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OST Docket Filings for March 23, 2006
Updated:
| Applications and Renewals:
Air Pacific - Nadi-Los Angeles and Honolulu via Auckland-Toronto and Vancouver Renewal IATA - Middle East-Africa Resolutions / Within Africa Resolutions Northwest - US-Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago Renewal Northwest and JAL - Notice of Resumption of Certain Cargo Codeshare Services Answers and Replies: EAS at Lewisburg, WV - City of Lewisburg in Support of Air Midwest Option 1 EAS at Vernal and Moab, UT - Comments of Congressman Jim Matheson Intra-Alaska Mail Rates - MTC Support for an Extension to File Answers to Order 2006-3-5 Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Air Travel - Ex-Parte Letter to Jim Oberstar US-Ecuador All-Cargo - Reply of Centurion Air Cargo to Answer of Arrow Air Notices of Action Taken: Aeromexico - Mexico City-Philadelphia Servicios Ejecutivos Continental - Mexican Taxi Renewal (Corrected Copy) Notices and Orders: Effectiveness of New Provisions Under 14 CFR 212 - Notice to All Foreign Air Carriers Intra-Alaska Bush Service Mail Rates - Procedural Notice - Granting Motion for Extension of Comments Date |
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Aerovias de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. OST-2006-23775 - Exemption - Mexico City-Philadelphia Filed January 27, 2006 | Issued March 23, 2006 Exemption from 49 USC § 41301 to permit the applicant to conduct scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property, and mail between Mexico City, Mexico, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By: Paul Gretch OST-1997-2828 - Exemption - Nadi-Los Angeles and Honolulu via Auckland-Toronto and Vancouver March 23, 2006 Application for Renewal of Exemption Air Pacific applies for renewal of its exemption from 49 U.S.C. 41301 to provide international air transportation between Nadi, Fiji and the two U.S. coterminal points Los Angeles and Honolulu via Auckland, New Zealand, and beyond the two U.S. coterminal points to, and from, the two Canadian coterminal points Toronto and Vancouver, Canada. Exemption authority was most recently granted in this docket by Notice of Action Taken on April 13, 2005, to enable it to conduct scheduled combination services between Nadi, Fiji, and the two U.S. coterminal points Los Angeles, California and Honolulu, Hawaii, via Auckland, New Zealand, and beyond the two U.S. coterminal points to, and from, the two Canadian coterminal points Toronto and Vancouver. Absent this application, the above-mentioned authority would expire on April 16, 2006. Air Pacific requests renewal of its exemption for at least a one year period. Counsel: Condon & Forsyth, Evelyn Sahr, 202-289-0500 Effectiveness of New Provisions Under 14 CFR 212 Served March 12, 2006 Notice to All Foreign Air Carriers The Department recently issued a final rule amending 14 CFR Part 212, Charter Rules for U.S. and Foreign Direct Air Carriers. The revisions to the rule will become effective April 4, 2006. Among other things, the amended rule will require that a foreign air carrier applying for a statement of authorization under 14 CFR §212.9-10 to conduct fifth-freedom charter operations provide additional information to the Department. Specifically, it must provide a certification of reciprocity from its homeland government (or cite a previously-submitted certification dated within the preceding six months). That certification must state whether the nation which is the domicile of the applicant grants to U.S. air carriers a privilege similar to that requested by the applicant foreign air carrier. In its application for a statement of authorization, the applicant foreign air carrier must state if and when that certification was submitted to the Department. In addition, an applicant foreign air carrier must also provide certain operational data, specifically, the number of one-way third- and fourth-freedom flights the applicant operated in the preceding twelve-month period or calendar year. The purpose of this Notice is to remind affected foreign air carriers of their responsibility to comply with these new requirements in applying to the Department on or after April 4, 2006, for statements of authorization to conduct fifth-freedom charter operations. The Department will consider any application filed on or after that date without the additional information described above to be incomplete, and will not act on such requests unless and until the applicant files the requisite information. In order to facilitate the ability of foreign air carriers to cite relevant reciprocity certifications, the Department has established a Docket, OST-2006-24269, into which we ask all foreign air carriers to file their reciprocity certifications. This will provide a central location for certificates that foreign carriers, the Department, and other interested parties can easily access and reference in applications. By: Paul Gretch Essential Air Service at Lewisburg, West Virginia March 21, 2006 City of Lewisburg in Support of Air Midwest Option 1 In response to Order 2006-1-23 I would like to endorse option (1) of the Mesa/Air Midwest proposal. This one entails an annual subsidy of $999,479 for (7) round-trips a week to Charlotte, (5) to