Alaska Airlines, Inc.

OST-2008-0206 - Form 41; T-100 Confidential Treatment

June 20, 2008

Motion for Confidential Treatment

Alaska Airlines, Inc. hereby requests confidential treatment of all information contained in its Form 41 Schedules, including all of its T-100 Schedules, for the month ended May, 2008. Alaska requests that this data be withheld from public disclosure indefinitely or until the Department rules on Virgin America Inc.’s pending motion for confidential treatment, whichever period is shorter. Alaska also seeks prospective confidential treatment for future monthly and quarterly Form 41 Schedules for the same duration of time. And, to be perfectly clear, Alaska will withdraw this motion if and when the Department issues a final decision denying Virgin’s request.

Alaska also wants to state at the outset that it had been hoping that the Department would promptly and definitively rule on Virgin’s pending confidentiality motion filed on March 14. Alaska joined with a number of other carriers both to oppose that motion as well as to urge that the Department expeditiously issue its final decision. However, with Virgin’s decision to enter a number of West Coast markets in which Alaska is also operating, and with the passage of more than three months since Virgin filed its motion, Alaska is now constrained to file this motion. Approval of Alaska’s motion is essential to prevent continuing and substantial competitive harm to its business. Alaska competes directly with Virgin in a number of domestic markets yet, by virtue of its pending motion, Virgin enjoys a significant unfair competitive advantage over Alaska. While Virgin continues to have access to Alaska’s most sensitive commercial data for purposes of formulating their pricing and entry decisions, Alaska is totally precluded from similar access to Virgin’s data due solely to Virgin’s unjustified pending motion which, until denied by the Department, prevents access by Virgin’s competitors. Until the Department rules definitively on and denies Virgin’s motion, Alaska should not be required to make its Schedules available publicly.

Counsel: Squire Sanders, Marshall Sinick, 202-626-6651

June 19, 2008

Re: Motion for Confidential Treatment - T-100, P-12

Counsel: Squire Sanders, Marshall Sinick, 202-626-6651

July 1, 2008

Answer of Virgin America

On June 26, 2008, BTS denied Virgin America’s confidentiality request. Docket OST-2008-0107. Virgin America will shortly be submitting an appeal from this decision under 14 C.F.R. §385.30, but for the record, respectfully submits this answer to Alaska’s motion by confirming that Virgin America does not object to the withholding of Alaska’s Form 41 data to the extent that the Department confirms disclosure likely would cause substantial harm to the competitive position of Alaska.

When assessing a carrier’s request for confidential treatment of certain traffic and financial data, the Department should properly focus its analysis on the likelihood of substantial competitive harm to the requester, and should not be persuaded by other opponents’ threats to withhold their own data, much less opponents’ arguments on how useful the data is to them.

Counsel: Pillsbury Winthrop, Kenneth Quinn, 202-663-8000

OST-2008-0107 - DOT Denial of Virgin America's Form 41 Financial and T-100 Motion for Confidential Treatment

OST-2008-0206 - Alaska Air - Form 41; T-100 Confidential Treatment
OST-2008-0238 - Allegiant Air - Form 41 and Schedule T-100 Data Confidentiality

January 29, 2009

Re: DOT Requesting Withdrawals of Confidentiality Motions

This letter is in response to the July 30, 2008 motion of Allegiant Air, LLC. to withhold from public disclosure all information contained in its Form 41 financial schedules and T-100 traffic submitted to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. In your motion Allegiant requested that this data be withheld from public disclosure indefinitely or until the sooner of the Department's final ruling on Alaska Airlines, Inc.'s pending motion for confidential treatment or Alaska's withdrawal of its motion. In the motion docketed in OST-2008-0238, Allegiant noted that they would withdraw their motion if and when Alaska withdraws its motion, which Allegiant anticipates will follow the Department's final decision denying Virgin's motion.

On January 28, 2009 I affirmed the staff action denying Virgin's motion for confidential treatment of their Form 41 data. Based on this action, I have requested Alaska submit a written response verifying that its motion for confidential treatment is withdrawn. I also request Allegiant submit a written response verifying its motion for confidential treatment is withdrawn. Upon receipt of Alaska's and Allegiant's verifications, we will close out Dockets OST-2008-0206 and OST-2008-0238 respectively.

By: BTS, Steven Smith

January 29, 2009

Email Message - Withdrawal of Confidentiality Motion

Please be advised that Alaska Airlines Inc. respectfully withdraws its 2008 motion requesting that its traffic, revenue and other Form 41 data remain confidential until such time as the Department denies Virgin America's request for the confidential treatment. Now that the Department has issued its decision affirming the staff's earlier denial of Virgin America's request, Alaska's motion is now moot. Alaska would ask that its withdrawal be made effective contemporaneously with the release of Virgin America's Form 41 data.

Counsel: Squire Sanders, Marshall Sinick, 202-626-6651

OST-2008-0238 - Allegiant Air - Form 41 and Schedule T-100 Data Confidentiality
OST-2005-23354 - Shuttle America - Motion to Withhold Information from Public Disclosure - Form 41
OST-2005-23355 - Republic Airline - Motion to Withhold Certain Information from Public Disclosure - Form 41, Schedule P-1(a)
OST-2008-0107 - Virgin America - Form 41 Confidentiality (Financial and Traffic)
OST-2008-0206 - Alaska Air - Form 41; T-100 Confidential Treatment

February 3, 2009

Re: BTS Statement of Publicly Available Filings

On January 28, 2009 the DOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics denied Virgin America's request to withhold from public disclosure certain Form 41 financial, T-100 traffic, and Origin and Destination Survey data submitted to the BTS (See Docket OST-2008-0107). On January 29, 2009 Alaska withdrew its 2008 motion requesting that its traffic, revenue, and other form 41 data be held confidential and asked that the withdrawal be made effective contemporaneously with the release of Virgin America's Form 41 data. In the July 30, 2008 motion docketed in OST-2008-0238, Allegiant noted that they would withdraw their motion if and when Alaska withdraws its motion

On February 3, 2009 at 10:00 A.M. the DOT's Office of Airline Information in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics made publicly available Virgin America's, Alaska's, and Allegiant's Form 41 financial, T-100 traffic, and IQ 2008 & 2Q 2008 DBIB O&D data on the DOT's Tran Stats public domain.

On February 5, 2009 at 10:00 A.M. the DOT's Office of Airline Information in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics made publicly available Virgin America's, Alaska's, and Allegiant's 3Q 2008 DB1B O&D data on the DOT's Tran Stats public domain.

By: BTS, Steven Smith