usairluftansa

For purposes of clarification, the Joint Applicants are only requesting authorization for US Airways to display its designator code on flights operated by Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Lufthansa CityLine GmbH, and not any of the other "LH Express and Affiliated Carriers" listed in Annex 2 of the US Airways/Lufthansa agreement.

It has come to our attention that Appendix B to the Joint Application (US Airways operated flights on which Lufthansa will code-share) contains several typographical errors. These errors resulted in the listing of five routes that US Airways does not operate: Boston-London(Gatwick), Boston-Grand Cayman, Boston-Nassau, Boston-Freeport, and Boston-Grenada. The corrected Appendix B, attached to this letter, eliminates this error and clarifies that those routes are not a part of the Joint Application. In order to be completely clear, we have also attached a version of Appendix A (Lufthansa operated flights) on which we have marked with an asterisk all of the routes for which US Airways is requesting exemption authority pursuant to paragraph 2 of our Joint Application.

OST-03-15946 - Exemption and Statement of Authorization - US-Germany Codesharing

US Airways - Scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property, and mail between any point or points in the United States, and any point or points in Germany, directly and via intermediate points, and beyond Germany to any point or points in third countries, and to integrate this authority with US Airways’ existing certificate and exemption authority. US Airways further requests any necessary exemption authority (including the right to integrate such authority with its existing certificates and exemptions) in order to engage in code-sharing arrangements with Lufthansa.

Permit US Airways to display the “LH” code of Lufthansa on flights operated by US Airways between (1) any point in the United States and any point in Germany (either nonstop or via third-country points); (2) any points in the United States in conjunction with services held out by Lufthansa between Germany and the United States (either nonstop or via third-country points); and (3) any point in the United States and any point beyond the United States.

Lufthansa - Permit Lufthansa to display the “US” code of US Airways on flights operated by Lufthansa between (1) any point or points in Germany and any points in the United States (either nonstop or via third-country points); (2) any points in Germany in conjunction with services held out by US Airways between the United States and Germany (either nonstop or via-third-country points); and (3) any point in Germany and any point beyond Germany.

US Airways and Lufthansa have listed various foreign points they initially propose to serve in connection with their reciprocal code-sharing arrangement pursuant to their requested statements of authorization. We are deferring action on US Airways’ and Lufthansa’s requests to operate code-share services involving those points in Appendix A marked with an asterisk, and deferring action on US Airways’ exemption request to serve those points pending receipt of the necessary security clearances.

OST-03-15946 - Exemption and Statement of Authorization - US-Germany Codesharing

Pursuant to the blanket statement of authorization issued in this docket, US Airways and Lufthansa hereby notify the Department that, commencing March 26, 2004, US Airways (and its affiliated carriers) and Lufthansa will begin code sharing on each other's flights in the city pairs listed in Attachment A.

Counsel: US Airways, Howard Kass, 703-872-7000 / Wilmer Cutler, Arthur Mollins, 202-663-6000 for Lufthansa

Pursuant to the blanket statement of authorization issued in this docket, US Airways and Lufthansa hereby notify the Department that, commencing March 28, 2004, US Airways will begin code sharing on Lufthansa's daily nonstop services between Charlotte and Munich, Germany. These code‑share services are consistent with the U.S.‑Germany Air Transport Agreement.

Hereby seek to amend certain conditions placed on the exemption granted to US Airways in conjunction with the statements of authorization granted to US Airways and Lufthansa by Amended Notice of Action Taken, dated October 16, 2003.

By granting this Joint Application, the Department will more closely align the code-share authority and conditions thereto applicable to US Airways and Lufthansa in this docket with those adopted by the Department in approving the American Airlines/British Airways code-share arrangement in Order 2003-5-33, May 30, 2003 (Docket OST-2002-13861). The Department should ensure that awards of similar authority to similarly situated carriers are subject to the same conditions - whatever those conditions may be. Anything else would be unfair. In this regard, the US Airways- Lufthansa request herein is akin to the joint application recently filed by Northwest and KLM - an application that US Airways and Lufthansa support insofar as it seeks the removal of certain conditions not attached to awards of similar authority to other carriers. See Joint Application of Northwest Airlines, Mesaba Aviation, and KLM, dated May 6, 2004 (Docket OST-03-15191).

The problem that such disparate treatment presents is not merely theoretical: in February 2004, US Airways had to apply for and be granted an exemption to implement additional code-share services with Lufthansa pursuant to the October 16 NOAT, even though at least one of the new points to be served was in the same country as a point already approved for US Airways/Lufthansa code-share service in the October 16 NOAT. See Application of US Airways for an Exemption (United States-Turkey/Portugal), dated February 25, 2004 (Docket OST-04-17201).

Earlier this year, American withdrew an application for exemption authority to serve points in Bangladesh and Zambia on a code-share basis with BA, stating that the exemption authority originally requested "has already been granted on a blanket basis (subject to 30-day notice) by Order 2003-5-33. See American Airlines Withdrawal of Application, February 12, 2004 (Docket OST-2004-17002).

