00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 28                                                                     
01 Supporting the application of Alaska Airlines to provide air service to Ronald Reagan                                   
02 Washington National Airport.                                                                                            
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS, on April 5, 2000, the United States Congress enacted the Wendell H.                                    
05 Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century, P.L. 106 - 181, and created                               
06 an exemption to the perimeter rule for 12 beyond-perimeter slots for Ronald Reagan                                      
07 Washington National Airport; and                                                                                        
08       WHEREAS the Congress expressed that new entrant carriers and carriers serving                                   
09 small and medium cities in the western United States be given preference in the allocation of                           
10 the 12 new slots; and                                                                                                   
11       WHEREAS, on January 23, 2001, in response to the announced plan of American                                     
12 Airlines, Inc., to acquire substantially all of the assets of Trans World Airlines, the United                          
13 States Department of Transportation issued a letter stating that Trans World Airlines' beyond-                          
14 perimeter slots could not be transferred as part of the sale of assets of Trans World Airlines;                         
15 and                                                                                                                     
16       WHEREAS, at the conclusion of the Trans World Airlines bankruptcy proceedings,                                  

01 the two former Trans World Airlines beyond-perimeter slots will be available for reallocation                           
02 and the United States Department of Transportation will formally request applications for the                           
03 slots; and                                                                                                              
04       WHEREAS Alaska Airlines is the only carrier applicant that would be a new entrant                               
05 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and will increase competition by entering the                              
06 District of Columbia airport market; and                                                                                
07       WHEREAS Alaska Airlines best serves the public interest in the District of Columbia                             
08 airport market with a proposal to provide the first and only service between Anchorage and                              
09 Seattle and then nonstop service to the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport; and                                  
10       WHEREAS the proposal by Alaska Airlines to provide service to Ronald Reagan                                     
11 Washington National Airport meets the intent and all of the requirements of the Wendell H.                              
12 Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century; and                                                       
13       WHEREAS, as a new entrant, Alaska Airlines would provide fare competition in the                                
14 District of Columbia airport market, which is currently dominated by large network carriers;                            
15 and                                                                                                                     
16       WHEREAS other anticipated applicants already operate competing nonstop and one-                                 
17 stop service to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and other Washington, D.C., area                              
18 airports; and                                                                                                           
19       WHEREAS approval of this application by the United States Department of                                         
20 Transportation would clearly "increase competition by new entrant air carriers"; and                                    
21       WHEREAS, although Alaska Airlines is a major presence on the west coast, the                                    
22 airline currently does not provide service to the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport;                            
23       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully urges the United                                  
24 States Department of Transportation to award Alaska Airlines the slot necessary to serve the                            
25 Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.                                                                              
26       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Norman Mineta, United                                  
27 States Secretary of Transportation; John Kelly, Chairman, President, and CEO, Alaska Air                                
28 Group; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S.                                         
29 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska                                       
30 delegation in Congress.