ost972442

OST Filings by Docket Number

ValuJet Airlines, Inc. (Exemption, Slot Restrictions at New York LaGuardia)

OST-97-2442 | May 2, 1997

Application for an Exemption from Subparts K and S of 14 CFR Part 93

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Recognizing that ValuJet qualifies as a New Entrant Air Carrier, the company respectfully submits this application seeking an exemption in the public interest and under the "exceptional circumstances" criterion from the high density airport slot limitations at New York's LaGuardia Airports so as to provide six daily non-stop round trip flights in the Atlanta--LaGuardia market.

Attachment 1 - Former ValuJet LaGuardia Slots | Attachment 2 - Press Release of March 19, 1996 | Attachment 3 - Press Release of April 26, 1996 | Attachment 4 - Actual Price & Traffic History: Atlanta-New York Airports | Attachment 5 - Average Fares of Nonstop Versus Connecting Carriers: Atlanta-LaGuardia Market History | Attachment 6 - Atlanta-LaGuardia Market Shares | Attachment 7 - Hartsfield Atlanta Intl Airport YTD Passenger Data

By: ValuJet, Joseph Corr, 770-907-2580

ValuJet Airlines, Inc. (Exemption, High Density Rule, Atlanta-New York LaGuardia)

OST-97-2442 | May 16, 1997

Answer of the Office of the Queens Borough President, City of New York and Motion to File a Late Answer

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The High Density Rule at LaGuardia Airport serves several essential purposes, including protecting the safety of the traveling public, reducing congestion and delays, and limiting noise pollution and traffic impacts on local residents. Congress clearly recognized the importance of these considerations, and explicitly stated that exemptions to the High Density Rule should be granted only to new entrants, only when the exemption in the "public interest", and only when there are "exceptional circumstances" warranting the exemption. For the reasons set forth above, ValuJet has failed to meet any of the three prerequisites to the granting of an exemption, and as a result its application should be denied.

Counsel: Michael Rogovin, Deputy Counsel, 718-286-2880

ValuJet Airlines, Inc. (Exemption, Slot Restrictions at New York LaGuardia)

OST-97-2442 | May 21, 1997

Motion for Leave to File an Otherwise Unauthorized Document and Reply of ValuJet

Attachment 1 - LaGuardia-Atlanta Services will Alleviate the Worst of LaGuardia Monopolistic Price Behavior in LaGuardia's Largest Monopoly Market | Attachment 2 - LaGuardia is Atlanta's largest Monopoly Market | Attachment 3 - Comparison of Fares in Atlanta Markets Year End June 1996

By: ValuJet, D. Joseph Corr, 770-907-2580

Editor's Note: Pleading is facsimiled copy - will only be avaialble in Adobe Acrobat PDF.

ValuJet Airlines, Inc. (Exemption, LaGuardia Slots)

OST-97-2442 | May 22, 1997

Re: Applicaiton of ValuJet

Correction for page 3 for Reply of Valujet filed May 21, 1997

By: ValuJet, Joespeh Corr, President and CEO, 770-907-2580

ValuJet Airlines, Inc. (Exemption, High Density Rule, LaGuardia-Atlanta)

OST-97-2442 | June 2, 1997

Motion for Leave to File an Otherwise Unauthorized Document and Surreply of Delta Air Lines

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ValuJet's principal argument appears to be that where there is only a single nonstop operator in a LaGuardia airport-pair, that circumstance constitutes a "monopoly" which, standing alone, would justify a finding of "exceptional circumstances." That position wholly ignores the presence of a highly competitive array of alternative services between New York and Atlanta. . ValuJet's Application and Reply also fail to establish its inability to obtain slots under the buy-sell rule. The Department established a market-based buy-sell rule which permits slots to be freely traded, leased, sold, or otherwise transferred. The buy-sell mechanism is available to all carriers seeking to obtain slots to offer services in any LaGuardia airport-pair. ValuJet admits that it has had several opportunities to buy or lease existing slots, but for its own commercial reasons has chosen not to do so. ValuJet's previous ability to obtain slots (which it voluntarily gave back) and its current continued ability to obtain slots through the buy-sell mechanism, conclusively negate any claim of "exceptional circumstances."

