, one round.;trip to Austin, Texas, and San D.iego beyond; and Sun Country Airlines, one round.-trip to Las Vegas. The Department's actions on these eX:emptions are being administered through apublic docket, which allows all int.erested parties the opportunity to comment. As this matter is still pending) Icannot comment on the merits ofthe points raised in your le.tter. However, l can assure you that all applications the Departmentreceives 

### will be given full and fair consideration andwill be evaluatedagainstthe selection criteria specified 

### inthe statute. As to the exemptions for large incumbent carriers, on February 27, United Air Lines filed notice with the Department .ofits intentto institute adaily nonstop roundtrip flight between DCA and SFO with Boeing 737-700 or othersuitable single-aisle, non-widebody aircraft. The filing indic.ated that the first SFO-DCA flight would**op~te** on. May 14, and the first DCA·SFO flight would operate on May 15.

### Page 

### 2. The Honorable Diane Feinstein Following ournormal**practice~** 

### Iamplacing a copy ofyour letter and this response in docket DOT-20I2-0029. Iappreciate your interestin this mattDIANNE FEJNSTEIN CALIFORNIA

## ~ntttb**~tatts ~tnatt**  WASHINGTON, DC 20510-0504 http://felnsteln.senate.gov 

### March 6, 2012

The Honorable Raymond H. LaHood Secretary U.S. Department ofTransportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20590 SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE ·CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE ON RUL£S AND ADMINISTRATION



### Re: Docket No. OST-2012-0029 for "Beyond-Perimeter" Slots Dear Secretary LaHood: 

### I am writing to express my strong support for proposals to provide nonstop flights between the San Francisco Bay Area and Reagan National Airport (DCA). The recently enacted FAA Modernization and Reform Act of2012 authorizes you to award new flights between DCA and domestic airports located beyond the current 1,250 mile perimeter limit. Multiple direct flights from DCA to San Francisco

- the largest metropolitan area and largest air travel market in the country without nonstop service to DCAtoday

- would provide a tremendous expansion of direct service, increase competition between carriers, and potentially reduce prices. Previous DCA awards have been made to smaller markets, including Denver(four roundtrip frequencies) and Phoenix (three roundtrip frequencies). In terms ofpassenger traffic, the Bay area's three major airports represent a market that dwarfs most other beyond-perimeter markets. When making this decision, I urge you to consider the positive impact ofimproving the connection between Washington D.C. and the San Francisco Bay Area, which is home to critical innovation-based companies. Allocation ofmultiple round-trip flights to San Francisco will provide

S10-1:20307-031

## .. efficient, modem and low-fare nonstop flight service to DCA. It will also guarantee that local consumers and businesses reap the benefit that real competition provides. 

### I also encourage you to consider the impact ofyour selection on consumerticketprices. It is my understanding that some new entrants in the San Francisco market have a demonstrated downward impact onticket prices within the markets they serve. Ifthis is true, 

### I hope you will consider this benefit when making your selections. Thank you in advance for considering this request. Nonstop service between San Francisco and DCA is long overdue, and I hope you can appreciate the substantial benefits it will provide. Ifyou have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you for your consideration.

DF/mbn

S10-120307-OJ 1**Sin~~ely,** 

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### Feinstein**·,~** 

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### ed States Senator



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