Order 01-06-20 - Alaska and America West and American Airlines

Order 01-6-20

Alaska Airlines, Inc., America West Airlines, Inc., American Airlines, Inc., Continental Airlines, Inc., Delta Air Lines, Inc., Frontier Airlines, Inc., National Airlines, Inc., United Airlines, Inc., and Vanguard Airlines, Inc.

Order 01-6-20 OST-00-7181 OST-01-9185	Issued June 22, 2001 Served June 22, 2001	Order Granting Outside-the-Perimeter Slot Exemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport HTML	Beyond Perimeter Slot Exemptions Washington National
		Attachment: Summary of the Pleadings HTML

We have decided to select Alaska Airlines for nonstop service to Seattle. Our selection is premised on our conclusion that its proposed service best meets the statutory requirements for allocation of DCA slot exemptions that are specified in AIR-21.

As was the case in our first DCA exemption proceeding, applicants have tended to emphasize one or the other of these two criteria, depending upon the strength of their existing presence at DCA. Those with the strongest presence highlighted the scope and size of their respective networks at their beyond-perimeter hubs and the competitive benefits that could be brought to multiple markets via those networks. Applicants with a more limited DCA presence stressed that the Congressional objective to advance competitive benefits could best be addressed by granting their applications. Carriers in this latter group argued that even though, in most cases, their networks were smaller, their selection would produce a stronger competitive impact than an award to any of the larger, more established DCA incumbents. With the exception of Alaska and Vanguard, each of the applicants in the group with a limited DCA presence received an award of at least two slot exemptions in our earlier decision. They now argue that additional frequencies are required to expand the service and competitive benefits of their previous selection.

In Order 2000-7-1, we concluded that Congress's direction could best be met by giving primary consideration to carriers that had either no presence or limited operations at DCA and that had proposed services that would also provide competitive benefits in multiple markets. We chose additional service opportunities by new competitors over existing applicants at DCA because we determined that this course would produce a greater competitive impact than would additional service by the larger DCA incumbents, thereby best satisfying the statutory objective of increasing competition.

By: Susan McDermott

DOT Press Release