OST Filings for January 5, 2001

OST-00-8207 OST-01-8631	January 5, 2001	Supplement No.1 of Delta Air Lines and Contingent Request for a U.S.- France Designation	U.S.- Czech Republic/France Codeshare
		Service List

If no competing applications are received, the available designation should be awarded to Delta in order to provide the traveling public with beneficial new service options between the United States and France. Delta is fully prepared to put the available U.S.-France designation to productive use in conjunction with its alliance partner, CSA. Delta and CSA would propose to implement additional service to Lyon and Paris, France, via Prague, effective April 1, 2001. However, if viable competing applications are filed, Delta is willing to recede its request in favor of another applicant.

Delta further urges the Department to immediately approve the remainder of the Joint Application, which is non-controversial and plainly authorized under the U.S.-Czech open skies agreement. As noted in the Application, the Joint Applicants plan to commence reciprocal codeshare service at the start of the Summer 2001 traffic season on March 25, 2001. The Joint Applicants timely filed their application on October 27, 2000 and have also submitted the required audit review statement to the FAA. Any further delay in the processing of this routine codeshare request will cause the Joint Applicants unwarranted commercial harm.

Counsel: Shaw Pittman, Alexander Van der Bellen, 202.663.8060

Index

Estafeta Carga Aerea, S.A. de C.V.

OST-01-8630	January 5, 2001	Application for a Temporary Section 40109 Exemption to Operate Cargo Charters	U.S.- Mexico All-Cargo Charters
		Attachments A: Applicants History, Managerial Team, Key Personnel
		Attachments B: Balance Sheet
		Attachments C: Agreements, Permits
		Service List

ESTAFETA is applying for cargo charter authority between the United States and Mexico. The governments of these countries have established a liberal charter authority regime for carriers of each country. Estafeta has been awarded economic and operating authority by its home country to engage in these charters. Estafeta will use B737 freighters for this service. Estafeta leases its aircraft and operates them with its own crews. The carrier began Mexico domestic operations in November 2000.

. The likely U.S. points which ESTAFETA will serve are: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Phoenix, Denver, DFW, San Antonio, Houston, St. Louis, Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, Atlanta, Washington Dulles, New York JFK, Orlando and Miami. Such flights would depart or enter Mexico at: San Luis Potosi, Tijuana, CJS, MID, Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey. These are just the anticipated likely origin/ destination points for the carrier. Any U.S. airport with appropriate customs facilities might also receive this on-demand service.

Counsel: Estafeta, Herbert Rosental, 202.659.3526

Index

Far Eastern Air Transport Corporation

OST-00-8495

Filed December 7, 2000
Issued January 5, 2001

Notice of Action Taken

Exemption- Scheduled and Charter - Taiwan Open Skies

Exemption from 49 U.S.C. 41301 to conduct scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail from points behind Taiwan, via Taiwan and intermediate points to points in the United States and beyond; charter foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail pursuant to the Air Transport Agreement between the American Institute in Taiwan and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office; and other charters pursuant to 14 CFR 212 of the Department's regulations.

By: Paul Gretch

Index

Paradise Island Airlines, Inc. and Potomac Air, Inc.

Order 01-1-5 OST-00-7920	January 5, 2001 Served January 10, 2001	Order Issuing Effective Commuter Air Carrier Authorization and Confirming Oral Action	Transfer of Commuter Air Carrier Authority
		Attachment: Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity
		Service List

By: Randall Bennett

Index

United Air Lines, Inc.

OST-01-8632	January 5, 2001	Application for U.S.- France Third-Country Codeshare Opportunity	U.S.- France Third Country Code-share Opportunity (2001)
		Exhibits: Summer Schedule
		Service List

In its December 26, 2000 Notice, the Department invited U.S. carriers to request allocation of the third-country code-share opportunity that becomes available on April 1, 2001 under the June 1998 U.S.-France bilateral air services agreement.

