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OST-99-6593

Transportes Aereos Mercantiles Panamericanos, S.A. (TAMPA)

Substantial comity and reciprocity exists in the U.S. - Colombia market. Over the years, the Colombian government has authorized several U.S. carriers to operate fifth-freedom flights between the U.S. and Colombia, via intermediate points - - including points in Venezuela. In fact, it is the Colombian carriers that have been at a distinct disadvantage with other carriers in this country-pair market due to the FAA’s Category II restrictions. Grant of this authority to TAMPA will provide a more competitive operating environment for TAMPA, a carrier that has waited several years for the opportunity to expand its U.S. operations, and to compete more effectively with U.S. carriers and foreign carriers that have rapidly increased their operations in this market during the period in which Colombia was in Category II status.

TAMPA notes that the overwhelming majority of its scheduled and charter flights in recent years have been third and fourth freedom charter flights between the United States and Colombia, with few – if any – fifth freedom charters. Tampa’s primary focus remains the Colombia - U.S. market. It’s proposed service involving Valencia as an intermediate point will only strengthen it ongoing Colombia-Miami operations and enable TAMPA to better compete with other carriers serving the highly competitive Colombia-U.S. market.

Counsel:  Winthrop Stimson, John Gillick

Transportes Aeroes Mercantiles Panamericanos, S.A. (TAMPA)

Counsel:  Pierre Murphy, 202.872.1679, pmurphy@lopmurphy.com

Transportes Aeroes Mercantiles Panamericanos, S.A. (TAMPA)

Arrow holds a certificate of public convenience and necessity authorizing it to engage in scheduled foreign air transportation of property and mail between any point in the United States and any point in Colombia. For the past four months, however, the Colombia civil aviation authority has unilaterally suspended Arrow's Colombia authority while it engages in a prolonged process of vetting Arrow's legal representative in that country. The civil aviation authority has repeatedly stated that it would soon restore Arrow's authority' but to date has not done so. The Department engages in no such prejudicial action against Colombian carriers, and Arrow submits that this is just one of a number of extra-bilateral practices that Government of Colombia engages in to prejudice U.S. air carriers for the benefit of its own. Arrow's second objection to TAMPA's application, which basically seeks to add Valencia, Venezuela to its existing Colombia-Miami authority, is that the Colombian civil aviation authority has consistently prohibited U.S. air carriers from operating into Colombia via intermediate points unless the carriers operate over the same intermediate points outbound from Colombia. The Colombian civil aviation authority has .taken this action despite the clear language of the U.S.-Colombia Air Transport Agreement which gives carriers of both countries to operate over specified intermediate points without other limitations.

The Department is well aware of this unilateral restriction imposed on U.S. air carriers by Colombia. Failure to restrict Colombian air carriers activities in the face of this unilateral, agreement-violating activity only encourages the Colombia government to continue to impose prejudicial restrictions on U.S. air carriers. Any declaration that reciprocity exits between the U.S. and Colombia is patently inaccurate. Arrow does not have any dispute directly with TAMPA, but if the Department does nothing to restrict Colombian air carriers operating into the U.S. there is no reason to believe that the Colombian government will modify its prejudicial behavior toward U.S. air carriers.

Counsel:  Allan Markham, 202.337.2149, Awmpc@aol.com

Transportes Aereos Mercantiles Panamericanos, S.A. (TAMPA)

Polar has no objection to TAMPA's request for expansion of its U.S.-Colombia all-cargo authority. However, Polar would ask that its long-pending request for Miami-Bogota all-cargo authority in Docket OST-98-3939 be granted no later than the TAMPA application or that the U.S. Government seek the entry of Polar in the nearest future now that Colombia's Category I status has been restored. With two U.S. carrier designations available and no opposition to Polar's pending application, the Department may now be able to act quickly to allow a U.S. carrier such as Polar to offer competitive all-cargo services to Bogota. Polar's services between Miami and Bogota will offer access for shippers in Colombia to Polar's worldwide network and will offer shippers in the U.S. and throughout the world access to Colombia over Polar's extensive network.