Dulles and (4) to Pittsburgh. By: Mayor John Manchester Essential Air Service at Vernal and Moab, Utah OST-1997-2706 - Vernal, UT January 27, 2006 Comments of Congressman Jim Matheson Vernal is located in the Uintah Mountain range in eastern Utah and it is approximately 180 highway miles from the nearest hub. While it is slightly less than the proscribed 210 miles it is very important to keep in mind that traveling through rural, mountainous regions is far more challenging, particularly during the winter months, than can be estimated by looking at distances on a map. Vernal does not have access to passenger rail or bus service. Energy production in the region is booming and there is a great need for transportation options Therefore, the community is heavily reliant on the EAS subsidy and interested in continuing to provide its residents and business customers with reliable transportation. Finally, the Department should keep in mind that proposals which include non-pressurized aircraft will inevitably result in lower annual enplanement levels, It is my understanding that the non-pressurized aircraft seat fewer people and passengers have said that they prefer to fly on pressurized aircraft in that region. By: Jim Matheson International Air Transport Association
March 23, 2006 Application for Approval of Agreements PTC2 ME-AFR 0144 dated 23 February 2006 TC2 Middle East-Africa Resolutions r1-r14 Minutes: PTC2 ME-AFR 0145 dated 28 January 2006 Tables: PTC2 ME-AFR Fares 0072 dated 23 February 2006 Intended effective date: 1 May 2006. Counsel: IATA, Douglas Lavin, 202-293-9292
March 23, 2006 Application for Approval of Agreements - 294 pages PTC2 AFR 0167 dated 23 February 2006 PTC2 Within Africa Resolutions R1-R23 PTC2 AFR 0168 dated 28 February 2006 PTC2 AFR Fares 0060 dated 23 February 2006 Intended effective date: 1 May 2006. Counsel: IATA, Douglas Lavin, 202-293-9292 Intra-Alaska Bush Service Mail Rates
March 23, 2006 Re: MTC World Support for an Extension to File Answers to Order 2006-3-5 I have represented a group including the majority of bush certificated air carriers in mail rates since the beginning of the proceeding in 1981. I am currently working with a group of carriers to determine if an Answer to Order 2006-3-5 will be filed, although the makeup of the group is not final at this time. I have received a copy of the Motion for an Extension of Time from Peninsula Airways, and understand that the Postal Service has no objection to such an extension. Order 2006-3-5 proposes significant rate reductions. When combined with the Postal Service’s decision not to extend the negotiated rates they have been paying by exemption, Peninsula Airways is one of the most adversely affected carriers. I also would appreciate some additional time to assure the most effective filing on behalf of my clients. At the same time, the Order and its supporting exhibits were clear and definitive, and the data on which the Order is based have been available for many weeks. In any case, if the Consolidated Carriers choose to Answer, it will be filed on or before April 10, 2006. I have commitments for the last three weeks of April that preclude my active participation in anything else. Counsel: MTC, Hank Myers, 425-641-8243, hank@mtcworld.com
Issued and Served March 23, 2006 Order 2006-3-5, March 7, 2006, directed parties to show cause by March 27, 2006, why the bush mail rates in that order should not be finalized. On March 22, Peninsula Airways, Inc., filed a motion under 14 CFR 302.11, to extend the deadline for comments by 30 days. PenAir stated that we should grant its request because it needs additional time to evaluate the data behind the proposed rates and to formulate a response, and because the order tentatively decreased the rates by a significant amount. PenAir states that the Postal Service would not object to the 30-day extension. On March 23, the Consolidated Carriers stated that, although “the Order and its supporting exhibits were clear and definitive, and the data on which the Order is based have been available for many weeks,” it supports an extension until at least April 10, 2006. Given the overlap between deadlines for answers to PenAir’s motion, which is March 28, and comments to Order 2006-3-5, which is March 27, and given the responses of the parties already filed we believe that it is in the public interest to act before answers to the motion are due. We therefore grant PenAir’s motion to extend the date for comments to Order 2006-3-5 until April 26, 2006. By: Todd Homan Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Air Travel March 21, 2006 Ex-Parte Letter to Jim Oberstar As you may be aware, the Department extended the comment period for interested persons to submit comments on the NPRM to January 30, 2006. We believe that this extension has resulted in more thorough comments to the docket than might otherwise be possible without delaying final action in the rulemaking. DOT has begun the process of reviewing and evaluating more than 1,800 comments received on this issue. I want to assure you that the Department is strongly committed to protecting the civil rights of airline passengers with disabilities and ensuring that the US. transportation system in the 21stcentury is inclusive in service. By: Norman