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OST Docket Filings for January 9, 2007
Updated:
| Applications and Renewals:
Aeronautica La Esperanza - US-Mexico Charters Renewal Answers and Replies: EAS at Clarksburg, Morgantown and Parkersburg, WV - Emergency Request of RegionsAir / Requests for Community Comments EAS at Clovis and Silver City/Hurley/Deming, NM - Requests for Community Comments EAS at Staunton, VA - Comments of Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport Commission EVA and Air-India - Response of Delta (Los Angeles/San Francisco-Mumbai via Taipei Codeshare) Notice to All Foreign Carriers - Reciprocity Statement of the UK Government / Updated Reciprocity Statement of Government of Ecuador Star Alliance - Comments of American Airlines to Show Cause Order US-China - Support for United Virgin America - Motion for Extension of Time to File Objection Notices of Action Taken: Air New Zealand - New Zealand-US Mail Codeshare with Alaska Airlines TAG Aviation - US-UK Executive Charters Renewal Notices and Orders: EAS at El Dorado/Camden, Jonesboro, Harrison and Hot Spring, AR - Selecting Carrier and Establishing Subsidy Rate EAS at Zachar Bay and Port Bailey, AK - Show Cause Terminating Subsidy Intra-Alaska Bush Mail Rates - Show Cause Proposing Updated Mail Rates US-China - Addressing Motions of American and Northwest and to Show Cause on Allocation of US-China Combination Frequencies |
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Aeronautica La Esperanza, S.A. de C.V. OST-2004-17761 - Mexico-US Charter Air Transportation December 26, 2006 Application for Renewal of Exemption LA ESPERANZA hereby applies for renewal of its exemption to engage in charter foreign air transportation of persons and their accompanying baggage with small aircraft between the United States and Mexico, and, subject to prior Department approval, between other countries and the United States. LA ESPERANZA also requests renewal of its relief from the requirement to obtain advance approval for each Mexico-U.S. flight and stopover privileges. The Department granted the above authority to LA ESPERANZA by Notice of Action Taken dated February 08, 2006. LA ESPERANZA requests that this authority, which is scheduled to expire on February 08, 2007, be renewed for a period of at least one year. The services LA ESPERANZA proposes to operate are substantially identical to those it performed during the past year, i.e. highly personalized transport services to executives and their invitees using small business-type aircraft. By: La Esperanza, Ronlando Rincon Mesta Air Canada / The Austrian Group / British Midland Airways Limited / Deutsche Lufthansa AG / Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT S.A. / Scandinavian Airlines System / Swiss International Air Lines Ltd. / TAP Air Portugal / United Air Lines, Inc. OST-2005-22922 - Approval of and Antitrust Immunity for Alliance Expansion Agreements and an Amended Coordination Agreement Janaury 9, 2007 Comments of American Airlines on Show Cause Order 2006-12-17 Hereby comments on show cause Order 2006-12-17, December 19, 2006, which proposes to confer antitrust immunity on Star's expanded global alliance. For the reasons set forth by our prior pleadings in this docket, American still has serious concerns about the impact that Star's continued expansion will have on the ability of other alliances (such as oneworld) to compete effectively. As a result, we do not believe that the public interest would be served by expanding Star's antitrust immunity in the absence of a regulatory framework which would allow vibrant inter-alliance competition. Without meaningful inter‑alliance competition, immunized alliances have a limited incentive to pass efficiencies on to consumers in the form of lower prices. American also notes the Department's statement that: "Where new online service is not the primary public benefit of a proposed alliance, we would expect applicants to demonstrate that other important public benefits will likely result from a grant of immunity." American assumes that one such important public benefit would be the inter-alliance competition referenced above, which is necessary for the benefits of immunized alliances to be enjoyed by consumers. However, while American would certainly prefer that the Department reshape the immunized alliance playing field in a single proceeding, we understand the statutory requirement to "move towards a decision in a timely fashion'. American remains a strong supporter of the Department's open skies policy, and hopes the regulatory obstacles to the formation of a third competing immunized alliance will soon be lifted. Counsel: American, Carl Nelson, 202-496-5647 OST-2006-26759 - Statement of Authorization - New Zealand-US Mail Codeshare with Alaska Airlines Filed December 26, 2006 | Approved January 9, 2007 Department Action on Application Application of Air New Zealand Limited for a blanket statement of authorization to permit Air New Zealand to display the Alaska Airlines, Inc. (Alaska) designator code for mail-only codeshare operations on scheduled flights operated by Air New Zealand Limited in the following markets: (1) between any point or points in New Zealand and any point or points in the United States, either nonstop or via intermediate points in third countries; (2) between any points in New Zealand; (3) between any point or points in the United States and any point or points in any third country; and (4) between any point or points in New Zealand and any point or points in any third country. By: Shelita Smith Effectiveness of New Provisions Under 14 CFR 212
