Some delegation members upset over LV flight rejection

Friday, April 2, 2004 | 11:25 a.m.

Two members of Nevada's congressional delegation say they were upset that the U.S. Department of Transportation rejected a Las Vegas flight in the most recent expansion of air service to Washington D.C.'s Ronald Reagan National Airport.

"I am deeply disappointed and I think the Department of Transportation has made some very bad decisions," said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., in a statement issued Thursday after the DOT announced that it had awarded "slot exemptions" that would permit new flights to Washington for nine airlines.

It's the first expansion of flights at the airport in four years. Reagan National is a popular alternative the larger Dulles International Airport in suburban Washington because its terminal is three miles from the White House and a 20-minute cab ride to the Capitol.

America West Airlines had applied for exemptions that would have enabled a new round-trip flight between Las Vegas and the Washington airport.

Las Vegas-based Primaris Airlines Inc., which had proposed flights between Los Angeles and Washington, also was snubbed by the DOT. The start-up carrier plans to fly first-class configured jets to the East Coast from business centers in North America and Europe. While Primaris is based in Las Vegas, it would have no flights here.

Other carriers that submitted proposals that were rejected were American Airlines and Aloha Airlines.

Reid and Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., had led the charge for increased air service between Las Vegas and Reagan National airport.

Through a spokesman, Berkley said she did not feel politics were at play in DOT's decision, which gave half of the new flight allocations to the Denver-Washington route.

Reid said Las Vegas was deserving of more service and that he would continue to work to get it.

"Las Vegas is one of the most popular destinations in the world and McCarran Airport is a thriving hub with great resources and almost no weather-related problems," Reid said. "McCarran was a frontrunner for these slots when the process started."

A spokesman for the Department of Transportation said today that the decision was issued in an order made directly to the applicant airlines.

Bill Moseley said the order gives no details on how DOT officials made their selections, but it does analyze each proposal with criticism from rival airlines. For example, on America West's Las Vegas proposal, several carriers said the airline already had a high number of Reagan National slot exemptions and didn't need more to both Phoenix and Las Vegas. United Airlines said the planes America West planned to use on the Las Vegas route had lower capacity and therefore, less service for the Washington airport.

Rivals said Primaris should not have been considered because it was not yet operating as a certificated carrier.

Air service at Reagan Washington National is regulated by the Department of Transportation, which sought to control growth at the airport for various reasons over the years. Initially, limiting growth at National was expected to encourage expansion at Dulles International Airport when it was first built.

The Department of Transportation last year issued a call to airlines to apply for 12 "slot exemptions" for service to the Washington airport from beyond 1,250 miles. One exemption permits one takeoff or landing, so the 12 exemptions would provide for six new round-trip flights.

In addition to 12 slot exemptions for flights beyond the 1,250-mile perimeter, the DOT authorized 10 exemptions for flights within the perimeter.

America West had applied for two exemptions to enable an additional flight between Las Vegas and Washington and also asked for exemptions for flights between Phoenix and Washington.

The DOT approved the Phoenix-Washington flights and the Tempe, Ariz.-based airline immediately announced it would begin that service June 1. America West currently offers a single daily round trip between Las Vegas and National and two flights a day between Phoenix and the Washington airport.

The DOT also approved four exemptions to Alaska Airlines to provide a daily nonstop round trip to Seattle and one to Los Angeles, four to Frontier Airlines for service to Denver and two to United Airlines, also for service to Denver.

Nine carriers sought 44 beyond-perimeter slot exemptions, the DOT said.

The slots for service within the 1,250-mile perimeter were awarded to AirTran Airways for service to Atlanta; Delta Air Lines subsidiary Comair for service to Jackson, Miss., or Lexington, Ky.; Midwest Airlines for service to Kansas City, Mo.; Spirit Airlines for service to Detroit; and US Airways for service to Asheville, N.C., Chattanooga, Tenn., or Wilmington, N.C.

Airline analyst Ray Neidl of New York-based Blaylock & Partners noted that low-cost carriers fared best in the DOT's decision-making process. Of the 22 slot exemptions awarded for the flights, 16 went for routes served by airlines that have reputations as low-cost carriers: Frontier, America West, Alaska, AirTran, Midwest and Spirit.