Home | Search | Help
OST by Number | OST by Order | OST by Carrier | OST by Subject | OST by Day
OIA by Carrier/Subject | OIA by Day | FAA by Number | FAA by Subject | FAA by Day
Carrier Financials | Charter Office | Answer/Reply Calendar
American Airlines, Inc. and Iberia
October 2, 1997
Counsel: American, Carl Nelson / Steptoe Johnson for Iberia
American Airlines, Inc. and Iberia
October 14, 1997
Re: Delta will Submit an Answer on October 17, 1997
This letter is to advise the Department that Delta Air Lines will submit a consolidated answer to the applications for statements of authorizations and exemptions on October 17, 1997, the due date for submission of answers on the exemption applications.
Counsel: Shaw Pittman, Robert Cohn, 202-663-8000, robert_cohn@shawpittman.com
Re: Objection of United Air Lines - Will Submit an Answer on October 17, 1997
This is to notify you that United Air Lines, Inc. ("United") objects to approval of certain of the authority requested in the above-referenced joint application.
United will explain the basis for its objection more fully in a Consolidated Answer to the exemption applications of American and Iberia in Dockets OST-97-2965/2966 which are related to the referenced joint application. Answers to the exemption applications are due on October 17, 1997.
Counsel: Ginsburg Feldman, Joel Burton, 202-637-9000, jburton@gfblaw.com
American Airlines, Inc. and Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana, S.A. (Codesharing and Statements of Authorization)
Undocketed | OST-97-2965 | OST-97-2966 | OST-96-1700 / OST-97-2058 / 97-2054-2057 | October 17, 1997
Answer of Continental Airlines
Counsel: Continental and Crowell Moring, Bruce Keiner
Answer of Delta Air Lines - (Also Filed in Dockets 7)
Motion of Delta Air Lines for Confidential Treatment
Counsel: Delta and Shaw Pittman, Robert Cohn
Consolidated Answer of The Government of Puerto Rico
Counsel: Verner Liipfert, John Merrigan
Answer of Trans World Airlines
Attachment: Common US Codeshare Points, TWA/Air Europa Unique US Codeshare Points, American/Iberia Unique Codeshare Points
Counsel: TWA and Richard Fahy, 202-457-4764, rfahy@ibm.net
Consolidated Answer of United Air Lines
Exhibit UA-1: DGAC - Request for Operations by Regime of Code Share to Palma de Mallorca
Counsel: United and Ginsburg Feldman, Joel Burton, 202-637-9130
OST-97-2965 | OST-97-2966 | Undocketed | OST-96-1700 | OST-97-2058 | OST-97-2054-2057
There is no question that Delta has violated the Department's affidavit procedures. Delta has used confidential information it obtained in the American/British Airways proceeding -- and promised to use "only for purposes of participating in [that] proceeding and for no other purpose" -- in the American/Iberia (and American/TACA Group) dockets. This is a serious, clearcut, and inexcusable violation of the Department's orders and of Delta's own affidavits, and fully justifies striking Delta's answer from all dockets in which it has been submitted.
Counsel: American, Carl Nelson, 202-496-5647
OST-97-2965 | OST-97-2966 | Undocketed | OST-96-1700 | OST-97-2058 | OST-97-2054-2057 | October 21, 1997
Answer of Delta Air Lines to Motion of American Airlines
Placed in its proper context, American's motion is nothing more than an attempt to transform a procedural triviality into another false claim of abuse of the Department's confidentiality procedures. This claim has no more merit than American's previous assertions of abuse, which Delta repudiated in its September 25, 1997 consolidated answer in OST-97-2058 at pages 13-14. The information discussed in Delta's filing has a direct and substantive bearing on the AA/BA proceeding and on how the Department should evaluate American's proposed alliances. Furthermore, Delta fully protected the confidentiality of this information, and provided it only to the Department and AA/BA affidavit holders. In these circumstances, American's motion lacks substance and should be denied.