United hereby requests that it be allocated that opportunity. United intends to use this authority to offer scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail between the U.S. and France, via Copenhagen, Denmark; Stockholm, Sweden; and Oslo, Norway, pursuant to United's code-sharing relationship with SAS. Under these operations, United would place its "UA" designator code on SAS flights operated between Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Oslo, on the one hand, and Paris (CDG) and Nice, France, on the other.

SAS plans to implement nonstop service between Copenhagen and Washington Dulles in May 2001. See "SAS Starts Service to Washington D.C.," SAS Press Release, November 7, 2000.

The specific markets that United proposes to serve are listed in Exhibits UA-1, 2, 3, and 4 hereto. Those Exhibits identify the U.S. cities that would receive nonstop-to-nonstop connections in the U.S.-France market, and the total elapsed travel time (including layover time) for each flight between each U.S. gateway point and each France gateway point in both directions, including a total elapsed roundtrip travel time for each gateway-to-gateway city pair. Services illustrated are for the summer season. Winter seasonal service adjustments are noted.

United has listed additional connections between Scandinavian intermediate points and France which would offer slightly longer ground times. Those flights would be available as alternatives in the event of a delay in the primary connecting flight. These alternative connections are not included in the total frequencies available. In two cases, United has SAS code-share connections eastbound but not westbound via the intermediate point Stockholm. In both of those cases, there are SAS westbound connections via Copenhagen which are illustrated on the schedules. These westbound Copenhagen connections are counted only once, however, in computing the total number of frequencies.

Counsel: Wilmer Cutler, Jeffery Manley, 202.663.6670, jmanley@wilmer.com

Index

U.S.-Brazil All-Cargo Frequencies and Designation

OST-00-7559	January 5, 2001	Reply Atlas Air	U.S.- Brazil All-Cargo Frequencies and Designation
		Exhibit List
		Rebuttal Testimony: Richard Murphy
		Exhibits: SR-1 to 10
		Service List

Throughout their answers, Evergreen and Gemini attack the bonafides of the Atlas service proposal and supporting presentation. The particular arguments advanced are unconvincing. More significantly, the Evergreen and Gemini filings seek to obscure what is both critical and readily apparent - that Atlas, because of its several years of experience serving Brazil, is the only applicant to have a genuine understanding of the complexities of the still-developing U.S. -Brazil market and its Miami focus.

Much as Evergreen and Gemini like to portray U.S. -Brazil as mature enough to support single-plane all-cargo service from a variety of U.S. cities, the market simply is not yet at that point. The wide dispersion of Brazil O&D traffic sources throughout the United States and the availability of highly efficient, low cost domestic freight transporta-tion services make Miami the preferred gateway for freight forwarders and individual shippers. Neither Evergreen nor Gemini has represented that it will offer the extremely low rates necessary to divert substantial volumes of Brazil freight from Miami to other U.S. gateways, where less-than-daily Brazil service would require the holding of shipments for several days. Even if one of them had made such a representation, its
proposed services in all probability would lose massive sums of money at the low rates necessary to attract the amount of traffic forecast. If the Department wishes to ensure that the all-cargo services promised in this proceeding are started and sustained - thus enhancing competition, benefitting the shipping public and maximizing the use of valuable bilateral rights - it must select Atlas and award that carrier ten scheduled all-cargo wide-body frequencies.

Counsel: Verner Liipfert, Russell Pommer, 202.371.6279

OST-00-7559	January 5, 2001	Re: Revised Exhibits of Atlas Air	U.S.- Brazil All-Cargo Frequencies and Designation
		Revised Exhibits
		Service List

Counsel: Verner Liipfert, Russell Pommer, 202.371.6279

OST-00-7559	January 5, 2001	Reply of the City of Houston and the Greater Houston Partnership	U.S.- Brazil All-Cargo Frequencies and Designation
		Service List

The City of Houston and the Greater Houston Partnership respectfully file this reply in support the application of Evergreen International Airlines, Inc. for authority to operate daily all-cargo flights between the United States and Brazil. Evergreen's service proposal includes twice--weekly service from Houston to Brazil, along with weekly service to Chile. Houston is both historically and economically linked with the countries of South America, and would welcome such new service from Evergreen.

