OST-97-3289 / Delta and Aeromexico / US-Mexico Codesharing

 

Joint Applications of:

DELTA AIR LINES, INC. and AEROVIAS de MEXICO, S.A. de C.V.

OST-97-3289 and undocketed

for exemptions under 49 USC 40109 and statements of authorization under 14 CFR Part 207 and 212 (U.S.-Mexico codesharing)

 

JOINT ANSWER OF AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC. AND

AERO CALIFORNIA S.A DE C.V. TO MOTION OF DELTA

AIR LINES, INC. AND AEROVIAS DE MEXICO, S.A. DE C.V.

 

American Airlines, Inc. and Aero California S.A. de C.V. hereby jointly answer the motion for immediate action concerning discrete city-pairs submitted by Delta Air Lines, Inc. and Aerovias de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. on January 16, 1998. In their motion, Delta and Aeromexico ask for immediate authorization to begin codesharing between Mexico City and some 14 U.S. points.

American and Aero California do not object to the Delta/Aeromexico request, provided that the Department simultaneously grants the long-pending American/Aero California application for codesharing between Mexico City and the following seven overlapping cities: Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham, Nashville, Reno, Salt Lake City, Cincinnati, and Portland.

 

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Aero California has been designated by the Mexican Government to serve between Mexico City and each of the seven U.S. points listed above. If the Department chooses to grant the motion submitted by Delta and Aeromexico, it should also grant the American/Aero California application with respect to these same cities.

In addition, American and Aero California will submit a request for immediate codeshare authorization for other U.S.-Mexico city-pairs, which Aero California has been designated to serve by the aeronautical authorities in Mexico. This list will represent the applicants' near-term service plans, and should be considered on an expedited basis along with the list presented in the Delta/Aeromexico motion.

American and Aero California remain of the view that the Department should continue to encourage the Mexican aeronautical authorities to liberalize the availability of codeshare authority, so that designations would not need to be issued on each of thousands of city-pairs for which U.S. and Mexican carriers seek codeshare authority. While we understand that no immediate progress was made in recent bilateral discussions, the Department should make clear that, in granting codeshare authority on a limited number of city-pairs on an incremental basis. the Department is not effectively adopting the Mexican views on this matter. The Department should

 

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continue to seek a final resolution of the codeshare issues that separate the United States and Mexico, so that a more orderly and appropriate means of attaining codeshare authority, satisfactory to both governments, may be employed in this market.

Respectfully submitted,

DAVID H. COBURN

Steptoe & Johnson LLP

Attorney for Aero California

 

Carl B. Nelson, Jr.

Associate General Counsel

American Airlines, Inc.

January 28, 1998