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OST-99-6249

Atlantic Coast Jet, Inc.

Counsel:  Silverberg Goldman, Robert Silverberg, 202.944.3300, rsilverberg@sgbdc.com

Atlantic Coast Jet, Inc.

Employees of which carrier (ACA, AC Jet or Delta) will be responsible for accounting for AC Jet's passenger facility charges and for seeing that the carrier's Form 41 reports are filed accurately and on time?  On what date was AC Jet, Inc., incorporated? On what date was Atlantic Coast Airlines, Inc., changed to Atlantic Coast Airlines Holdings, Inc.? Was that a name change only or were other corporate changes made? How can AC Jet be certain of the following statement, which it makes on page 4 of the application: "Atlantic Coast Airlines Holdings is deemed a U.S. citizen as at least 75 percent of its voting shares are owned by citizens of the United States"?  What is the applicant's plan to locate sufficient qualified pilots and other skilled personnel for the proposed operations?  In the paragraph beginning in the middle of page 9 of the application, the applicant states: "On a weekly basis, Delta will advance funds to Atlantic Coast Jet to support its flight operations." Can you be more specific? What will be the basis for the advances? Are they intended to equal the operating costs that AC Jet would encounter in flying the next week's schedule as worked out by Delta?  Has AC Jet filed its Family Assistance Plan with Dockets and the NTSB? Has it made its Part 243.13 (Passenger Manifest) filing? We presume that these will be patterned after either ACA's or Delta's. Please identify and provide the background and compliance information for AC Jet's key technical personnel as soon as possible.

By:  Carol A. Woods

Atlantic Coast Jet, Inc.

On behalf of Atlantic Coast Jet, Inc. an applicant for a certificate of public convenience and necessity, I am pleased to respond to your letter dated October 13, 1999 requesting additional information regarding the applicant. The numbered paragraphs below correspond to the numbered paragraphs in your letter. The response to your paragraph number 6, which calls for the disclosure of financial information regarding Atlantic Coast Jet's agreement with Delta Air Lines is being submitted under separate cover with a request for confidential treatment.

Counsel:  Silverberg Goldman, Robert Silverberg, 202-944-3300

Atlantic Coast Jet, Inc.

By:  John Coleman

Atlantic Coast Jet, Inc.

Counsel: Silverberg Goldman, Robert Silverberg, 202-944-3300

Atlantic Coast Jet, Inc.

As you know, Atlantic Coast Jet, Inc. has had discussions with the Federal Aviation Administration regarding organizational issues and operational control matters. The purpose of this letter is to inform the Department of the nature of those discussions. Specifically, the FAA has sought assurance from Atlantic Coast Jet that it was organized in a way that will assure the FAA that Atlantic Coast Jet will be in operational control of the carrier. Operational control, as defined by the FAA with respect to a flight, means the exercise of authority over initiating, conducting or terminating a flight. These functions include crewing the aircraft with qualified pilots, flight planning, dispatching and maintaining the aircraft. After consultation with the FAA, Atlantic Coast Jet has decided to restructure its organization and to establish a new senior management position to be known as the General Manager. This individual will have reporting directly to him the following FAA-required employees; Director of Operations, Director of Safety, Chief Inspector, and Director of Maintenance. The Chief Pilot will report to the General Manager up through the Director of Operations. The General Manager will report to Mr. Thomas Moore, President of Atlantic Coast Airlines Holdings, Inc. and Atlantic Coast Airlines.

Atlantic Coast Jet believes this organizational structure removes any FAA concern regarding whether Atlantic Coast Jet would be deemed to be in operational control of the airline in view of its affiliation with Atlantic Coast Airlines. The General Manager of Atlantic Coast Jet and all of the individuals holding the positions in the organizational diagram enclosed with this letter, will be exclusive employees of Atlantic Coast Jet. Based on this organizational structure, Atlantic Coast Airlines will not be able to influence the operational decisions of Atlantic Coast Jet. A complete description of the qualifications, authority and responsibilities of each of the key technical employees of the applicant carrier is generally set forth in Section 3 and 4 of each volume of the Atlantic Coast Jet General Procedures Manual which has been submitted to the FAA for its approval. These manual provisions also describe the chain of command of the subordinate officers up through the General Manager. A representative sample of these sections of Atlantic Coast Jet's General Procedures Manual is enclosed.

Counsel: Silverberg Goldman, Robert Silverberg, 202-944-3300

Atlantic Coast Jet, Inc.

