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OST-2004-16941 - Continental Airlines - Ecuador Combination Frequencies
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OST-2004-16941 - Ecuador Combination Frequencies January 20, 2004 Application for Ecuador Combination Frequencies Continental applies for allocation of seven of the 22 weekly Ecuador combination frequencies available for service between Ecuador and U.S. points other than Miami and New York so it can provide seven additional weekly flights between Houston and Ecuador. Continental plans to institute daily, nonstop roundtrip flights between Houston and Quito and between Houston and Guayaquil on June 10, 2004 pursuant to the authority Continental holds on Segment 14 of its certificate for Route 29-F. Continental's new service will require a total of 14 U.S.-Ecuador frequencies, and Continental currently holds seven of the 22 U.S.-Ecuador frequencies available for Ecuador. Thus, Continental requires seven additional frequencies to institute its proposed service. Since only seven of the 22 U.S.-Ecuador frequencies available for service at U.S. points other than Miami and New York are currently utilized, frequencies will remain available for other airlines after Continental receives the additional allocation it requests. Continental currently operates a daily Houston‑ Quito‑Guayaquil Houston flight. Continental's operation of a daily Houston‑Quito‑Houston flight and a daily Houston‑ Guayaquil‑Houston flight will provide greater convenience to Houston‑Ecuador passengers by eliminating an intermediate stop in one direction for both Quito and Guayaquil passengers. For the same reason, connections at Houston between Ecuador and points throughout Continental's Houston hub network will become more convenient as well. Since Continental's enhanced service will provide substantial public benefits, Continental urges the Department to act on this application promptly so Continental can commence securing appropriate authority in Ecuador and advertising and selling its new flights well in advance of their start‑up date. Continental has been awarded a total of 10.5 weekly U.S.‑Ecuador frequencies for points other than Miami and New York, but it now holds only seven as a result of dormancies. Counsel: Continental and Crowell & Moring, Bruce Keiner, 202-624-2615
Answer of The City of Houston and The Greater Houston Partnership Houston's relationship with Ecuador is extremely important to the City for a number of reasons. Among these is that Houston has significant economic links with Ecuador. According to the Greater Houston Partnership's International Houston: 2003 International Business Directory, 299 Houston companies trade goods and services with and seventeen Houston companies have subsidiaries in Ecuador. Among these companies are Noble Energy, Inc., which recently has completed Ecuador's first gas-fired commercial power plant; ENTRIX, Inc., an environmental services firm that serves clients in the oil and gas, power, chemical manufacturing, and legal industries; and Grant Geophysical, Inc., which has conducted seismic surveys of Ecuador's potential oil and gas resources. Counsel: Zuckert Scoutt, Rachel Trinder, 202-298-8660, rtrinder@zsrlaw.com
Filed January 20, 2004 | Issued February 20, 2004 Allocation of seven additional weekly U.S.-Ecuador combination frequencies to provide a second daily Houston-Ecuador service. Continental states that it plans to institute daily, nonstop round-trip flights between Houston and Quito and between Houston and Guayaquil on June 10, 2004. It states that it currently holds seven frequencies under which it operates a daily Houston-Quito-Guayaquil-Houston flight and that in order to institute its proposed services, it will require an additional seven frequencies. The City of Houston and the Greater Houston Partnership filed a joint answer in support of Continental’s application. By: Paul Gretch
November 3, 2004 Application for Waiver of Dormancy Conditions Continental was awarded seven additional weekly U.S.-Ecuador combination frequencies to institute daily nonstop Houston-Quito service subject to the usual condition that "if any of the frequencies are not used for a period of 90 days, the allocation as to that unused frequency will expire automatically and the frequency will revert to the Department for reallocation." Continental suspended its Houston- Guayaquil flights as of August 15, 2004, because of runway construction which precluded Continental from operating nonstop flights between Houston and Guayaquil. Runway construction will be completed and Continental plans to reinstitute its nonstop Houston-Guayaquil flights three days per week effective November 18, 2004, slightly more than 90 days after its flights were suspended temporarily. Continental plans to operate at least three weekly nonstop Houston-Guayaquil flights year-round and to offer seven weekly nonstop Houston- Guayaquil flights during peak periods such as the December and Spring holiday periods. In light of extraordinarily high fuel prices, burdensome tax structures and economic uncertainties, Continental is evaluating all of its schedules to match demand with capacity and frequency requirements on a sound, economic basis. In this instance, Continental requires a waiver of the dormancy requirements through