Pursuant to Rule 11 of the Department's Rules of Practice, 14 C.F.R. § 302.11, US Airways, Inc. and Deutsche Lufthansa AG hereby jointly move for immediate approval of the remainder of the statement of authorization granted to them by Amended Notice of Action Taken dated October 16, 2003, to enable Lufthansa's affiliate, Lufthansa CityLine GmbH to display the designator code of US Airways on flights operated by Lufthansa CityLine within Germany and between points in Germany and points in third countries."

Pursuant to the Amended Notice of Action Taken, dated October 16, 2003, in this docket and condition (b) attached to the corresponding statements of authorization, Deutsche Lufthansa AG hereby notifies the Department that Lufthansa and US Airways, Inc. have decided to cease Lufthansa's display of US Airways' "US" designator code with respect to local passengers traveling on Lufthansa's flights between Boston and Frankfurt.

On October 10 and October 16, 2004, in this docket, the Department granted (except as discussed below) the request of the joint applicants for authority to conduct code-share operations between points in the United States and Germany, both nonstop and via intermediate points, and to third-country points beyond the United States and Germany. At the time US Airways had not completed a code-share safety audit of Lufthansa CityLine, consistent with the provisions of the Department’s Code Share Safety Program. Since US Airways had not conducted a safety audit of Lufthansa CityLine, we limited the authority granted to Lufthansa and its CityLine affiliate so as not to permit the carriage on CityLine of any US Airways’ traffic. See Notices of Action Taken of October 10, 2004, and October 16, 2004, in Docket OST-2003-15946. US Airways has now completed a code-share safety audit of Lufthansa CityLine and the Federal Aviation Administration has reviewed US Airways’ audit report and found it to be acceptable.

The Joint Applicants request that the Department amend certain conditions applicable to US Airways’ already authorized exemption authority granted by the amended Notice of Action Taken dated October 16, 2003, (in this docket) so as to align the code-share authority and notice procedures applicable to US Airways and Lufthansa with the code-share authority and notice procedures adopted by the Department in approving the code-share by American and British Airways, as set forth in Order 2003-5-33 (Docket OST-2002-13861). Specifically, the Joint Applicants request that the condition granted to serve intermediate and beyond points be deleted so as not to limit the authority to only countries with which the United States has signed open-skies agreements and/or countries with which the carrier holds authority to serve under certificates or exemptions issued by the Department, and for which it holds route integration authority.

We have amended US Airways’ exemption granted by the Notice of Action Taken of October 16, 2003, in this docket as requested by the Joint Applicants in their present submission, by deleting the condition on page 3 of the Notice limiting U.S. Airways’ exemption authority as regards service to intermediate and beyond points. With our action here, the requirements applicable to US Airways and Lufthansa with respect to services to new countries under their code-share arrangement are aligned with those applicable to American and British Airways under Order 2003-5-33.

Pursuant to the blanket statement of authorization issued in this docket, Lufthansa hereby notifies the Department that, commencing April 4, 2005, Lufthansa will display US Airways' "US" designator code on flights operated by Lufthansa between:

US Airways, Inc. applies for renewal of (i) its exemption authority to engage in scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property, and mail between any point or points in the United States, and any point or points in Germany, directly and via intermediate points, and beyond Germany to any point or points in third countries; (ii) to integrate this authority with its existing certificate and exemption authority; and (iii) any necessary exemption authority (including the right to integrate such authority with its existing certificates and exemptions) in order to engage in code-sharing arrangements with Lufthansa.

OST-2003-15946 - US Airways and Lufthansa - US-Germany Codeshare
OST-2005-20566 - Mesa Airlines - Statement of Authorization - Codeshare with Lufthansa and US Airways
OST-2005-21903 - Air Wisconsin - Interim and Indefinite Statements of Authorization - Codeshare with Lufthansa

Pursuant to the blanket statements of authorization issued in the above-referenced dockets, US Airways and Lufthansa hereby notify the Department that, commencing February 24, 2006, Lufthansa will begin codesharing on flights operated by US Airways and/or its affiliated and express carriers between:

Pursuant to the blanket statement of authorization issued in this docket, Lufthansa hereby notifies the Department that, commencing October 12, 2006, Lufthansa will display US Airways' "US" designator code on flights operated by Lufthansa between: Frankfurt, Germany and Amsterdam, Netherlands

Deutsche Lufthansa AG and US Airways, Inc. in Docket OST-2003-15946, Lufthansa hereby notifies the Department that, effective on or after August 1, 2008, US Airways' "US" designator code will be displayed on flights operated by Lufthansa between:

Code sharing between Munich and Zagreb will not be implemented until the Open Skies Agreement between the United States and Croatia goes into effect.

In addition, effective on or after August 1,2008, Lufthansa's "LH" designator code will be displayed on flights operated by US Airways and/or its affiliated and express carriers between: