OST Filings for February 16, 2000

OST Docket Filings for February 16, 2000

Last Updated 02/17/00 11:58 AM

Applications and Renewals:

Alaska Island - Resume Operations

Answers and Replies:

Aeromexico/Air France - Answer of Continental | Air France/Comair - Additional Information | United and British Midland - Answers of Continental/Delta/Northwest

Notices of Action Taken:

America West

Notices and Orders:

IATA | Mesa - Show Cause | Taquan - Selecting Carrier

Aerovias de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. and Societe Air France

OST-00-6880	February 16, 2000	Answer of Continental Airlines Scanned Copy	Statement of Authorization - U.S.-Mexico Points
		Service List

Continental is reluctantly forced to oppose the application of Air France and Aeromexico for authority to engage in third-country codesharing between the United States and Mexico due to the chronic unwillingness of Mexican aviation authorities to permit Continental to display the code of CSA on Continental’s New York/Newark-Mexico City flights. The continued reluctance of Mexican aviation authorities to authorize the U.S.-Mexico codeshare services proposed by Continental and CSA clearly demonstrates that insufficient comity and reciprocity exist for the Department to approve the joint application of Air France and Aeromexico for U.S.-Mexico third-country codeshare services. On January 12, 1998, over two years ago, Continental was granted a statement of authorization allowing, inter alia, Continental to display the "OK" code of CSA on flights between New York/Newark and Mexico City. (See Notice of Action Taken, January 12, 1998, Docket OST-95-979) Since that time, Mexican aviation authorities have failed to approve Continental/CSA codesharing between the U.S. and Mexico. Until aviation authorities in Mexico allow Continental to offer the proposed New York/Newark-Mexico City codeshare service and agree to future third-country codeshare services, reciprocity between the United States and Mexico on the issue of third-country codesharing will be insufficient to justify approval of this application by Air France and Aeromexico.

Counsel: Continental and Crowell Moring, Bruce Keiner, 202-624-2615

Index

Alaska Island Air, Inc.

OST-00-6948	February 14, 2000	45-Day Notice of Alaska Island Air to Resume Operations Under its Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity Accepted by Docket Section on 2/15 - Not Released to Public	Interstate Air Transportation
		Affidavit of Sean Carlos
		Index of Appendices
		Appendix A: Index of Regulatory Requirements
		Appendix B: Affidavit of Citizenship
		Appendix C: Biographies of Key Personnel
		Appendix D: Financial Statements (to be supplied)
		Appendix E: Description of Current Fleet
		Appendix F: Affidavit of Aircraft Compliance
		Appendix G: Authorities Currently Held
		Appendix H: Map of Area to be Served
		Appendix I: Illustrative Service Proposal and Fuel Use Estimate
		Appendix J: Forecast Financial Results
		Appendix K: Corporate Certification (to be supplied)

Counsel: A.I.A., Sean Carlos, 907.493.5155

Index

America West Airlines, Inc.

OST-98-3581

Filed January 27, 2000
Issued February 16, 2000

Notice of Action Taken

Phoenix, Arizona- Ixtapa/ Zihuatanejo,
Mexico

By: Paul Gretch

Index

Mesa Air Group, Inc. F/K/A Mesa Airlines, Inc. and d/b/a United Express and Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd.

Order 00-2-18 OST-95-934 OST-98-3496 OST-98-3497 OST-98-3498 OST-98-3502 OST-98-3503 OST-99-6590	Issued February 16, 2000 Served February 17, 2000	Order to Show Cause	90-Day Notice to Terminate at Silver City, New Mexico; Kingman, Arizona; Goodland, Kansas and Lamar, Colorado; Great Bend, Kansas; Hays, Kansas; Liberal, KS; Dodge City, Kansas; Garden City, Kansas; Salina, Kansas
		Appendix A: Map
		Appendix B: Annual Compensation
		Appendix C: To/From Denver Traffic
		Appendix D: EAS
		Appendix E: Service List

Order 2000-2-18 reselecting Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. d/b/a United Express, to provide essential air service from the first seven communities listed above to Denver for the two-year period beginning October 1, 1999, but terminating subsidy for Great Lakes' service at Goodland, Great Bend and Lamar and allowing the carrier to suspend service at those three communities on or about April 1, 2000. The annual subsidy rates initially total $3,884,540 for service at all seven communities, and $2,686,218 for the remaining four. The order also provides for objections or competing proposals from other interested carriers. Finally, the order dismisses the 90-day notice of intent to suspend service at Salina, Kansas, the Great Lakes filed but subsequently withdrew.

By: Charles Hunnicutt

Index

Societe Air France and Comair Inc.