Counsel:  Polar and Kirkland Ellis, Jeffrey Manley, 202-879-5161

Transportes Aeroes Mercantiles Panamericanos, S.A. (TAMPA)

Emergency exemption from 49 U.S.C. 41301 to conduct scheduled foreign air transportation of property and mail over a Colombia-Valencia-Miami-Colombia routing at a frequency of two roundtrip flights per day until the Government of Venezuela reopens the Caracas airport to commercial air cargo traffic.  Due to severe flooding in Venezuela, leading to the closing of the Caracas airport to commercial air cargo traffic, TAMPA is unable to operate its regularly scheduled Miami-Miami service via Caracas.  We will review the situation in considering the deferred portion of TAMPA's application.

By:  Paul Gretch

Counsel: Winthrop Stimson, John Gillick

Transportes Aereos Mercantiles Panamericanos, S.A. (TAMPA)

The applicant informed us that none of the parties served with its application objected to the merits of the application, insofar as concerns an initial two-week award of authority. On December 21, 1999, we granted the requested authority through January 4, 2000, or until the reopening to commercial air cargo traffic of the Caracas airport, whichever occured first, and deferred action on the remainder. We found that it was consistent with the public interest to grant this authority in light of the special exigent circumstances presented. Specifically, due to severe flooding in Venezuela, leading to the closing of the Caracas airport to commercial air cargo traffic, TAMPA was unable to operate its regularly scheduled Miami-Miami service via Caracas. On January 4, 2000, TAMPA informed us that no party objected to extending this authority through January 31, 2000.

By:  Paul Gretch

Transportes Aereos Mercantiles Panamericanos, S.A. (TAMPA)

On December 21, 1999, and January 4, 2000, we granted the requested authority through January 31, 2000, or until the reopening to commercial air cargo traffic of the Caracas airport, whichever occurred first, and deferred action on the remainder. We are dismissing the deferred portion of TAMPA's application as moot, based on advice from the applicant that it no longer requires this emergency authority.

By:  Paul Gretch

Transportes Aereos Mercantiles Panamericanos, S.A. (TAMPA)

OST-99-6593, filed December 2, 1999: Exemption from 49 U.S.C. 41301 to conduct scheduled foreign air transportation of property and mail between Colombia, via the intermediate point Valencia, Venezuela, and Miami. OST-2000-6955, filed February 7, 2000: Exemption from 49 U.S.C. 41301 to conduct scheduled foreign air transportation of property and mail over a Colombia-Miami-Panama-Colombia routing.

Fine Air Services, Inc., and Polar Air Cargo, Inc., filed answers to both applications; Arrow Air, Inc., filed an answer in Docket OST-99-6593 only. TAMPA filed replies. All of the U.S. carrier submissions raised concerns about whether the Colombian authorities would permit the U.S. carrier in question to perform certain operations or fly certain routings described as comparable to those at issue here. In its replies, TAMPA stated that the authority it seeks is consistent with the provisions of the U.S.-Colombia bilateral agreement and that Colombia has authorized analogous requests by U.S. carriers. These submissions were all filed prior to our most recent round of U.S.-Colombia aviation negotiations, held March 13-14, 2000. At these negotiations, the U.S. delegation raised the various U.S. carrier concerns and received assurances from the Colombians that the types of authorizations sought would be forthcoming. Following these negotiations, Polar submitted a further pleading stating that it did not oppose a four-month grant of authority to see whether Colombia would accord reciprocal treatment to U.S.-carrier requests for route authority comparable to that sought here.

The authority is provided for in the U.S.-Colombia Air Transport Agreement. While we are sensitive to the U.S. carrier concerns, we concluded, taking into account the assurances we received at the March 13-14 consultations, that withholding the authority requested by TAMPA would not be consistent with the public interest. We note that while we have granted the authority for a longer duration than that proposed by Polar, we reserve the right, should circumstances warrant, to amend, modify or revoke grant of this authority at any time and without hearing.

Effective dates of authority granted: May 26, 2000 - May 26, 2001

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