Counsel: Delta and Shaw Pittman, Robert Cohn, 202-663-8060
Linea Aerea Nacional Chile, S.A. - Lan Chile / American Airlines, Inc. and Linea Aerea Nacional Chile, S.A. - Lan Chile (Exemption and Statements of Authorization, US-Chile)
OST-97-2982 | Undocketed | October 22, 1997
Consolidated Answer of Continental Airlines
To further extend American's domination of its U.S.-Latin America empire and pre-empt alliances between its foreign competitors and U.S. airlines with smaller presences in that region, American seeks authority to code-share with its chief competitor on U.S.-Chile routes, Lan Chile, and has announced that the two carriers will seek antitrust immunity for their anticompetitive alliance. Unless the Department wants to give American control of over 84% of all U.S.-Chile nonstop seats and foreclose the possibility of meaningful competition between the U.S. and Chile, the Department must deny the American and Lan Chile (collectively the "Joint Applicants") requests for code-share authority. The proposed American/Lan Chile alliance shows that American's drive to assure its perpetual domination of U.S.- Latin America routes is gaining momentum and may soon snuff out all competition. Failure to deny immediately the clearly anticompetitive American/Lan Chile applications will encourage American to continue its destructive pattern, economically disadvantaging U.S. carriers and consumers alike. Inaction by the Department risks convincing the few potential foreign code-share partners left in the region that they have no alternative but to join American's growing U.S.-Latin America juggernaut, pre-empting procompetitive alliances while the applications remain pending. If the Department does not deny the American/Lan Chile applications outright, it should require American to provide full information concerning its relationship with Lan Chile and the interrelationship of the American/Lan Chile alliance with other American alliances before taking any further action.
Counsel: Continental and Crowell Moring, Bruce Keiner, 202-624-2500
Answer of Delta Air Lines (Also OST-96-1700)
The Department must give careful consideration to the potential anticompetitive impact of this arrangement, particularly considering that Chile maintains an extremely restrictive bilateral regime that excludes potential U.S.Chile competitors, such as Delta, from freely sewing Chile. Furthermore, the American/Lan Chile Alliance must be evaluated in the context of American's numerous interrelated alliances that combine virtually all the dominant carriers sewing U.S.-Latin American routes.
Counsel: Delta and Shaw Pittman, Robert Cohn, 202-663-8060
Answer of The Government of Puerto Rico
The Government of Puerto Rico hopes the Department will expeditiously grant LanChile's exemption request.Under a recent amendment to the route annex of the U.S.-Chile aviation agreement, airlines of Chile have the bilateral right to operate between Chile and San Juan, nonstop, via intermediate points and beyond to points in third countries. Chilean airlines also have the right to coterminalize San Juan and the other bilaterally authorized U.S. gateways.
Counsel: Verner Liipfert, John Merrigan
United Air Lines, Inc., ("United") answers in opposition to the above-captioned applications of American Airlines, Inc. ("American") and Linea Aerea Nacional Chile, S.A. ("LAN-Chile"). By their applications, American and LAN-Chile seek authority to offer code-share services on flights they operate between their U.S. and Chilean gateways and beyond those gateways to interior points in the U.S. and Chile. Aside from references to the U.S./Chile bilateral agreement, there is no discussion in the American/LAN-Chile applications of any public benefits that would result from their proposed code-share service. Indeed, there are no such benefits given the anticompetitive impact that would result from the proposed cooperation. Most of the nonstop codeshare service would be operated between Santiago and Miami and most of LAN-Chile's connections to U.S. points would operate from that gateway. This code share would serve to limit competition by solidifying American's dominance of the U.S.-Central/South America market via Miami and should not be approved
Counsel: United and Ginsburg Feldman, Joel Burton
American Airlines, Inc. and Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana (Exemptions and Statements of Authorization)
OST-97-2965 | OST-97-2966 | Undocketed | October 28, 1997
Joint Reply of American and Iberia
Codeshare services are explicitly authorized under the U.S.-Spain Air Transport Agreement, and the extrabilateral aspects of the proposed American/Iberia services are modest. Among the U.S. carriers serving Spain, American has a small presence, operating only seven weekly flights. The American/Iberia codeshare will bring substantial benefits to the public by extending the reach of both carriers in the U.S.-Spain (and beyond) markets and by providing greater price, service, and quality options to consumers, consistent with the Department's policy statement on international air transportation.