Counsel: Delta and Shaw Pittman, Robert Cohn, 202-663-8060

ValuJet Airlines, Inc. (Exemption, LaGuardia Slots)

OST-97-2442 | June 10, 1997

Motion for Leave to File an Otherwise Unauthorized Document and Rejoinder of ValuJet

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Delta's vociferous answer and surreply regarding ValuJet's application probably is due to the importance of the Atlanta-LaGuardia market to Delta s system. It is quite logical for Delta to want to protect its turf by resisting ValuJet's slot exemption request. Delta's apparent motivation, however, does not make its rhetoric convincing. Notwithstanding Delta's assertions, ValuJet does qualify for an exemption from LaGuardia slot requirements.

On June 11, 1997, ValuJet announced that it is entering the Boston-Philadelphia market effective July 10, 1997. Business Express has announced it will enter the Boston-Philadelphia market effective July 1, 1997. Between the cessation of JetTrain service in December 1996 and the initiation of ValuJet and Business Express service, Boston-Philadelphia was previously the largest monopoly market served by a high fare U.S. air carrier.

Attachment – Top Four Monopoly or Concentrated Markets of High Fare Air Carriers Calendar Year 1996

By: ValuJet, D Joseph Corr, 770-907-2580

ValuJet Airlines, Inc. (Exemption, Slots at New York LaGuardia)

OST-97-2442 | June 12, 1997

Letters in Opposition from Various Civic Parties – State and City of New York

ValuJet Airlines, Inc. (Exemption, LaGuardia Slots)

OST-97-2442 | June 13, 1997

Letter in Opposition from Leonard Stavinsky, New York State Senate

Chicago O’Hare and New York LaGuardia Slots / Frontier Airlines, ValuJet, AirTran, Western Pacific (Exemptions from High Density Rule)

OST-97-2230, 97-2442, 97-2557, 95-277 | July 9, 1997

Motion for Leave to File an Answer and Answer of Air Carrier Association of America

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It is time for the Department of Transportation to reject the duplicitous arguments of the large carriers and create "open skies" in this country. The inability of affordable fare carriers to obtain slots prevented meaningful competition at LaGuardia and O'Hare for the summer of 1997. Now is the time for the Department to take the steps necessary to provide access for new entrants at the high density airports. Providing the slots requested will have minimal impact economic impact -- but not acting will have a negative impact on the costs for millions of travelers and the future economic growth of communities throughout this country.

By: Edward Faberman, Executive Director, 202-778-4462

Chicago O’Hare and New York LaGuardia Slots / Frontier Airlines, Inc. / ValuJet Airlines, Inc. / AirTran Airways, Inc. / Western Pacific Airlines, Inc.

OST-97-2230 | OST-97-2442 | OST-97-2557 | OST-95-277 | July 15, 1997

Motion for Leave to File and Reply of US Airways to the Answer of the Air Carrier Association of America

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US Airways strongly objects to both ACAA's highly intemperate attacks on US Airways and its confused attempt to link the fundamentally different issues of Heathrow access with its members' applications for waivers of DOT's domestic slot rules. If DOT accepts for consideration ACAA's unauthorized filing, US Airways requests that DOT also accept this Reply and, on the basis of the points set forth above, reject the spurious argument of ACAA.

Attachment – Letter from President of the Borough of Queens to Rodney Slater – June 10, 1997

Counsel: US Airways and Zuckert Scoutt, Richard Mathias, 202-298-8660

ValuJet, Inc. (Exemption, High Density Rule, LaGuardia Slots)

OST-97-2442 | July 10, 1997

Re: Letter from Charles Hunnicutt to Denis Butler, New York State Assembly

Rather than purchasing unused slots from other airlines, ValuJet is trying to minimize its costs by getting free slots. It should also be noted that ValuJet may not even qualify for an exemption since it is not a new entrant air carrier. ValuJet previously flew this route with slots leased from Continental until ValuJet was grounded by the FAA following the crash of a ValuJet airliner in Florida.

Chicago O’Hare and New York LaGuardia Slots / Fontier Airlines, Inc. / ValuJet / AirTran / Western Pacific (Exemptions, High Density Rule)

OST-97-2230 | 97-2442 | OST-97-2557 | OST-95-277 | July 18, 1997

Motion for Leave to File and Reply of Trans World Airlines

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The Department would be hard pressed to justify transfer of any slots to any of the applicants in these dockets. Valujet and Frontier propose only duplicative service to hubs of major airlines. Each hub already has ample competitive service to the New York area. Western Pacific already provides competitive service between Chicago and Colorado Springs, and its pleading claims to have done well on the route. It demonstrates that low fare carriers can compete quite effectively by using other airports to serve major destinations. Airtran proposes distinctly inferior use of valuable frequencies. For example, if TWA were to lose a LaGuardia slot to Airtran for service to Toledo, TWA would be unable to provide a full pattern of service to its major St. Louis hub. This would deprive passengers at numerous points behind St. Louis of the competitive alternative offered by TWA. In a perfect world, it would be nice to allow everyone to serve LaGuardia from everywhere. However, the present slot allocation system under which major hub carriers have put slots to their highest use -- full daily patterns to competitive hubs -- has created the most efficient and competitive air transportation system in the world. The Department will not be able to justify reducing hub competition in order to accommodate the desires of cities with limited traffic volume for nonstop service to LaGuardia.

