Provision of Entire Aircraft with Crew to a US Certificated Air Carrier by a Foreign Air Carrier

OST-2008-0063

Served February 22, 2008

Notice

Notice as Published in the Federal Register - February 29, 2008

This Notice sets forth the conditions under which a foreign air carrier may make an arrangement with a U.S. air carrier for a flight or series of flights, to be conducted with the foreign air carrier’s aircraft and crew, for that U.S. certificated air carrier’s-authorized services in foreign air transportation.

The Office of the Secretary of Transportation and the Department’s Federal Aviation Administration have identified the circumstances under which a foreign air carrier may provide a U.S. certificated air carrier with an entire aircraft with crew without contravening the FAA’s regulations that generally prohibit a foreign air carrier from wet leasing aircraft (i.e., providing legal possession of a specific aircraft (in its entirety) and at least one crewmember) to a U.S. certificated air carrier. Such transactions may occur, consistent with FAA and OST regulations, where it is clear that (i) operational control of the flight or flights involved would rest solely with the foreign air carrier and not with the U.S. certificated air carrier; (ii) legal and actual possession of the aircraft at all times would remain with the foreign air carrier; and (iii) OST determines, in conjunction with FAA, that such operations would otherwise be in the public interest, as more fully described below. Under those circumstances, the FAA has determined that such transactions are not leases subject to the foreign wet lease prohibition in §119.53(b), regardless of whether the parties to the transaction characterize the arrangement as a wet lease.

By: DOT, Michael Reynolds and FAA, Nicholas Sabatini