Jeff Smisek President and Chief Executive Officer

April 4, 2012

The Honorable Annise Parker Mayor City of Houston 901 Bagby Street Houston, TX 77002 Dear Mayor Parker, We have until now honored your airport directors request that we not publicly discuss the findings in his draft study on the economic impact of permitting redundant international air service at Hobby Airport. We have told Mr. Diaz that the assumptions that underlie the analysis are so contrived it is clear they were designed to reach a predetermined conclusion. Since Southwest is now quoting publicly from the draft study, it is imperative that we let you know our experts views on that study. I attach a memo that William Swelbar, research engineer at MITs International Center for Air Transportation, and Greg Hart, Uniteds Senior Vice President Network, prepared for us. You will see they have markedly different views on the analysis and conclusions in that draft. We again respectfully request that you delay this decision, which you agree will impact Houstons aviation industry and economic future for decades to come, until you can consider the results of the separate study that Mr. Swelbar and the University of Houstons Dr. Barton Smith are currently conducting for us. There is good reason that every administration since 1969 has maintained Bush Intercontinental (IAH) as the citys sole international airport. Before you make a decision to permanently change many decades of aviation policy in Houston based on a flawed and rushed study, we hope you will grant our request to allow time for Mr. Diazs consultants and our experts to discuss their completely different conclusions. As we discussed in our Feb. 13 meeting, United welcomes competition from AirTran, Southwest and all carriers for international service at IAH, where there are ample gates and facilities and an existing, albeit understaffed, federal inspection services facility. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely,

cc: Controller Ronald Green Members of City Council

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