DOT Awards Alaska Another Daily Roundtrip to Reagan National
01 Aprile 2004 - 9:35PM
PR Newswire (US)
DOT Awards Alaska Another Daily Roundtrip to Reagan National Alaska
also awarded Los Angeles-Washington, D.C. nonstop SEATTLE, April 1
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alaska Airlines today was awarded
authority to add a second daily non-stop roundtrip between Seattle
and Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National Airport (DCA), the U.S.
Department of Transportation announced. The flight, set to commence
on June 6, will be routed to provide same-plane, one-stop service
between Fairbanks and DCA. "The competition was intense, but with
the support of people throughout Alaska and the Pacific Northwest,
we were able to put forth a very compelling case. This is great
news," said Alaska CEO Bill Ayer. Nine carriers, counting Alaska,
applied for a collective 27 new daily roundtrips at DCA. DOT
awarded slots for just six of them. Alaska had applied for four --
two each from Seattle and Los Angeles. Called "beyond-
the-perimeter slots," they are highly coveted because Reagan
National has a limited number of them available to serve markets
more than 1,250 miles away. "With the odds of getting even one new
flight being very long, getting these two new flights is a huge
victory," said Ayer. He credited the grassroots efforts of
business, community and political leaders throughout the region, as
well as the thousands of letters of support received from customers
and employees for the success of the airline's application. "We're
sincerely grateful to the Alaska and Washington Congressional
Delegations including House Transportation Committee Chairman Don
Young, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, and
Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska as well as Senate Transportation
Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Patty Murray, Senator
Maria Cantwell and Rep. George Nethercutt of Washington for their
tremendous support," Ayer said. "We also very much appreciate the
efforts of the many other Members of Congress from Washington,
Oregon, Idaho and Montana that supported our application." He also
saluted Governors Gary Locke of Washington, Frank Murkowski of
Alaska, Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho and Ted Kulongoski of Oregon for
their efforts. Alaska plans to use 120-seat Boeing 737-700 aircraft
on the flight. Timed to complement Alaska's existing service to
Washington, D.C., the flight will depart Fairbanks at 2:35 a.m. and
Seattle at 8:40 a.m. arriving in the nation's capital at 4:38 p.m.
Westbound flights will depart Reagan at 5:30 p.m., arriving in
Seattle at 8:08 p.m. and Fairbanks at 11:58 p.m. All departure
times are subject to government approval. DATASOURCE: Alaska
Airlines CONTACT: Lou Cancelmi, +1-206-392-5170, or Greg Witter,
+1-206-392-5799, both of Alaska Airlines Web site:
http://www.alaska-air.com/
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