November 30, 2006 Re: Reciprocity Statement of the UK Government This letter is to confirm that the UK Government, on the basis of reciprocity, will approve requests from US-designated airlines to perform fifth, sixth and seventh freedom charter operations on the understanding that the US Government will approve similar requests from UK-designated airlines. The UK Government also confirms that approval for similar charter operations by US airlines to the UK's Overseas Territories will also be granted, where reciprocity applies. By: Clive Wright, 202-588-6696, clive.wright@fco.gov.uk
January 8, 2007 Re: Updated Reciprocity Statement of Government of Ecuador That in conformity with what is established in Annex II of the Air Transportation Agreement between the Governments of Ecuador and the United States of America signed in Washington in September 26, 1986, the aeronautical Ecuadorian authority will be willing to grant traffic rights to points outside of the United States and of Ecuador, in non-regular cargo charter services, to airlines designated by the United States under similar conditions to those granted these rights to airlines designated by the Ecuadorian authorities, number of companies designated and number of points in which this operation is allowed, all of this under the principle of strict reciprocity and the courtesy and good disposition that animate the authorities of countries in the granting of these rights. Counsel: Zuckert Scoutt, Charles Simpson, 202-973-7926, cjsimpson@zsrlaw.com Essential Air Service at Clarksburg, Morgantown and Parkersburg, West Virginia OST-2005-20736 - Clarksburg/Fairmont, WV
January 5, 2007 Emergency Request of RegionsAir RegionsAir is asking for an emergency short-term selection for Morgantown, Parkersburg and Clarksburg, West Virginia (to/from Cleveland), effective immediately, at an increased subsidy amount. The increased subsidy is essential to continue to protect the continuation of service to the communities. The carrier and the communities initially sought a code sharing agreement with Delta Air Lines that the communities felt was likely to be granted. After numerous discussions it became clear that an agreement was not going to be possible. We then approached Continental and worked out an agreement that but the process delayed our start up to transition to a new hub and concept. The aircraft that Regions leased were virtually all delivered late to the company (some as much as two months) forcing us to run a reduced operation and since the maintenance providers could not guarantee a date we could not load schedules and sell tickets in advance of service. The aircraft initially had lots of maintenance issues that caused service problems and forced the company to expend far more than anticipated on maintenance to resolve the service issues. Although we ultimately fixed the reliability issues, Continental informed us this fall that they were going to terminate our code share agreement which means that we would have no reasonable method of providing reservations and selling tickets. However, on a positive note, we have taken steps to drastically reduce our expenses with a schedule change that will go into effect January 13, and our proposal reflects a decrease in forecast expenses of almost $2,000,000 compared to our original bid. Unfortunately, at the same time, our revenues are down about $4 million, and there are basically three reasons for that. First, in retrospect we were too optimistic in our passenger forecasts. Second, as we mentioned above, we did have serious reliability problems in the first few months and it takes a long time to recover from that even after the service is back on track. Third, our ability to save nearly $2 million in expenses necessarily has an effect on revenues as well. Therefore, based on all of the above, we feel that it is reasonable for the Department to approve our request for an Emergency Short Term Selection for 30 days or until a replacement carrier commences service. By: RegionsAir, Doug Caldwell
OST-2005-20734 - Parkersburg, WV January 8, 2007 Requests for Community Comments of: As you know, by Order 2006-12-9, December 12, 2006, the Department solicited proposals from all interested air carriers to provide service at Parkersburg, as well as at Morgantown and Clarksburg, West Virginia. In response to that order, we received proposals from three carriers: Colgan Air, Big Sky Airlines, and Mesa Air Group, Inc. d/b/a Air Midwest. Please note that the average passenger fares shown in each proposal do not necessarily reflect the average local fare Parkersburg passengers would actually pay, but, rather, reflect a prorated portion of the total ticket price, e.g., the Parkersburg-Pittsburgh portion of a Parkersburg-Pittsburgh-Washington, D.C. ticket that the subsidized carrier would realize. Also, the fare shown is net of certain charges such as Federal transportation security fees, excise or ticket taxes, and Passenger Facility Charges. We request that you review each proposal and service option and submit any comments you may have before we submit a recommendation to the Assistant Secretary. We ask that you submit any comments you may have as soon as possible, but in any case no later than January 17, 2007. By: Dennis DeVany
