Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Slots
Order 2007-5-12
OST-2000-7182
Issued May 18, 2007 | Served May 23, 2007
Order Granting Within-Perimeter Slot Exemptions - Bookmarked
By this order, the Department grants AirTran Airways two withinperimeter slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to provide an additional daily nonstop round trip to Atlanta, Georgia, to be operated with 137-seat Boeing 737-700 aircraft.
We find this to be an extremely competitive case in which each proposal satisfies at least one of the statutory criteria. However, given the current competitive situation at DCA, and for the reasons that we discuss below, we find that AirTran’s Atlanta proposal best meets the criteria set out in section 41718. In addition to having the relative potential of producing the maximum competitive benefits (as discussed below), the ability to retain the use of these exemptions at a large hub7 is a uniquely attractive feature of AirTran’s proposal. We have, in allocating other exemptions that are restricted to small and/or medium sized hubs, sought to enhance access to DCA from communities with either little or no access to Washington. All 20 of the exemptions may be used for service to small and nonhub airports, while up to 14 of the 20 exemptions may be used for service to medium hub airports. However, large hubs, such as Atlanta, are limited to only four of the 20 within-perimeter slot exemptions that were authorized by the Congress, and they afford unique competitive and service-related opportunities.
By: Andrew Steinberg