OST-97-2856 / Federal Express (US-Vietnam All-Cargo) / September 11, 1997
Application of
FEDERAL EXPRESS CORPORATION
for grant of an exemption pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109
(U.S.-Vietnam All-Cargo Service)
REPLY OF FEDERAL EXPRESS CORPORATION
Pursuant to Rule 407 of the Rules of Practice of the Department, Federal Express Corporation (Federal Express) hereby submits its Reply in response to the Answer of United Air Lines, Inc. (United) to the application of Federal Express for grant of an exemption to authorize Federal Express to engage in scheduled all-cargo air transportation between points in United States and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
United does not oppose grant of the authority requested by Federal Express, provided that United's own pending application for U.S.-Vietnam authority is considered and acted upon concurrently. United also notes that Federal Express holds valid, but dormant, U.S.-Vietnam certificate authority (as does United itself), and raises a question "as to whether [Federal Express] needs the exemption for which it has applied" (United Answer, p. 1).
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Federal express hereby submits the following response to both points raised by United.
First, Federal Express agrees with United that, as a technical legal matter, Federal Express holds valid continuing U.S.-Vietnam certificate authority, and does not require separate exemption authority. As a practical matter, however, the Department has advised Federal Express informally that it may not exercise its Vietnam certificate authority without further action by the Department, as it has apparently also advised United and other carriers which hold existing longstanding Vietnam certificate authority. In that circumstance, Federal Express has filed the instant application for interim exemption authority for the sole purpose of providing an updated application and service proposal for immediate Vietnam authority which the Department can act on pursuant to expedited temporary exemption procedures, which are less cumbersome than the Section 41102 and Section 41307 certificate renewal procedures.
Second, in response to United's contention that all similar pending applications for Vietnam authority must be acted upon concurrently, in order to avoid conferring a potentially unfair advantage upon certain applicants over others, Federal Express agrees with that contention. As Federal Express has urged previously in response to an earlier Answer to its Application by Northwest Airlines, however, Federal Express believes very strongly that applications for scheduled all-cargo authority to serve Vietnam should be dealt with separately from applications for scheduled passenger and combination service authority. In
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view of the fact that the majority of the actively-pending Vietnam applications involve requests for all-cargo authority only, Federal Express submits that those more immediate applications for cargo authority should be granted on an expedited basis, and should not be delayed to await the arrival of possible future applications for U.S.-Vietnam passenger authority.
Federal Express is highly confident that the Government of Vietnam will be willing to authorize the institution of scheduled air cargo services between the U.S. and Vietnam on the basis of comity and reciprocity, without awaiting the completion of a formal bilateral agreement, in order to realize the self-evident benefits of unrestricted air cargo services to its economic growth and its enhanced access to international import and export markets.
Accordingly, Federal Express urges the Department to act immediately to grant the pending application of Federal Express for U.S.-Vietnam all-cargo authority, and such other Vietnam cargo service applications as the Department deems appropriate. Following the grant of those applications, Federal Express urges the Department to support each of those applicants in their efforts to obtain requisite operating authority from the Government of Vietnam.
WHEREFORE, Federal Express urges the Department to issue an Order or Notice of Action Taken granting an exemption to Federal Express to provide scheduled all-cargo foreign air transportation between the United States and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, pending final action on the pending application of Federal Express for renewal of its U.S.-Vietnam certificate authority, and to
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grant such other pending applications for U.S.-Vietnam all-cargo authority as the Department deems appropriate.
Respectfully submitted,
Shaw Pittman, Nathaniel Breed, Jr.
Counsel for Federal Express