OST-2005-20735 - Morgantown, WV January 8, 2007 Requests for Community Comments of: As you know, by Order 2006-12-9, December 12, 2006, the Department solicited proposals from all interested air carriers to provide service at Morgantown, as well as at Clarksburg and Parkersburg, West Virginia. In response to that order, we received proposals from three carriers: Colgan Air, Big Sky Airlines, and Mesa Air Group, Inc. d/b/a Air Midwest. Please note that the average passenger fares shown in each proposal do not necessarily reflect the average local fare Morgantown passengers would actually pay, but, rather, reflect a prorated portion of the total ticket price, e.g., the Morgantown-Pittsburgh portion of a Morgantown-Pittsburgh-Washington, D.C. ticket that the subsidized carrier would realize. Also, the fare shown is net of certain charges such as Federal transportation security fees, excise or ticket taxes, and Passenger Facility Charges. We request that you review each proposal and service option and submit any comments you may have before we submit a recommendation to the Assistant Secretary. We ask that you submit any comments you may have as soon as possible, but in any case no later than January 17, 2007. By: Dennis DeVany
OST-2005-20736 - Clarksburg/Fairmont, WV January 8, 2007 Requests for Community Comments of: As you know, by Order 2006-12-9, December 12, 2006, the Department solicited proposals from all interested air carriers to provide service at Clarksburg, as well as at Morgantown and Parkersburg, West Virginia. In response to that order, we received proposals from three carriers: Colgan Air, Big Sky Airlines, and Mesa Air Group, Inc. d/b/a Air Midwest. Please note that the average passenger fares shown in each proposal do not necessarily reflect the average local fare Clarksburg passengers would actually pay, but, rather, reflect a prorated portion of the total ticket price, e.g., the Clarksburg-Pittsburgh portion of a Clarksburg-Pittsburgh-Washington, D.C. ticket that the subsidized carrier would realize. Also, the fare shown is net of certain charges such as Federal transportation security fees, excise or ticket taxes, and Passenger Facility Charges. We request that you review each proposal and service option and submit any comments you may have before we submit a recommendation to the Assistant Secretary. We ask that you submit any comments you may have as soon as possible, but in any case no later than January 17, 2007. By: Dennis DeVany Essential Air Service at Clovis and Silver City/Hurley/Deming, New Mexico
OST-1996-1902 - Clovis January 8, 2007 Requesting Community Comments of: By Order 2006-11-24, November 30, 2006, the Department solicited proposals from all interested air carriers to provide service at Clovis, as well as at Silver City/Hurley/Deming. In response to that order, we received proposals from two carriers: Great Lakes Aviation and Pacific Wings. Please note that the average passenger fares shown in each proposal do not necessarily reflect the average local fare Clovis passengers would actually pay, but, rather, reflect a prorated portion of the total ticket price, e.g., the Clovis-Albuquerque portion of a Clovis-Albuquerque-Los Angeles ticket that the subsidized carrier would realize. Also, the fare shown is net of certain charges such as Federal transportation security fees, excise or ticket taxes, and Passenger Facility Charges. We request that you review each proposal and service option and submit any comments you may have before we submit a recommendation to the Assistant Secretary. We ask that you submit any comments you may have as soon as possible, but in any case no later than February 9, 2007. By: Dennis DeVany
OST-1996-1903 - Silver City/Hurley/Deming January 8, 2007 Requesting Community Comments of:
By Order 2006-11-24, November 30, 2006, the Department solicited proposals from all interested air carriers to provide service at Silver City/Hurley/Deming, as well as at Clovis. In response to that order, we received proposals from two carriers: Great Lakes Aviation and Pacific Wings. Please note that the average passenger fares shown in each proposal do not necessarily reflect the average local fare Silver City passengers would actually pay, but, rather, reflect a prorated portion of the total ticket price, e.g., the Silver City-Albuquerque portion of a Silver City-Albuquerque-Los Angeles ticket that the subsidized carrier would realize. Also, the fare shown is net of certain charges such as Federal transportation security fees, excise or ticket taxes, and Passenger Facility Charges. We request that you review each proposal and service option and submit any comments you may have before we submit a recommendation to the Assistant Secretary. We ask that you submit any comments you may have as soon as possible, but in any case no later than February 9, 2007. By: Dennis DeVany Essential Air Service at El Dorado/Camden, Jonesboro, Harrison and Hot Springs, Arkansas Issued January 9, 2007 | Served January 12, 2007 Order Selecting Carrier and Establishing Subsidy Rate - Bookmarked We select Air Midwest, Inc., to provide essential air service at