Counsel: American, Carl Nelson, 202-496-5647 / Steptoe Johnson, William Karas, 202-429-6223 for Iberia
American Airlines, Inc. and Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana, S.A (Exemptions and Statements of Authorization)
OST-97-2965 | OST-97-2966 | Undocketed | October 29, 1997
Answer of Continental Airlines to Motion of American Airlines
American alleges that Delta's confidential answer to the American/Iberia code-share application used information obtained from confidential documents submitted in connection with the joint application of American and British Airways in violation of the confidentiality procedures established by the Department despite the fact that Delta filed its answer in the American/British Airways docket and served the confidential version only on persons who had submitted confidentiality affidavits in that proceeding. Under these circumstances, American's motion seeks to exalt form over substance, as Delta has demonstrated. More importantly, however, the American motion reveals American's true motive -- preventing a comprehensive review of its worldwide alliance strategy.
Counsel: Continental and Crowell Moring, Bruce Keiner, 202-624-2500
Order 98-1-18 | OST-97-2965 | OST-97-2966 | Undocketed | OST-96-1700 | OST-97-2058 | OST-97-2054, 2055, 2055, 2057
Based on the facts as stated in the pleadings, we find that Delta, through its agents, has violated the Department's confidentiality procedures in several significant respects, and that the carrier's answer to the American/Iberia applications should be stricken, both the "confidential" and the redacted versions, in all dockets in which it has been filed. While we have considered other sanctions as well, we have decided against taking such action in light of certain mitigating factors that should be taken into account.
By: Charles Hunnicutt
American Airlines, Inc. / Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana, S.A. / American Airlines, Inc. and Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana, S.A. - (New Notice of Action Taken)
OST-97-2965 | Filed October 2, 1997 | OST-98-3626 | Filed March 13, 1998 | Undocketed |
Filed October 2, 1997
Action Taken April 30, 1998
Notice of Action | Attachment - Authorities Granted to Carriers
Scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail between (1) New York, Chicago, and San Juan, on the one hand, and Madrid, Spain, on the other; (2) points in the United States, via Madrid, and Alicante, Bilbao, Jerez de La Frontera, La Coruna, Las Palmas, Sevilla, Valencia, and Vigo, Spain; (3) points in the United States, via Madrid, and Marseilles, France and Porto, Portugal. American plans to operate this service under a code-share arrangement with Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana (Iberia).
Scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail between Spain and Atlanta, Cleveland, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, and Washington D.C. (through Reagan Washington National Airport). Iberia stated that it would operate these services via its existing U.S. gateways of Miami, New York, and Chicago under a code-share arrangement with American Airlines.
Statement of Authorization for American Airlines (and its regional affiliates Executive Airlines, Flagship Airlines, Simmons Airlines and Wings West Airlines) under Part 207 of the Department's regulations in order to:Display Iberia's "IB" airline designator code on American's and/or American Eagle's flights.
Applicant reps: Carl Nelson, Jr. , 202.496.5647 (AA) , William Karas, 202.429.6223 (Iberia)
American Airlines, Inc. / Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana, S.A. / Air Nostrum, Lineas Aereas del Mediterraneo/Aviacion y Comercio, S.A. (Exemptions and Statements of Authorization)
OST-97-2965 | OST-98-3626 | Undocketed | OST-98-3640 | May 20, 1998
Petition of United Air Lines for Review of Staff Action
Specifically, United requests the Department to review the staff's oral approval of statements of authorization issued to the Spanish carrier applicants to display the code of American Airlines, Inc. ("American") on services between Madrid and Rome, Italy. Such approval is inconsistent with Department precedent and raises a substantial and important question of policy. On review, that action should be reversed and the applications for statements of authorization should be dismissed with respect to Madrid-Rome service.