OST-00-6939

February 16, 2000

Additional Parties to Service List

U.S.-France Blanket Codeshare Authority

Counsel: Silverberg Goldman, Michael Goldman, 202-944-3305

Index

Taquan Air Service, Inc.

Order 00-2-19 OST-99-6244	Issued February 16, 2000 Served February 17, 2000	Order Selecting Carrier	90-Day Notice to Terminate Essential Service at Port Alexander, Alaska
		Appendix A: Map
		Appendix B: Annual Subsidy
		Appendix C: EAS Proposal

Order 2000-2-19 selects Harris Aircraft Services, Inc., d/b/a Harris Air, to provide subsidized essential air service at Port Alexander, Alaska, for the two-year period beginning with the carrier's inauguration of service, through February 28, 20002, at an annual subsidy rate of $24,583.

By: Bradley Mims

Index

United Air Lines, Inc. and British Midland Airways Ltd.

OST-00-6842 OST-00-6851	February 16, 2000	Consolidated Answer of Continental Airlines Scanned Copy	U.S.-U.K. Codesharing
		Service List

British Midland and United have asked the Department to award them extrabilateral authority which would permit British Midland, the second-largest operator at London’s Heathrow Airport, to codeshare with United, the second-largest U.S. carrier at Heathrow. Since granting such authority would exacerbate the dominance of the "haves" at Heathrow without doing anything to expand opportunities for the "have-nots" at Heathrow, Continental strongly opposes the approval of any such codesharing unless and until Heathrow is opened to flights by additional U.S. airlines so Continental can compete effectively with other airlines already providing Heathrow service and bring the benefits of increased competition to consumers on both sides of the Atlantic.

Counsel: Continental and Crowell Moring, Bruce Keiner, 202-624-2615

OST-00-6842 OST-00-6851	February 16, 2000	Consolidated Answer of Delta Air Lines Scanned Copy	U.S.-U.K. Codesharing
		Service List

The application proposes unprecedented and unwarranted new U.S. market access for British Midland. United and British Midland have styled their application as a request for blanket codeshare authority, which the Department has typically granted only with respect to open skies countries or similarly liberal codeshare regimes. U.S. carrier access to the U.K. is not liberal. The instant applications do not warrant approval of any kind, let alone on the blanket basis proposed by British Midland and United.

Counsel: Delta and Shaw Pittman, Robert Cohn, 202-663-8060

OST-00-6842
OST-00-6851

February 17, 2000

Motion for Leave to File and Consolidated Answer of Northwest Airlines

HTML

U.S.-U.K. Codesharing

For the reasons set forth below, the applications by British Midland and United are premature for Department consideration and therefore should be dismissed, or action upon them deferred.

British Midland and United openly concede in their Joint Application that they have not yet executed an agreement governing their proposed code-share services. Since 1995, the Department has expressly required copies of code-share agreements to be filed in conjunction with all applications seeking code-share authority. The Department should not begin considering the British Midland and United applications at issue here until these carriers have filed copies of the pertinent agreements governing their proposed code-share operations, and any other information the Department may deem necessary. Northwest hereby reserves the right to file a further answer to the applications of British Midland and United at such time as these carriers have complied fully with the Department's procedural requirements.

Approval of the applications by British Midland and United would require the grant of substantial extrabilateral authority. As Secretary Slater explained in a prepared statement issued yesterday, the U.S. -U.K. Bermuda R Agreement is one of our most restrictive with a developed aviation partner, limiting the number of nonstops, the number of U.S. and U.K. airlines that can serve Heathrow and restricting fifth-freedom rights from the U.K. (5ee "Shuster Urges Administration To Act On Tough U.K. Measures; Slater Hesitates," Aviation Daily , February 16, 2000 at 1.) For example, although Detroit and Minneapolis/St. Paul have been named Heathrow gateways for over 20 years and Northwest stands ready and willing to provide these communities with nonstop Heathrow service, Northwest is unable to launch Detroit-Heathrow and Minneapolis/St. Paul-Heathrow nonstop service due to the Heathrow carrier designation restrictions contained in Bermuda 11. The Department should refuse to even consider the codeshare requests of British Midland and United until such time as the U.S. and the U.K. have reached a new bilateral aviation agreement that satisfies fully the Heathrow requirements of communities such as Detroit and Minneapolis, and carriers such as Northwest.

Counsel: Northwest, Megan Rae Rosia, 202.842.3193

Index

International Air Transport Association

Order 00-2-22
OST-00-6839

Issued February 16, 2000
Served February 18, 2000

Order

PTC12 USA-EUR Fares 0043

By: Paul Gretch

Index