Enclosed are two organization charts. The chart titled Atlantic Coast Jet describes the entire technical organization of Atlantic Coast Jet. This chart is being submitted as Exhibit 3 (Revised) of the Application of Atlantic Coast Jet. Under the organization portrayed by this chart, the Atlantic Coast Jet General Manager (Mr. Kenneth Latour) is responsible for the day-today conduct of flight operations and maintenance. Unlike the organization chart submitted to you under cover of my letter dated January 4, 2000, all technical (operations and maintenance) and administrative functions will be the responsibility of those individuals in the positions depicted in Exhibit 3 (Revised). In other words, there is no longer a separate reporting track, one for operational control and one for administrative purposes within the technical Atlantic Coast Jet organization. This organizational structure has been accepted by the FAA.

Counsel: Silverberg Goldman, Robert Silverberg, 202.944.3300, rsilverberg@sgbdc.com

Atlantic Coast Jet, Inc.

By:  Bradley Mims

Atlantic Coast Jet, Inc.

Final Order 2000-2-17 finds that Atlantic Coast Jet, Inc., is fit, willing and able to engage in interstate scheduled air transportation of persons, property, and mail and issues a certificate of public convenience and necessity to Atlantic Coast Jet, Inc. authorizing it to engage in interstate scheduled air transportation in the form and subject to the Terms, Conditions, and Limitations attached. 

By:  Bradley Mims

Atlantic Coast Jet, Inc. and Delta Air Lines, Inc.

Atlantic Coast Jet, Inc. hereby seeks authority, in conjunction with Delta Air Lines, Inc. to engage in pre-certification reservation, ticketing and revenue collection activities as a Delta Connection carrier. Atlantic Coast Jet anticipates receiving all necessary FAA authority to conduct scheduled operations in approximately one month. Since all funds collected for the sale of air transportation provided by Atlantic Coast Jet will be collected and received by Delta Air Lines, there is no risk whatsoever to consumers should Atlantic Coast Jet not commence service as anticipated.

Counsel: Silverberg Goldman, Robert Silverberg, 202.944.3300, rsilverberg@sgbdc.com and Shaw Pittman, Robert Cohn, 202.663.8060, robert_cohn@shawpittman.com

Atlantic Coast Jet, Inc. / Atlantic Coast Jet and Delta Air Lines, Inc.

By:  Randall. Bennett

Atlantic Coast Jet, Inc.

Since July 1, 2001 the certificate authority possessed by Atlantic Coast Jet has not been exercised. Further, since that time the management of the parent of Atlantic Coast Jet (Atlantic Coast Airlines Holdings, Inc. has actively been considering the alternatives available to it with respect to the valuable certificate rights of Atlantic Coast Jet. In addition to the option to transfer ownership of the certificate to another party, ACA Holdings has also considered restarting carrier operations using the Atlantic Coast Jet certificate. ACA Holdings needs additional time with which to complete its internal planning. While ACA Holdings had hoped to have completed its st.1dy in time to meet the §204.7(b) timeline, the events of September 11"impacted ability to plan for the resumption of Atlantic Coast operations or other di0po0ition of the certificate.

Counsel:  Silverberg Goldman, Robert Silverberg, 202.944.3300, rsilverberg@sgbdc.com

Atlantic Coast Jet, Inc.

Order 2002-7-23, the Department (1) confirms the oral action of July 5, 2002, grants Atlantic Coast Jet, Inc. d/b/a Delta Connection (ACJ) a waiver from the revocation-for-dormancy provisions of Section 204.7 of our rules (14 CFR 204.7) and (2) confirms the oral action of July 9, 2002, disclaiming jurisdiction over the transfer of ACJ's certificate to Atlantic Coast Jet, LLC (ACJ LLC).

By:  Randall Bennett

Atlantic Coast Jet, LLC

As noted in Atlantic Coast Jet's initial request for relief from section 204.7, the carrier ceased operations after it transferred its assets to its sister airline, Atlantic Coast Airlines. Nonetheless, the certificate of public convenience and necessity remains a valuable asset of Atlantic Coast Jet. The parent company of Atlantic Coast Jet, Atlantic Coast Airlines Holdings, Inc. is still in the process of planning the potential future use of the Atlantic Coast Jet certificate and the companion FAA-issed air carrier certificate.