Counsel: United and Ginsburg Feldman, Joel Burton, 202-637-9130
American Airlines, Inc. and Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana, S.A. / Air Nostrum Lineas Aereas del Mediterraneo, S.A. and Aviacion y Comercio, S.A. (Reciprocal Codeshare / Intra-Spain Codeshare)
OST-97-2965 | OST-98-3626 | Undocketed | OST-98-3640 | June 1, 1998
Joint Answer of American, Iberia, Air Nostrum and Aviaco to Petition for Review of United Air Lines
United's 1994 application to serve eleven points in Italy on a third-country codeshare basis involved a far different situation from the joint applicants, plan to provide codeshare service beyond Madrid to Rome. The dismissal of thatapplication is not a reason to grant United's instant petitionfor review. The staff's action should be upheld.
Counsel: Steptoe Johnson, William Karas, 202-429-6223 for Iberia, Air Nostrum and Aviaco / American, Carl Nelson, 202-496-5647, carl_nelson@amrcorp.com
Answer of Northwest Airlines in Support of Petition for Review of United Air Lines
Northwest asks the Department to review the staff's oral action in approving the statements of authorization for Iberia, Aviaco and Air Nostrum to display the designator code of American in the Madrid-Rome market and, on review, to reverse that action and dismiss the relevant portions of these applications.
Counsel: Northwest, Megan Rae Poldy
OST-97-2965 | OST-98-3626 | Undocketed | OST-98-3640 | June 9, 1998
Reply of United Air Lines and Motion for Leave to File
United hereby gives notice of its intention to seek authority from the government of Italy to code share between points in the U.S. and Rome via points in Germany in the event that American and its Spanish partners are to be permitted to do so via Spain. Should the Department decide not to reverse its approval of the American/Iberia, et al., code shares between the U.S. and Rome via Madrid, United and Lufthansa. should be permitted under their present code-share authority to seek
Counsel: United and Ginsburg Feldman, Joel Burton, 202-637-9130
American Airlines, Inc. and Iberia Lineas Aereas De Espana, S.A. - (Notice of Action Taken)
Undocketed | Filed October 2, 1997 | Action Taken August 6, 1998
Statement of Authorization for American Airlines (and its regional affiliates American Eagle Airlines and Executive Airlines ), under Part 207 of the Department's regulations to display Iberia Airlines' "IB" airline designator code on a blind-sector basis on flights operated by American in the following markets:
Applicant Reps: Carl Nelson, 202.496.5647 / William Karas, 202.429.6223 for Iberia
American Airlines, Inc. - (Additional Codesharing with Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana, S.A.)
98-79 | August 11, 1998
Re: Application for Statement of Authorization
Adds two points, to be operated by American and commencing October 1, 1998, for JFK-IAD and Miami-San Juan.
Counsel: Carl Nelson, Jr., 202.496.5647
American Airlines, Inc. and Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana, S.A. (Exemptions and Statements of Authorization)
OST-97-2965 | OST-97-2966 | Undocketed | November 6, 1997
Response of United Air Lines and Motion for Leave to File
One important issue that must be investigated in that proceeding is the impact the American/Iberia code share would have on competition between Miami and Central America. American and Iberia note that "so long as Iberia operates Fifth-Freedom services in the local Miami-Central America markets, American and Iberia will remain vigorous competitors for such traffic..." This, of course, begs the question of whether Iberia intends to continue to operate its own services between Miami and Central America. That question is further begged when American states that, "for its part, [American] is in no position to know whether these operations are economically viable or feasible for Iberia, or what Iberia's future plans may be ..." (Joint Reply at 4). Iberia itself is a joint participant in the reply and obviously would possess relevant information on this relevant issue. Notwithstanding Iberia's joint participation, however, that carrier has refused to address its future plans for Miami-Central America service.
Counsel: United and Ginsburg Feldman, Joel Burton, 202-637-9130
American Airlines, Inc. - (Additional Codesharing with Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana, S.A.)