Counsel: Zuckert Scoutt, Jol Silversmith, 202.298.8660, jasilversmith@zsrlaw.com

OST-00-7559	January 5, 2001	Consolidated Reply Evergreen International Airlines	U.S.- Brazil All-Cargo Frequencies and Designation
		Exhibits EZ-19 to 24: Articles on Service
		Service List

In this proceeding, the Department must choose one carrier from among the three applicants to be the fourth designated all-cargo carrier to serve the U.S.-Brazil market. In making that choice, the Department must weigh and balance several factors in order to achieve its goal of awarding these valuable, limited-entry rights to the carrier that "will be most likely to offer and maintain the best service for the shipping public.- Order 2000-9--24 at 3. That carrier will be the one that has the most experience in providing scheduled service, will offer the public both a wide variety of shipping options and growth opportunities and bring genuine new-competition into the market. Evergreen meets these criteria; Atlas and Gemini do not.

Evergreen submits that the public interest would be disserved if the Department allows itself to succumb to the simplistic ten-frequency "numbers game" strategy around which the other two applicants have built their proposals. The Department's public interest analysis must go into greater depth and take market realities into account (among the other factors discussed herein). The Department's analysis of the realistic current needs of the Brazil all-cargo market must start with the key facts (i) that the 24 available frequencies in this market have historically been underutilized and (ii) that the three long-time incumbent carriers (two of which, UPS/Challenge and Federal Express, are by far the largest U.S. all-cargo carriers) have opted to operate no more than a total of fourteen weekly flights between them, and that none of the three has sought to operate more than 6 weekly frequencies.

Counsel: Steptoe Johnson, David Coburn, 202.429.8063, dcoburn@steptoe.com

OST-00-7559	January 5, 2001	Reply Gemini Air Cargo	U.S.- Brazil All-Cargo Frequencies and Designation
		Exhibit List
		Surrebuttal Testimony: Brian Campbell
		Exhibits: GR-SR 1-11
		Service List

It is in the public interest for the Department to designate Gemini Air Cargo, Inc. to introduce new scheduled all-cargo service to Brazil from New York, Chicago, Austin, Los Angeles, and Miami. The benefits of the Gemini proposal far outweigh any benefits of the competing proposals of Atlas Air, Inc. and Evergreen International Airlines, Inc. None of the arguments in the respective Answers of Atlas and Evergreen overcome the superior Gemini proposal.

Evergreen proposes to use but seven of the ten available frequencies and would generate only 70% as much 3rd/4th Freedom traffic as Gemini. Exhibit GR-SR-1. Gemini would use all ten frequencies and still have the ability to increase capacity. Evergreen would also serve fewer markets than Gemini. In contrast to Gemini, Evergreen has no experience in the U.S.-Brazil cargo market.

For its part, Atlas made a belated increase in the number of flights it proposed --from seven to ten -- solely in an attempt to match Gemini's proposal. The Atlas proposal remains deficient, however, because it would not introduce any new U.S. carrier competition into the U.S.-Brazil all-cargo market. In addition Atlas would only serve Brazil from Miami, as compared to the service that Gemini would operate to and from Chicago, New York, Austin, Los Angeles, and Miami. The Department should therefore grant the Amended Application of Gemini for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to operate scheduled foreign air transportation of property and mail between points in the United States, on the one hand, and specified points in Brazil and beyond.

Counsel: Roller Bauer, Moffett Roller, 202.331.3300, mroller@rollerbauer.com

Index

International Air Transport Association

OST-00-8370

January 5, 2001

Application for Approval of Agreements- Technical Correction

PTC COMP 0743 Corrects PTC COMP 0722

By: David O'Connor

OST-00-8539

January 5, 2001

Application for Approval of Agreements- Technical Correction

PTC2 EUR Fares 0051 Corrects TC2 EUR Fares 0049