In the undersigned's letter dated May 15, 2002 requesting the waiver from § 204.7, it was noted that the certificate holder needed more time to complete its internal planning before it could provide a definitive business plan to the Department and project a date by which operations could or might resume. This planning continues apace but has not been completed as of the date of this letter. Continuing and new obstacles have prevented management from completing its internal deliberations including but not limited to the filing in bankruptcy of the German and U.S. subsidiaries of Fairchild-Dornier, Atlantic Coast Jet's aircraft supplier. This filing has required a considerable amount of management time in an effort to prosecute Atlantic Coast Jet's substantial claim through the German Bankruptcy Court and otherwise dealing with aircraft support issues resulting from the virtual collapse of the Fairchild-Dornier 328Jet aircraft support program. Further, for the past few months management has been dealing with other unexpected issues including issues regarding one of its code share partners. In short, the planning process regarding the use to which the Atlantic Coast Jet certificate might be put in the future has not come to a final conclusion.

Counsel: Silverberg Goldman, Robert Silverberg, 202 944-3300

Atlantic Coast Jet, Inc.

By letter dated November 18, you requested a six-month extension of that waiver. In support of this request, ACJ states that, due to the press of other business, the carrier is still in the process of planning the future use of the authority contained in its certificate. In a subsequent telephone conversation, you and ACJ advised us that the carrier would be in a position by the end of March 2003 to present firm plans and updated fitness information to resume operations. We have, therefore, decided to grant ACJ an additional three-months (that is, until April 1, 2003) to firm up its plans and provide updated information supporting its fitness to resume those operations. If ACJ is not able to establish its plans to resume operations within that time period--which will be over 21 months since it ceased operations--we plan to revoke its certificate authority at that time.

By: Patricia Thomas

Atlantic Coast Jet, Inc.

While Atlantic Coast Jet would like to have implemented more of its business plan than it has been able to accomplish to date, the events impacting the air transportation industry in the past few months have affected the timing of the execution of these plans. Despite these unprecedented pressures, including but not limited to the bankruptcy filing of the largest code-share partner of Atlantic Coast Airlines and concerns about the outbreak of hostilities, progress continues to be made at Atlantic Coast Jet which gives it the confidence to make this request for a further waiver from §204.7.

Counsel: Silverberg Goldman, Robert Silverberg, 202-944-3300

Atlantic Coast Jet, LLC

By letter dated March 18, 2003, ACJ requested a further extension of the revocation-for­dormancy date. In support of its request, the carrier states that the company's parent, Atlantic Coast Airlines Holdings, Inc., is in the final states of planning for ACJ to resume operations under its certificate. According to the carrier, however, events surrounding the airline industry over the recent past--including the bankruptcy of United Airlines and concerns about the outbreak of hostilities--have affected the timing of ACJ's plans to resume operations. Thus, it asks that its revocation-for-dormancy date be extended through June 30, 2004. In connection with its request, ACJ further committed to providing the Department with at least six-months notice of its intent to resume operations, at which time it will also provide information establishing the company's fitness to do so. Shortly before submitting its request for an extension, ACJ also informally briefed the staff about its future plans and it appears that the carrier is making progress towards resuming air carrier operations.

Under the circumstances, we have decided to grant ACJ an extension through December 31, 2003, which is six months prior to the requested June 30, 2004, date, to provide the Department with notice of its intent to resume operations (and required updated fitness information). If ACJ is not able to file such notice and fitness information by that date, we plan to revoke its certificate authority at that time.

By: Patricia Thomas

OST-99-6249 - Certificate - Scheduled Interstate Air Transportation

December 31, 2003

Re: Dormancy Waiver

Most recently, by letter dated April 9, 2003 the DOT granted Atlantic Coast Jet, LLC. a waiver from the revocation-for-dormancy provisions of §204.7 of the DOT's regulations through December 31, 2003. Your letter stated that if by this date Atlantic Coast Jet had not filed with the Department a notice of its intention to resume operations under the Atlantic Coast Jet certificate of public convenience and necessity (last reissued by Order 2002-7-23, served July 17, 2002) the DOT would take steps to revoke the carrier's certificate. This is to advise the Department that Atlantic Coast Jet does not intend to resume operations and therefore does not object to the revocation of the Atlantic Coast Jet certificate.

Counsel: Silverberg Foldman, Robert Silverberg, 202-944-3300

Atlantic Coast Jet, LLC d/b/a Delta Connection

Order 2004-1-14
OST-99-6249 - Interstate Certificate

Issued and Served January 15, 2004

Order Revoking Certificate | Word

By: Randall Bennett

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