OST-2000-7736 - American Airlines - U.S.- Georgia Codeshare with Swissair

Under the American/Swissair arrangement, the "AA" designator code will be displayed on flights operated by Swissair's affiliate Crossair between Zurich and Tbilisi connecting with flights operated by American or Swissair between Zurich and the United States.

American Airlines, Inc. hereby moves for leave to amend its application, submitted on August 2, 2000, so as to request an exemption authorizing foreign air transportation of persons, property, and mail between points in the United States and points in Georgia, with the right to integrate such exemption authority with all of American's existing certificate and exemption authority, consistent with applicable international agreements. American will use this authority to engage in codesharing services with Swissair

As the United States has not entered into a bilateral air services agreement with Georgia, aviation relations between the two countries are governed by principles of comity and reciprocity. Under such circumstances, Georgia may decide to grant or deny U.S. carrier applications for third-country code sharing at its discretion. United is concerned that if the Department approves American's application before United's contemporaneous application, United could be unfairly prejudiced when it seeks corresponding authority from the Georgian government. If the Department were to approve American's application before United's, American could gain the unwarranted advantage of being able to implement third-country code-share service to Georgia sooner than United, and could even receive authority from the Georgian government to the exclusion of United in the event that Georgia were to decide to exercise its discretion to select only one U.S. carrier (i.e., the first carrier authorized by the Department) to operate such service.

United's concerns in this regard extend beyond the context of U.S.-Georgia thirdcountry code sharing to other circumstances in which multiple U.S. carriers apply contemporaneously for authority to implement competing code-share services to a foreign country with which the U.S. either has not entered into a bilateral agreement or, if such an agreement exists, it does not specifically provide for the form of code sharing proposed. In such circumstances, a decision by the Department to approve one application in advance of approving another, otherwise similarly-situated, contemporaneous application for no discernible substantive reason, could be erroneously interpreted by a foreign government as implying that the Department favors the first applicant. This could be particularly prejudicial to the second applicant in a situation in which the foreign government is already predisposed (for whatever reason) to favor the applicant first approved by the Department.

Moreover, the Department has recently established a policy of referring to the FAA for clearance all U.S. carrier applications for code sharing with a foreign carrier. Consequently, even after the Department has completed its own review and is satisfied that a particular code-share application should be approved, the Department withholds its approval until the FAA has provided the requisite clearance for the proposed codesharing arrangement. The resulting delay in the Department's issuance of an approval notice or order often is not attributable to any specific problem with a particular application, but rather may be a function of the FAA's process for managing a backlog of such applications.

United previously has filed a pending application for authority to operate third-country codeshare service to Georgia in conjunction with Austrian Airlines ("Austrian") via Austria, an open skies country, pursuant to a blanket statement of authorization previously issued by the Department (Docket OST-00-7750). That application is non-controversial and has not been opposed by any party. On September 12, 2000, United submitted an answer to American's application in which United argued that it would be unfair for the Department to authorize American to commence third-country codeshare service to Tbilisi before approving United's application for similar, competitive service. (United hereby is attaching a copy of that answer for inclusion in the above docket.)

United objects to American's application (and Swissair's related plans to place American's code on its Zurich-Tbilisi services) unless United's contemporaneous application is approved no later than American's. United's concerns are twofold. First, United is concerned that if the Department were to approve American's application before United's, American could implement third-country codeshare service to Georgia before United.

Scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property, and mail between points in the United States and points in Georgia. American also requests authority to integrate this authority with all of its existing certificate and exemption authority, consistent with applicable international agreements. American intends to operate this service via Zurich, Switzerland, under a code-share arrangement with Swissair.

Hereby applies for renewal of its exemption, granted by Notice of Action in this docket on March 22, 2001, authorizing foreign air transportation of persons, property, and mail between points in the United States and points in Georgia, with the right to integrate such authority with American's existing certificates and exemptions, consistent with applicable international agreements.

American Airlines, Inc., in light of the March 30, 2008 effective date of U.S.-EU open skies, and American's open skies certificate for Route 835, Order 2007-4-2, April 1, 2007, hereby provides a list of its certificates and exemptions that have been superseded and are no longer required. The entries with asterisks have pending renewal applications that can be dismissed.

OST-00-7736	August 2, 2000	Application for Exemption Authority	U.S.- Georgia Codeshare with Swissair
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OST-00-7736	August 28, 2000	Motion for Leave to File and Amendment to Application of American Airlines	U.S.- Georgia Codeshare with Swissair
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OST-00-7736 OST-00-7750	September 12, 2000	Answer of United Air Lines	U.S.- Georgia Codeshare with Swissair
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OST-99-5944 OST-00-7736	November 7, 2000	Objection of United Air Lines to Approval for Additional Codeshare Services	Blanket Statements of Authorization to Engage in Reciprocal Code-Sharing Services
		Attachment: Answer of United Air Lines- OST-00-7736 dated 9/12/00
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