Counsel: TWA and Richard Fahy, 202-457-4764

Chicago O’Hare and New York LaGuardia Slots | Frontier Airlines, Inc., ValuJet Airlines, Inc., AirTran Airways, Inc., Western Pacific Airlines, Inc. (Exemptions, High Density Rule)

OST-97-2230 | OST-97-2442 | OST-97-2557 | OST-95-277 | July 23, 1997

Motion for Leave to File and Reply of Delta Air Lines

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ACAA's attempt to establish alleged inconsistencies in the positions of Delta and other carriers by taking selective quotes out of context is misguided and irrelevant. ACAA fails to comprehend the fundamental factual, policy and legal differences between the captioned applications and the issues presented in the AA-BA alliance, which render any comparisons meaningless. ACAA's filing is largely an attack on the validity of the highdensity and buy-sell rules, and ignores the fact that 49 U.S.C. § 41714(c) allows the grant of an exemption for qualified new entrants only if the applicants demonstrate "exceptional circumstances." As previously noted by Delta and other participants in the captioned dockets, the high density rule has been examined on numerous occasions by the Department and in each instance it was determined that the rule should not be disturbed. While the Department has the authority to decide the mechanism by which slots are allocated, a major revision of the high density rule and slot allocation procedures would require formal rulemaking procedures and is clearly beyond the scope of the instant applications.

Counsel: Delta and Shaw Pittman, Robert Cohn, 202-663-8060

ValuJet Airlines, Inc. (High Density Rule, LaGuardia)

OST-97-2442

Correspondence - Catherine Abate, NY State Assembly

Frontier Airlines / ValuJet Airlines, Inc. / Air Tran Airways, Inc. / Western Pacific, Inc. / Reno Air, Inc. / Spirit Air Lines, Inc.

OST-97-2230 | OST-97-2442 | OST-97-2557 | OST-95-277 | OST-97-2771 | OST-97-2870 | September 4, 1997

Motion for Leave to File an Answer and Reply of Air Carrier Association of America to the Reply of United Airlines, US Airways, and TWA

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The Air Carrier Association of America ("ACAA") hereby moves for leave to file this Reply' to respond to the various replies filed by United, US Airways, Delta and TWA regarding the Applications of Frontier Airlines, ValuJet Airlines, Inc., Air Tran Airways, Inc., Western Pacific, Inc., and Reno Air ("affordable fare carriers") to gain access to LaGuardia Airport in New York City ("LaGuardia") and O'Hare International Airport ("O'Hare").

Service List | Exhibit 1

Counsel : Edward Faberman, 202 778 4462

ValuJet Airlines, Inc. (High Density Rule, New York LaGuardia)

OST-97-2442

Comments of Mr. And Mrs. G.F. Bullard in Support - October 10, 1997

Frontier Airlines, Inc. / ValuJet Airlines, Inc. / AirTran Airways, Inc. (Exemptions from High Density Rule, New York LaGuardia)

Order 97-10-17 | OST-97-2230 | OST-97-2442 | OST-97-2557 | Issued and Served October 24, 1997

Order Granting and Denying Applications for Slot Exemptions at New York's LaGuardia Airport

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After considering applications for exemptions from 14 CFR Part 93, Subparts K and S. for slots at New York's LaGuardia Airport, the Department has decided to grant six slot exemptions to Frontier Airlines, Inc. ("Frontier"), for service in the Denver, CO-LaGuardia market; eleven slot exemptions to ValuJet Airlines, Inc. ("ValuJet"), for service in the Atlanta, GA-LaGuardia market; and four slot exemptions to AirTran Airways, Inc. ("AirTran") for service in the Knoxville. TN-LaGuardia market. We find that granting these exemptions is in the public interest and meets the statutory "exceptional circumstances. test. Grant of the exemptions is conditioned on their being used solely for the markets designated in the carriers' applications. The Department has also decided to deny the remainder of AirTran's application for eight slot exemptions for service between LaGuardia and four other points.

By: Charles Hunnicutt