OST-98-3419 / OST-96-1213 / OST-96-1199 / 1998 US-Japan Combination Service proceeding / Joint Motion of Continental and Continental Micronesia to Consolidate and Statement of Priorities / February 10, 1998
1998 U.S.-JAPAN COMBINATION SERVICE PROCEEDING
Application of
CONTINENTAL AIRLINES. INC. / Docket OST-96-1213
under 49 U.S.C. §§ 41108 and 41102 for a certificate of public convenience and necessity (Houston-Tokyo; Newark-Tokyo, and Newark-Osaka)
Application of
CONTINENTAL MICRONESIA. INC. / Docket OST-96-1199
for amendment of frequency allocation (Honolulu-Tokyo)
JOINT MOTION OF
CONTINENTAL AIRLINES, INC. AND
CONTINENTAL MICRONESIA, INC. TO
CONSOLIDATE AND STATEMENT OF PRIORITIES
Continental /1 and Continental Micronesia Jointly move the Department to consolidate Continental's application for Houston/Newark-Tokyo and Newark-Osaka authority (Docket OST-96-1213) and Continental Micronesia's application for additional Honolulu-Tokyo frequencies (Docket OST-96-1199) into the 1998 U.S.-Japan Combination Service Proceeding (Docket OST-98-3419) /2 so they can be
1/ Common names of carriers are used.
2/ These applications are being supplemented contemporaneously to provide current information required by the U.S.-Japan Combination Services Notice, Dockets OST-98-3418 and 98-3419, served February 3, 1998 (Japan Notice). Continental Micronesia has also filed an application for Honolulu-Sendai authority in Docket OST-96-1198, which it is not pursuing further at this time and the Department may wish to dismiss.
Joint Motion of Continental Airlines and Continental Micronesia
Page 2
considered along with Continental Micronesia's application for Honolulu-Osaka certificate authority and the joint Continental/Northwest application for authority to code-share on U.S.-Japan-beyond flights. /3 In response to the Japan Notice, Continental and Continental Micronesia also state the priority of their applications as follows:
Houston and Newark-Tokyo are Continental's top priority, and Continental must have authority at both points and 14 frequencies to provide effective competition between Continental's network and other U.S.-Japan networks beginning with the first Continental Newark and Houston-Tokyo flights in November and December of 1998.
A Honolulu-Tokyo frequency allocation to enable Continental to operate a second daily flight (seven additional frequencies) beginning in February 2000 is Continental's third priority, after Houston and Newark-Tokyo.
Honolulu-Osaka authority is Continental's fourth priority with daily service (seven frequencies) to begin in February 2000 so Continental can develop further Japan-origin tourism to Hawaii.
Newark-Osaka is Continental's fifth priority with daily service (seven frequencies) to begin in February 2000 after Continental has developed its presence in the Newark/New York-Japan market.
3/ Continental/Continental Micronesia/Air Micronesia is designated as an MOU carrier under the
January 30, 1998 Memorandum of Consultations between the U.S. and Japan (1998 MOC). (Japan Notice at I and 3)
Joint Motion of Continental Airlines and Continental Micronesia
Page 3
1. For the reasons explained in Continental's contemporaneously filed application for pendente lite exemption authority to provide Newark and Houston-Tokyo service, Continental must have access to both Houston and Newark-Tokyo if it is to offer an alternative route network to passengers and shippers throughout the areas served by Continental's Newark and Houston hubs. Continental's requirement for authority between both of its major international hubs and Tokyo is so critical that Continental can neither rank the two points separately nor offer alternative rankings in the event that it cannot serve both of these Tokyo markets. /4 All of Continental's proposed service would be offered year-round. /5
2. The Joint Continental/Continental Micronesia request for consolidation of these applications into the 1998 U.S.-Japan Combination Service Proceeding is consistent with the Department's Japan Notice, and consolidation will be conducive to the efficient dispatch of the Department's business and the ends of justice. Whether consolidation of the Continental and Continental Micronesia
4/ If Continental is unable to secure authority to serve the Honolulu-Tokyo mark et, Newark and Houston-Tokyo authority would still be Continental's top priority.
5/ Continental and Northwest are filing simultaneously a Joint application pursuant to which Continental would place its code on Northwest flights in the Detroit-Osaka, San Francisco-Tokyo, Detroit-Tokyo and Los Angeles-Osaka markets and, on a blind sector basis, between Tokyo and Seoul, Singapore and Bangkok (in that order of preference). If Seoul code-sharing is not permitted, the order of preference becomes Singapore, Bangkok and Taipei. Continental currently has no arrangement to code-share with any Japanese carrier.
Joint Motion of Continental Ail-lines and Continental Micronesia
Page 4
applications with the applications of other carriers is required by the Ashbacker doctrine' can only be determined once applications for the 90 additional Japan frequencies now available have been submitted.
For the foregoing reasons. Continental and Continental Micronesia urge the Department to consolidate their applications into the 1998 U.S.-Japan Combination Service Proceeding and to grant their applications.
Respectfully submitted,
CROWELL & MORING LLP
R. Bruce Keiner, Jr.
Lorraine B. Halloway
Counsel for Continental Micronesia, Inc.
February 10, 1998
Ashbacker Radio CorT)oration v. FCC. 326 U.S. 327 (1945).