Jet Linx Share-A-Flight. LLC

OST-2007-27436 - On-Demand Business Jet Charters

February 26, 2007

Application for an Exemption

Share-A-Flight is proposing to contract with Jet Linx Aviation Corp., a direct U.S. Air Taxi air carrier operating under Part 298 exemption authority, to provide transportation to its members in business jet aircraft on an on-demand basis under 14 C.F.R. Part 135. The flights will not be held out to the public, and Share-A-Flight will provide this service only to its members, who will pay a very substantial fee for initial membership in the Share-A-Flight program, with significant hourly flight costs. Share-A-Flight program membership will be limited to 150 members per city. The Share-A- Flight program will be launched in Omaha, NE with a possible expansion to two other cities.

We believe that Share-A-Flight could arrange these on-demand flights as an agent for its members in accordance with the October 8, 2004 OST Notice entitled The Role of Air Charter Brokers in Arranging Air Transportation. However, having consulted with Department staff and with FAA staff regarding current FAA concerns regarding marketing and operational control concerns, out of an abundance of caution, Share-A-Flight is seeking authority to operate as an indirect air carrier under portions of 14 C.F.R. Part 380.

Counsel: Jackson Wade, Kent jackson, 913-338-1700, kjackson@jetlaw.com

November 19, 2007

Answer of The Air Transport Association

The Application's request for relief from basic, well‑established regulatory formalities is unconvincing. Grant of such relief in these circumstances would undermine the Department's regulatory system. The Department would relinquish its ability to use Part 380 to oversee important elements of the offering and provision of air transportation; consumers would thereby be denied the benefit of protections contained in Part 380; and the Department would forsake its principle of uniformity in the administration of its rules. An unacceptable side effect would be that the safety and operating requirements of FAR Part 121 would be circumvented. The net effect of grant of the Application would be that the interests of consumers would be cast aside and the competitive environment would be distorted. Those would be intolerable outcomes. In light of the foregoing considerations, we urge the Department to reject the Application.

Counsel: ATA, James Casey, 202-626-4211, jcasey@airlines.org

January 9, 2008

Withdrawal of Application

Jet Linx Share-a-Flight hereby gives notice of withdrawal, without prejudice to refile, its Application for an exemption from certain provisions of 14 CFR Part 380 filed on February 22, 2007.

Counsel: Jackson Wade, Kent Jackson, 913-338-1700, kjackson@jetlaw.com

January 9, 2008

Answer of National Air Transportation System

From its application Jet Linx Share-A-Flight appears to be making use of the concept of Public Charter operations to serve a group of individuals located in Nebraska. The Share-A-Flight service would provide these individuals with the alternative of sharing the costs of business jet aircraft services, which will ultimately increase the availability of air transportation to the group of individuals Share-A-Flight seeks to serve. There is no indication that Share-A-Flight intends to use direct air carriers that will not comply with all applicable safety regulations. It appears that the exemptions requested by Share-A-Flight will serve only to streamline Share-A-Flight’s compliance with the underpinnings of the regulations of 14 C.F.R. Part 380, which will ultimately allow Share-A-Flight to provide a better service to its customers. For these reasons the National Air Transportation Association supports the Application of Share-A-Flight for an exemption, and urges the Department of Transportation to approve this exemption.

With respect to ATA’s argument that the grant of an exemption would “create a one-of-its-kind operating environment,” we submit the following: First, the exemption would not be one-of-its-kind. As outlined in the Exemption Application, Share-A-Flight has modeled its request after the Application of Kona Associates, L.L.C., which the DOT approved. Second, to the extent that it creates a unique operating structure for Share-A-Flight, the ability to grant such flexibility is the reason the DOT has the authority to grant exemptions. One purpose of 49 U.S.C. § 40109 is to allow the DOT to make changes to its regulations on a case by case basis where it is in the best interests of the traveling public. To argue that an exemption cannot be granted because it will create a unique set of requirements for the applicant is to argue that the DOT should not have the authority to grant exemptions. In this case that argument is irrelevant, because Congress has clearly given the DOT this authority.

By: NATA, Jacqueline Rosser, 703-845-9000, jrosser@nata.aero

OST-2004-17689 - Kona Associates - Indirect Air Transportation