Mineta OST-2004-17677 - Exemption - US-Port of Spain Codeshare with Continental March 23, 2006 Application for Renewal of an Exemption Northwest seeks renewal of its exemption authority to provide scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail between any point or points in the United States and Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, last granted by the Department by Notice of Action Taken issued in this docket on May 19, 2004 through May 19, 2006. Northwest requests that the Department renew this exemption for an additional two years. Northwest serves this market by code sharing on flights operated by Continental Airlines, Inc. between Newark and Port of Spain and between Houston and Port of Spain. Counsel: Northwest, Megan Rosia, 202-842-3193 Northwest Airlines, Inc. and Japan Airlines International Co., Ltd. OST-2000-7617 - Statements of Authorization - US-Japan Reciprocal Freighter Codesharing/Blocked Space March 22, 2006 Notice of Resumption of Certain Codeshare Services Hereby give notice that, effective on or about June 1, 2006, JAL will resume display of the "NW" code of Northwest on all-cargo flights operated by JAL between Tokyo (NRT) and Chicago via Anchorage. In Fall 2005, JAL and Northwest notified the Department in the above-captioned docket that JAL would suspend display of the NW* code on its all-cargo flights between NRT and ORD effective October 30, 2005 (the start of the IATA 2005 Northern Winter Season). As evidenced by this notice, JAL and Northwest intend to reinstate codeshare services on this route. Counsel: Northwest, Megan Rae Rosia, 202-842-3193, megan.rosia@nwa.com / Steptoe & Johnson, William Karas, 202-429-6223, wkaras@steptoe.com Servicios Ejecutivos Continental, S.A. OST-2002-11365 - Exemption - Mexico-US Charter Air Transportation Filed February 28, 2006 | Issued March 23, 2006 Notice of Action Taken - Corrected Copy Renewal of exemption from 49 U.S.C. § 41301 to permit the applicant to conduct passenger charter operations between Mexico and the United States, and other passenger charters in accordance with 14 CFR Part 212, using small equipment. The applicant also requests stopover privileges and relief from the Department's requirement to provide prior notice of each flight, or series of flights, between Mexico and the United States. * This Notice corrects previous Notice dated March 16, 2006, giving applicant’s proper name. By: Paul Gretch US-Ecuador All-Cargo Frequencies March 23, 2006 Reply of Centurion Air Cargo to Answer of Arrow Air Only one carrier has filed an objection: Arrow Air, Inc. Arrow’s sole basis for objecting to the pending request is nothing more than a thinly-disguised effort to shield itself from competition by eliminating an important new entrant in the U.S.-Ecuador market. The Department should reject Arrow’s blatant appeal for protection from competition and should grant a waiver allowing Centurion another ninety days (i.e. trough June 12, 2006) to commence its planned scheduled service to Ecuador. Contrary to Arrow’s assertion, the fact that two carriers recently have withdrawn from the U.S.-Ecuador market hardly constitutes a legitimate ground for denying Centurion’s pending waiver request. Simply stated, these other carriers have had their own business reasons for departing from this market, and their actions say nothing about Centurion’s commitment to serving the market. To the contrary, as has already been well documented in this proceeding - a proceeding from which Arrow was noticeably absent - Centurion has a solid history of charter operations in the market, with more than 150 flights operated and 31 million pounds of cargo transported during the past three calendar years. Arrow also argues that Department should deny the pending request on the grounds that the Ecuadorian market already is well-served and does not need Centurion’s services. Thus, Arrow would have the Department reverse almost three decades of well-established precedent that embraces open competition and maximum utilization of valuable bilateral rights. Notably, Arrow has been a significant beneficiary of that policy in the past, and it ill-befits a carrier that heretofore has argued forcefully for greater access to limited entry markets to now be heard to argue, under the guise of an objection to a relatively routing request for waiver of a 90 day start-up condition, that an entrenched carrier should be protected from competition. A number of U.S. carriers have been unable to obtain Ecuadorian authority within the ninety-day period set forth in their awards, and the Department has granted waivers to the carriers to allow them additional time to complete the cumbersome regulatory process. Hence, the circumstances in which Centurion now finds itself is hardly unique, nor is it a situation that is specific to Centurion. Instead, it is a situation that has plagued U.S. carriers for a number of years. Thus, Centurion is not asking for anything different than other carriers - including Arrow - have already sought. It simply wants to continue the process in Ecuador so that it can commence scheduled services between Miami and Quito/Guayaquil. Counsel: Zuckert Scoutt, William Callaway, 202-298-8660, whcallaway@zsrlaw.com |
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