Alaska Airlines, Inc., American Airlines, Inc., Continental Airlines, Inc., Delta Air Lines, Inc., Northwest Airlines, Inc., United Air Lines, Inc. and US Airways, Inc.

Order 2008-7-6
OST-2008-0181 - Temporary Blanket Dormancy Waiver

Served July 3, 2008

Order

By this Order, we deny the requests of various certificated U.S. air carriers for a temporary blanket waiver of dormancy conditions applicable to frequency allocations and other limited-entry route authority. We will continue to act upon all such requests on an individual basis, consistent with the public interest.

While we recognize the concerns cited by the carriers, we also recognize that the market characteristics of each limited entry route are different and that the impact of market forces on individual carriers is different. Taking these factors into account, we have decided that in the circumstances presented in this proceeding, the public interest would be better served by continuing to address temporary dormancy waiver requests on an individual basis. Such individual consideration will enable us to assess whether a specific waiver is in the public interest based on the circumstances prevailing and any comments received. We find that our practice of entertaining individual waiver requests best balances our objectives of providing carriers the flexibility they need to adjust to the existing economic circumstances with our interest in utilization of valuable route rights for the benefit of the traveling and shipping public.

By: Michael Reynolds

FAA-2008-0656 - Request for Waiver of Minimum Slot Usage Requirement - FAA Denial