November 17, 2004, with respect to all seven of its Houston-Guayaquil frequencies and thereafter with respect to four of the seven frequencies so Continental can provide appropriate schedules during off-peak seasons without jeopardizing its ability to meet the demand for daily service during peak holiday periods. Since unused frequencies remain available for other airlines to serve Ecuador from U.S. gateways other than Miami, Continental's waiver will not preclude additional operations by other U.S. airlines. The Department has often granted waivers of dormancy conditions under appropriate circumstances (see, Orders 2002-4-19 and 2001-11-15 and Notices of Action Taken dated February 13, 2004, in Docket OST-01-8910; January 30, 2004, in Docket OST-99-6210; and March 22, 2002, in Docket OST-02-11615), and it should do so in this instance as well. Counsel: Continental and Crowell & Moring, Bruce Keiner, 202-624-2615
November 4, 2004 The carrier on the service list for Continental's' November 3, 2004 application for waiver of dormancy conditions has been polled, and does not object to grant of the waiver requested. Continental urges the Department to grant promptly a waiver of the dormancy conditions imposed upon its seven Houston-Guayaquil frequencies through November 17, 2004, and upon four of those frequencies thereafter to permit operations with those frequencies on a seasonal basis. Counsel: Continental and Crowell & Moring, Bruce Keiner, 202-624-2615
Filed November 3, 2004 | Issued November 17, 2004 We have granted the application of Continental for a waiver of the dormancy condition through November 18, 2004, the date it proposes to resume Houston-Guayaquil service with three weekly frequencies, and its request to convert four of its frequencies from weekly service to seasonal service. We also granted Continental, sua sponte, an interim waiver for the seven frequencies from November 12, 2004 through November 17, 2004. By: Paul Gretch
OST-1997-2447 - US-Ecuador Frequencies October 6, 2006 Application for Re-Allocation of Frequencies Continental has been analyzing its Houston and New York/Newark-Ecuador service patterns to optimize its Ecuador service in light of strong seasonality and traffic variations from market to market. To provide Continental the flexibility it requires to maximize the effectiveness of its Ecuador service, Continental asks the Department to: (1) allow Continental to use seven of the 14 frequencies it holds for Houston-Ecuador service on a seasonal basis on either the Houston-Quito or Houston-Guayaquil routes, (2) award Continental an additional frequency for seasonal Houston-Ecuador service on either route, and (3) allow Continental to use two of its New York/Newark-Guayaquil frequencies on a seasonal basis. If the seasonal authority requested has not been granted by December 5, 2006, Continental requests a dormancy waiver for six of its Houston-Guayaquil frequencies and two of its New York/Newark-Guayaquil frequencies until December 20, 2006. Continental is returning to the Department for re-allocation the seven frequencies awarded to it for New York/Newark-Quito service. Continental currently holds 14 frequencies for Houston-Ecuador service, awarded by Notices of Action Taken dated February 20, 2004, Docket OST-2004-16941, and by Order 2000-8-19. Continental intends to continue providing daily nonstop roundtrip service between Houston and Quito, and it seeks the flexibility to provide supplementary Houston-Quito flights from time to time on a seasonal basis. Continental also intends to continue providing nonstop Houston-Guayaquil service subject to seasonal variations depending on demand. To maximize Continental's flexibility to meet market demand for Houston-Ecuador service, Continental asks the Department for approval to use seven of its 14 Houston-Ecaudor frequencies to serve either the Houston-Quito or Houston-Guayaquil routes on a seasonal basis and asks the Department to award it the one remaining non-Miami/New York frequency available to use on either Houston-Ecuador route on a seasonal basis. Counsel: Crowell & Moring, Bruce Keiner, 202-624-2615, rbkeiner@crowell.com
OST-1997-2447 - US-Ecuador Frequencies October 23, 2006 Hereby answers the application submitted on October 6, 2006 by Continental Airlines, Inc. American opposes Continental's request that seven of its 14 frequencies for Houston-Ecuador be permanently converted from year-round to seasonal use. In a limited entry market such as U.S.-Ecuador, carriers should not be authorized on a permanent basis to use frequencies for seasonal-only service, leaving them dormant for part of the year. Although American has no immediate plans to increase its flights to Ecuador, we may be interested in seeking additional frequencies in the future. If the Department were to permanently convert Continental's authority to seasonal use, that could block competing carriers from using these frequencies on a year-round basis. While we oppose Continental's request for permanent transformation of frequencies from year-round to seasonal, we would not object to the issuance of discrete short-term waivers of the dormancy condition applicable to Ecuador frequencies, provided that any such waivers would end - and the frequencies would be subject to re-allocation - when another carrier applies to conduct year- round Ecuador operations. Counsel: American, Carl Nelson, 202-496-5647, carl.nelson@aa.com