El Dorado/Camden, Jonesboro, Harrison and Hot Springs, Arkansas at a subsidy rate of $4,296,348 annually for the two-year rate term beginning April 1, 2007 through March 31, 2009. We set the final rate of compensation for Air Midwest, Inc., for the provision of essential air service at El Dorado/Camden, Jonesboro, Harrison and Hot Springs, Arkansas, as described in Appendix B, from April 1, 2007, through March 31, 2009, payable as follows: for each month during which essential air service is provided, the amount of compensation shall be subject to the weekly ceiling set forth in Appendix B, and shall be determined by multiplying the subsidy-eligible arrivals and departures completed during the month by $782.43. By: Andrew Steinberg Essential Air Service at Staunton, Virginia January 2, 2007 Comments of Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport As Chairman of the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport Commission, I am responding on behalf of the City of Staunton and the other four local governments of the Central Shenandoah Valley Region which are represented by members of the Airport Commission. Since 2002 Colgan Air has provided exemplary service to our community and have always worked closely with us whenever issues arise. While Colgan’s bid represents an increase in the subsidy required, it appears much of the increase is attributable to significant increases in cost of fuel and less total passenger revenue than was anticipated with the last bid. In their proposal submitted in 2004. Colgan had yet to provide service to Washington Dulles and therefore could only estimate the number of passengers and associated revenue from this hub. It is without hesitation that we endorse the proposal submitted by Colgan Air and request that the DOT select Colgan to provide service to our community. By: Gerald Garber Essential Air Service at Zachar Bay and Port Bailey, Alaska Issued and Served January 9, 2007 Order to Show Cause Terminating Subsidy As is our normal practice in dealing with EAS issues in the State of Alaska, we contacted the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to discuss the air service at Port Bailey and Zachar Bay, Alaska. (49 U.S.C. 41732 grants the State of Alaska some statutory authority over service levels within the State, and it typically acts as the spokesman for the communities.) After several discussions between the State and Department staff, the State informally indicated that it had conferred with local authorities, and, based upon the extremely low numbers of passengers, would not object to our discontinuing subsidy support for this service. The State also indicated that it retained its right to request the restart of service in the future, should circumstances warrant. We appreciate the important role that the State plays in EAS matters within Alaska. It has always taken a very practical view of the EAS needs in Alaska, and it has again done that here. Based on the State’s informal comments, we will tentatively discontinue subsidy support for Port Bailey and Zachar Bay. Given the limited historical traffic at these two communities, it appears that it would be inappropriate to continue subsidizing their air service. Nonetheless, in order to give the communities full process, we establish a 20-day period during which they can object to our tentative decision. In order to allow for an orderly shutdown of service, absent any objections, we will continue to subsidize Servant for its service to Port Bailey and Zachar Bay through April 30, 2007, the ending date of the current contract set by Order 2005-3-4. By: Andrew Steinberg EVA Airways Corporation and Air-India Ltd. OST-2006-26579 - Exemption and Statements of Authorization - Los Angeles/San Francisco-Mumbai via Taipei Codeshare Janaury 9, 2007 Motion for Leave to File and Response of Delta Air Lines Even if the Italy‑India bilateral agreement has implications for Delta's ability to list its code on authorized flights of Alitalia (which it does not), the claim that the Government of India would somehow "be acting contrary to international law" or "violate its aviation bilateral with Italy" by granting Delta's request is frankly absurd. Accepting Air India/EVA's position on this point would mean that every time the United States has granted, or grants, extra‑bilateral authority it has been, or is, in violation of international law. The Department should also not credit the claim that "[e]ven if India were to do so, the Italian government would not be so obliging and Delta would be in exactly the same position it is in today.") There is no substantiation for this claim by two carriers (neither of which is from Italy) as to what the Italian Government would or would not do. Simply put, Delta submits that it would be unfair for the Department to approve this expedited application for codesharing by EVA and Air India when the Government of India continues to preclude Delta from codesharing on Alitalia between Milan and Delhi. Counsel: Delta and Hogan & Hartson, Robert Cohn, 202-637-4999/5659 Intra-Alaska Bush Service Mail Rates Issued and Served January 9, 2007 Show Cause Order Proposing Updated Mail Rates - Bookmarked By this order, the Department proposes to establish new intra-Alaska bush-service mail rates. Order 2006-8-27, August 30, 2006, updated the short runway Part 