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OST-00-7196

Northwest Airlines, Inc.

Counsel:  Northwest, Megan Rae Rosia, 202.842.3193

Northwest Airlines, Inc.

To supplement its application, Northwest states as follows: 

• Initially, Northwest plans to codeshare on four weekly roundtrip flights operated by MAS between Ho Chi Minh City and Kuala Lumpur and two weekly roundtrip flights between Hanoi and Kuala Lumpur, connecting with Northwest flights between Kuala Lumpur and Detroit and MAS flights (on which Northwest will also codeshare) between Kuala Lumpur and Los Angeles.
• Between Kuala Lumpur and both points in Vietnam, MAS will operate Boeing 737-400 aircraft with 16 business class seats and 128 economy class seats. Between Kuala Lumpur and Los Angeles, MAS will operate Boeing 747-400 aircraft with 24 first class seats, 60 business class seats and 318 economy class seats. Northwest operates Kuala Lumpur to Detroit single flight number service with change of gauge at Osaka (KIX). Between Kuala Lumpur and Osaka, Northwest operates DC-10 aircraft with 34 business class seats and 256 economy class seats. Between Osaka and Detroit, Northwest operates Boeing 747-400 aircraft with 18 first class seats, 62 business class seats and 338 economy class seats.
• The proposed six weekly flights will be operated on a year-round basis with no seasonal variations.
• Northwest plans to initiate the services contemplated in this application promptly following receipt of all necessary approvals and authorizations from the Department.
• A copy of the Northwest/MAS Commercial Cooperation Agreement was filed in Docket OST-2000-6792 on January 13, 2000.

Counsel:  Northwest, Megan Rae Rosia, 202.842.3193

U.S.-Vietnam Third Country Code Sharing Opportunities

Counsel:  American, Carl Nelson, 202.496.5647, carl_nelson@amrcorp.com

Counsel:  Shaw Pittman, Alexander Van der Bellen, 202.663.8060

Counsel:  Northwest, Megan Rae Rosia, 202.842.3193

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

Northwest Airlines, Inc.

Counsel:  Sun Country, Dennis Barnes, 202.332.8216

Northwest Airlines, Inc.

Counsel:  Northwest, Megan Rae Rosia, 202.842.3193

U.S.-Vietnam Third Country Codesharing Opportunities

Order 2001-5-26 grants the motions of Northwest Airlines, Inc. and United Air Lines, Inc. to amend their applications in the captioned proceeding. The order also provides a further opportunity for all U.S. carriers interested in using the available U.S.-Vietnam third-country code-share opportunities to file new applications or to amend existing applications as set forth in this order. This order invites all U.S. carriers interested in using the opportunities at issue in this proceeding to file applications in Docket No OST-2000-7194 no later than June 1, 2001, providing the information set forth in the attachment to this order, answers to new or amended applications filed by June 8, 2001 and replies to answers June 13, 2001.

After consideration of the pleadings in this case and other relevant circumstances, we find that it is in the public interest to reopen the record and to accept additional evidentiary material before we make a decision on the award of the third-country code-share opportunities that are at issue in this proceeding. These third-country code-share opportunities represent valuable access for U.S. carriers to the Vietnam market, and we believe that it is important to ensure that we make full and effective use of the opportunities available. We called for applications to use these opportunities over a year ago. Several weeks after we instituted this case, however, the Department implemented guidelines to assess the safety of U.S. code-share passengers carried on a foreign air carrier code-share flight. Those guidelines apply to the regulatory review of code-share applications such as those involved here. Specifically, those guidelines provide for, among other things, audits by the U.S. carriers under accepted audit programs of their foreign carrier code-share airlines, review of the audit reports by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and transmittal of the FAA's position to the Office of the Secretary. Processing of the applications in this case was delayed during the start-up phase of this new program.

We are unpersuaded by the arguments of American, Delta, and United that reopening the record in this case would be unfair to the parties or contrary to Department practice. While it is always our desire to process comparative selection cases in a prompt manner, the peculiar circumstances described above made that impossible here, and this case has been pending for over a year. During this period there have been changes in the market as well as changes in the operating restrictions relevant to the services to be provided. At least half of the parties to the case have now demonstrated that they have been rethinking the services that they would offer. With this background, the issue is how best to serve the public interest goals we contemplated in establishing this proceeding, while preserving procedural fairness. In the specific circumstances of this case, we conclude that to maximize the new opportunities that are available and to encourage enhanced public benefits, we should proceed on the basis of an updated record.

By: Susan McDermott

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