OST-1997-2447 - US-Ecuador Frequencies November 1, 2006 Since "American has no immediate plans to increase its flights to Ecuador" and Continental is already returning the seven Ecuador frequencies it has been using for New York/Newark-Quito service to the Department for re-allocation, the current supply of Ecuador frequencies exceeds the demand for them. American has objected to the permanent conversion of seven Continental Houston-Ecuador frequencies to seasonal, and Continental is willing to accept a one year limitation on the conversion of four Houston-Ecuador frequencies while it continues to evaluate service options for the Ecuador market. Since four of Continental's Houston-Ecuador frequencies have already been converted to seasonal use on a permanent basis, Continental does not require further action to convert those frequencies to seasonal use. (see Notice of Action Taken, Docket OST-2004-16941, November 17, 2004) Continental has requested one additional seasonal frequency for Houston-Ecuador service, so Continental requires allocation of only four Houston-Ecuador frequencies for seasonal use at this time: three frequencies already held plus one new frequency. With a year of further experience with U.S. Ecuador operations, Continental should be in a position to request further seasonal relief for these four frequencies at the end of the one year period, operate the frequencies year-round, or return some or all of the frequencies for re-allocation as it has just done with seven of its New York-Ecuador frequencies. Neither American nor any other party has objected to Continental's request for flexibility to use seven of its 14 Houston-Ecuador frequencies on either the Houston-Quito or Houston-Guayaquil routes, its request for an additional frequency for Houston-Ecuador service, its request to use two of its New York/Newark- Guayaquil frequencies on a seasonal basis, or its request for a temporary dormancy waiver for six of its Houston-Guayaquil frequencies and two of its New York/Newark-Guayaquil frequencies until December 20, 2006, if the seasonal conversion requested has not taken place prior to December 6, 2006. Counsel: Crowell & Moring, Bruce Keiner, 202-624-2615, rbkeiner@crowell.com
OST-1997-2447 - US-Ecuador Frequencies Filed October 6, 2006 | Issued November 27, 2006
In light of the fact that we are acting on Continental’s requests before December 5, 2006, we are dismissing the requests for dormancy waivers. The allocation of the one non-Miami/New York frequency for use on either the Houston-Quito or Houston-Guayaquil route will remain in effect indefinitely; however, its use on a seasonal basis is authorized for one year, consistent with the other Houston-Ecuador conversion actions taken here. By: Paul Gretch
OST-1997-2447 - US-Ecuador Frequencies September 28, 2007 Continental currently holds 15 frequencies for Houston-Ecuador service, awarded by Notice of Action Taken dated November 27, 2006 in Dockets OST-1997-2447 and OST-2004-16941, Notice of Action Taken dated February 20, 2004, Docket OST-2004-16941, and by Order 2000-8-19. To maximize Continental's flexibility to meet market demand for Houston-Ecuador service, Continental asks Continental returns to the Department for re-allocation the non-Miami/New York frequency awarded to it by Notice of Action Taken dated November 27, 2006 in Dockets OST-1997-2447 and OST-2004-16941. Four of Continental's Houston-Guayaquil frequencies were previously converted permanently to seasonal Notice of Action Taken, dated November 17, 2004, Docket OST-2004-16941). Counsel: Crowell & Moring, Bruce Keiner, 202-624-2615, rbkeiner@crowell.com
OST-1997-2447 - US-Ecuador Frequencies Filed September 28, 2007 | Issued October 26, 2007 Renewal of of authority to use three Houston-Guayaquil frequencies on a seasonal basis. By Notice of Action Taken dated November 27, 2006, in the instant docket, the Department granted Continental's request to convert three frequencies for Houston-Guayaquil service from year-round service to seasonal service. The authority was effective for one year, and would expire on November 27, 2007. On September 28, 2007, Continental filed an application requesting renewal of its authority to use these frequencies on a seasonal basis rather than a year-round basis. Continental states that the flexibility allows it to meet market demand for Houston-Ecuador service. Continental states that it returns to the Department for re-allocation the non-Miami/New York frequency awarded to it by Notice of Action Taken dated November 27, 2006 in the instant docket. By: Paul Gretch
OST-2005-20150 - Exemption - Houston-Cali July 30, 2008 Continental currently holds seven Colombia frequencies awarded for Houston-Cali service and seven Ecuador frequencies awarded for Houston-Guayaquil service. Today's challenging operating environment, with extraordinarily high fuel prices and soft demand, has forced Continental to make the difficult decision to terminate its Houston-Cali and Guayaquil service. Continental therefore returns seven Colombia frequencies and seven Ecuador frequencies to the Department effective September 10, 2008. Counsel: Crowell & Moring, Bruce Keiner, 202-624-2615 |
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