98-79 | Filed August 11, 1998 | Approved August 28, 1998
Re: Statement of Authorization | DOT Attachment - Stamp and Conditions
Adds two points, to be operated by American and commencing October 1, 1998, for JFK-IAD and Miami-San Juan.
Re: Addition of New Routes to the Codeshare Agreement, dated September 15, 1997 - (Iberia, August 8, 1998)
Counsel: Carl Nelson, Jr. for American, 202.496.5647
| Order 98-12-6 OST-97-2965 Undocketed OST-98-4355 OST-98-3626 OST-98-4557 OST-98-4364 OST-98-3652 |
Issued December 7, 1998 Served December 9, 1998 |
Order | Codeshare Approvals |
The captioned U.S. air carriers and foreign carriers have applied for various forms of authority or relief from Title 49 of the U.S. Code or regulations or orders of the Department in order to perform the air transportation activities shown in the attached Notices of Action Taken. Except as noted, no answers were filed to these requests. Because of the imminence of these operations, we approved them by telephone, subject to adherence, by each applicant, to the conditions set forth in its certificate(s) of public convenience and necessity, foreign air carrier permit, and/or conditions attached.
By: Charles Hunnicutt
American Airlines, Inc. and Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana, S.A.
| OST-97-2965 OST-98-3626 Undocketed |
December 17, 1998 | Re: Response of United Air Lines | US-Spain Codeshare |
By Order 98-12-6, the Department confirmed action of its staff in the above-referenced proceedings with respect to code sharing by American and Iberia taken in a Notice of Action Taken dated April 30, 1998. United Air Lines, Inc., ("United") by Petition dated May 20, 1998, in Dockets OST-97-2965, OST-98-3626 and Undocketed sought review of staff action taken in the April 30, 1998, Notice as it related to the purported approval of code sharing by American between the U. S. and Italy via Spain.
The issues raised by United in its May 20 Petition are not resolved by Order 98-12-6. To the extent necessary, United adopts its May 20 Petition as well as its Reply dated June 9, 1998, in the same proceeding, as its Petition for Review of Order 98-12-6 consistent with the procedures set forth in that order.
Counsel: Kirkland Ellis, Jeffrey Manley, 202-879-5000
American Airlines, Inc. and Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana, S.A.
| OST-97-2965 OST-98-3626 Undocketed |
December 18, 1998 | Response of American and Iberia | US-Spain Codesharing |
United's petition seeks review of the NOAT's award of authority to Iberia and its affiliated carriers to carry American's, "AA", code on flights between Madrid and Rome on the ground, inter alia, that the authority is outside the scope of the U.S.-Italy bilateral. In a joint answer submitted on June 1, 1998, American and Iberia opposed United's petition. Among other things, they noted the imminence of U.S.-Italy Open Skies negotiations and argued that it would be imprudent and premature to disturb the limited Madrid-Rome codeshare award before the outcome of these negotiations was known. By way of response to United's letter of December 17, American and Iberia hereby adopt their joint answer of June 1, 1998. In addition, they note a material development not mentioned by United in its letter: On November 12, 1998, the U.S. and Italy announced that they had initialed an Open Skies protocol amending the existing U.S.-Italy air transport agreement. Article 9 BIS of the amended agreement authorizes precisely the kind of third-country codesharing to which United has objected as being extra-bilateral. Although not yet in effect, the successful negotiation of the U.S.-Italy Open Skies agreement lends further strength to the previous arguments of American and Iberia against disturbing the NOAT's award of Madrid-Rome codeshare authority, recently confirmed by Order 98-12-6.
Counsel: Steptoe Johnson, William Karas for Iberia / American, Carl Nelson, 202-496-5647
Home | Search | Help
OST by Number | OST by Order | OST by Carrier | OST by Subject | OST by Day
OIA by Carrier/Subject | OIA by Day | FAA by Number | FAA by Subject | FAA by Day
Carrier Financials | Charter Office | Answer/Reply Calendar