121 (SR-121) and regular runway Part 121 (R-121) rates, as well as Part 135, Seaplane, and terminal rates. Most recently, Order 2006-11-15, November 16, 2006, merged the SR-121 and R-121 rates. Those orders were based on data for the year ended June 30, 2005, and June 30, 2006, respectively. The rates we are proposing here reflect the same costing methodology used in recent orders, but merely use more recent data. The rates currently in effect will remain in effect until a final order is issued with respect to the rates tentatively proposed here. We also tentatively dismiss the methodological costing issues first raised by the parties in response to Order 2006-3-5, except for imputing a minimum salary for certain carriers' owners/managers. We direct all interested persons to show cause within 20 days why the Department should not fix, determine and publish final rates, as follows: Part 121, $5.7186 per mail revenue ton mile; Part 135, $11.3034 per mail revenue ton mile; Seaplane, $269896 per mail revenue ton mile; and Terminal, $649.55 per mail ton enplaned. These rates would be effective after the issuance of a final Department order, until further Department action. By: Andrew Steinberg OST-2005-22829 - Exemption - UK-US Charter Air Transportation Filed December 7, 2006 | Issued January 9, 2007 Renew exemption from 49 U.S.C. 41301 to engage in charter foreign air transportation of persons and property between any point or points in the United Kingdom and any point or points in the United States, either directly or via intermediate or beyond points in other countries with or without stopovers, and other charters pursuant to 14 CFR Part 212 of the Department’s regulations. By: Paul Gretch OST-2005-23307 - Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity - Interstate Scheduled Passenger January 8, 2007 Motion for Extension of Time to File its Objection in Response to the Department's Show Cause Order Virgin America, Inc. respectfully moves for an extension of time of three business days, until January 16, 2007, to file its Objections and response to the Department’s Show Cause Order rendered on December 27, 2006 in the above-captioned matter. Order 2006-12-23. Virgin America’s application for economic authority has been pending before the Department for over a year, and the Department itself took over 150 days following its certification that Virgin America’s application was “substantially complete” to issue its Show Cause Order. The Show Cause Order raises a variety of issues regarding the applicant’s citizenship, requiring detailed and thorough responses, which Virgin America intends to submit, fully detailing its compliance with the Department’s citizenship requirements. Counsel: Pillsbury Wintrhop, Kenneth Quinn, 202-663-8000, kquinn@pillsburylaw.com 2007 US-China Combination Service Proceeding
Issued and Served January 9, 2007 We tentatively decide to allocate United seven weekly combination frequencies for its proposed Washington (Dulles)-Beijing services in the U.S.-China market because it will offer the greatest overall public benefits. The rights would become available to United on March 25, 2007. The record in this proceeding highlights the growing inadequacy of U.S.-China air services, with demand far exceeding supply under the current restrictive bilateral environment. Though China is the second largest trading partner of the United States, a combined total, on average, of only eleven daily nonstop flights are offered between the two countries. This shortfall of available nonstop service options emphasizes the importance of injecting as much nonstop capacity into the U.S.-China market as possible when awarding these frequencies. The market between the Washington, D.C. metro area and China represents the largest overall O&D market without nonstop service. Currently, Washington, D.C.-China services operated by U.S. airlines involve only one-stop on-line connections via a U.S. hub or two-stop on-line connections via Tokyo. In the 12 months ended March 2006, approximately 92,000 passengers traveled between the Washington, D.C. metro area and China. Furthermore, the O&D traffic to China from the Washington, D.C. metro area is growing at a rapid pace. Only San Francisco, Chicago, and New York/Newark have more China O&D traffic than the Washington, D.C. metro area, and each of those gateways already has more than one nonstop service option to China. United's B-747 service would provide 253,310 seats between the U.S. and China on an annual basis, 22% more capacity than Continental. Although Northwest will offer capacity almost equal to that of United, the record shows that there is much greater need for this capacity to China from the Washington, D.C. metro area than from Detroit, since, as we have emphasized already, the Washington, D.C. metro area is the largest O&D market without nonstop service to China. By: Andrew Steinberg December 21, 2006 Support of SkyWest Airlines for United Air Lines I am the Director of Government and Legal Affairs for SkyWest Airlines, one of United Express' partners. I am writing in strong support of United Air Lines' application to initiate the first-ever Capital-to-Capital service between Washington, DC and Beijing, China. By: SkyWest, Todd Emerson, 435-634-3530, temerson@skywest.com |
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