OST-97-2791 / Aero California / August 8, 1997

 

Notice: Pursuant to 14 C.F.R. § 302.406, any person may support or oppose this application by filing an answer and serving a copy of the answer on all persons served with this application. The due date for answers is August 25, 1997.

 

Application of

AERO CALIFORNIA S.A. de C.V.

for an exemption from 49 U.S.C. § 41301

 

APPLICATION FOR EXEMPTION AUTHORITY

 

Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109, Aero California S.A. de C.V. (Aero California) hereby submits this application for an exemption from 49 U.S.C. § 41301 to conduct scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail between Zacatecas, Mexico and Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas.

 

Aero California requests that this authority be issued for an initial period of one year or immediately following the Department's grant of its permit application, whichever occurs first. /1 In support of this application, Aero California submits the following:

 

1/ Aero California's application for issuance of a foreign air carrier permit, Docket 42012, was originally filed on February 21, 1984. That application, as amended, is still pending before the Department.

 

 

Aero California is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of Mexico. It has continuously and successfully engaged in transporting persons, property and mail within Mexico since 1967. Aero California is headquartered at La Paz, Baja California Sur International Airport. With its fleet of DC-9 aircraft, Aero California currently provides service between points throughout the Baja California Peninsula and numerous other points within Mexico, on the one hand, and points in California and Arizona, on the other.

 

2. Aero California currently holds exemption authority from the Department to provide scheduled combination service between (1) the coterminal points Loreto, San Jose del Cabo, Culiacan, Hermosillo, La Paz and Manzanillo, Mexico, and the terminal point Los Angeles, California; (2) San Jose del Cabo, Mexico and Phoenix, Arizona; (3) Hermosillo, Mexico and Tucson, Arizona; (4) the coterminal points Mazatlan, Guaymas and Tijuana, Mexico, and the terminal point Los Angeles, California; and (5) Durango, Mexico and Los Angeles, California; (6) Loreto, Mexico and Albuquerque, New Mexico; (7) Mazatlan, Mexico and Phoenix, Arizona; (8) Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas; (9) Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and Phoenix, Arizona; (10) San Jose del Cabo, Mexico and San Francisco, California; (11) Torreon, Mexico and Los Angeles, California; (12) Mazatlan, Mexico and San Francisco, California; (13) Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and San Francisco, California; (14) Chihuahua, Mexico and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; (15) Aquascalientes, Mexico and Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas and (16) Mazatlan, Mexico and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. These exemption authorities were granted or renewed in Docket Nos. OST 96-1836 (issued on October 18, 1996); OST-97-2446 (issued May 28, 1997) and OST-97-2481 (issued June 27, 1997 and July 10, 1997).

 

3. The Air Transport Services Agreement between the United States and the United Mexican States dated August 15, 1960, as amended (the "Air Transport Agreement"), provides that an airline designated by the Government of Mexico shall be entitled to operate air services "[f]rom a point or points in Mexico to a point or points in the United States." Memorandum of Consultation, Annex 2, Attachment 1, ~ A.2.a. (Sept. 19, 1991). /2 Aero California has been designated by its Government to operate scheduled service on each of the above-described routes for which new exemption authority is now requested, as evidenced by the attached

 

2/ Formally adopted November 21, 1991.

 

July 1, 1997 letter of designation issued by the Government of Mexico. See Exhibit A (letter of designation and unofficial translation thereof).

 

4. DOT has previously found Aero California to be Operationally and financially qualified" to conduct operations between specified points in Mexico and the United States in a series of dockets. See, e.q., Docket Nos. OST-95-696 and OST-95-701. The factors which supported those earlier findings have not changed.

 

5. Issuance of exemption authority is warranted pursuant to the Air Transport Agreement for the same reasons recognized by the Department in granting Aero California Is original exemption applications and subsequent renewals thereof. Aero California continues to be licensed by the Mexican Ministry of Communications and Transportation to perform these services. A grant of this exemption authority application will enable Aero California to expand the valuable transportation service it provides to the public on U.S./Mexico routes. Accordingly, grant of this amended application will benefit the traveling and shipping public and further the public interest.

 

6. Aero California would utilize its fleet of DC-9 aircraft to provide the new flight services for which exemption authority is sought. It anticipates operating approximately three to four flights weekly on the Zacatecas-DFW route and eventually providing daily service as demand warrants. Aero California anticipates that there will be a significant immediate demand for its services on this new route and thus it intends to inaugurate services on this route in the near future. In order to allow sufficient time for Aero California to make the necessary preparations and to promote its new services, Aero California requests DOT to act promptly on this application.

 

WHEREFORE, for the reasons stated above, Aero California respectfully requests the Department of Transportation to grant its exemption authority for the Zacatecas-DFW route for a period of at least one year or until it approves Aero California's application for a foreign air carrier permit in Docket 42012, whichever occurs first.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

David H. Coburn

STEPTOE & JOHNSON LLP

1330 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20036

(202) 429-8063

(202) 429-3902 (fax)

Attorney for Aero California

August 8, 1997