OST-99-6319 / Northwest Airlines / US-Mexico Amendment of Certificate Authority / Answer of United Air Lines / November 2, 1999

Application of

under 49 U.S.C. § 41102 for amendment of certificate authority (U.S.-Mexico)

United Air Lines, Inc. ("United"), pursuant to Rule 1720(d) of the Department's Rules of Practice (14 C.F.R. Part 302), hereby answers the Application of Northwest Airlines, Inc. For Amendment of Certificate Authority, in which Northwest seeks to incorporate all of its currently-held U.S.-Mexico exemption authority into its certificate for Route 564. In response, United submits the following:

1. In principle, United does not object to Northwest holding a certificate encompassing all of its U.S.-Mexico route authority, even though eight of the twelve segments Northwest seeks to incorporate are not routes on which Northwest operates. Rather, Northwest plans to serve these markets by code sharing on flights operated by Alaska Airlines or Continental Airlines. United must, however, oppose Northwest's request for a waiver of the Department's 90-day dormancy requirement applicable to these routes.

2. Northwest's application states that "[b]ecause [it] intends to operate certain of its U.S.-Mexico flights on a seasonal basis, it asks that the Department waive the 90-day dormancy condition normally applicable to these routes." Northwest Application at 3, n. 3 (emphasis

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added). To the extent that Northwest is asking the Department to waive altogether its dormancy requirement with respect to these routes, Northwest's request is overly broad and should be denied. A general dormancy waiver that is not tied to specific routes or invoked during identifiable seasonal cessations would enable Northwest to retain otherwise dormant U.S.-Mexico route authority and potentially prevent other U.S. carriers from offering competing service on the routes. Until all designation limitations are removed from the U.S.-Mexico market, Northwest should be required to abide by the same dormancy requirements as all other U.S. carriers holding U.S.-Mexico authority. See, e.g., Order 99-6-6 at 7 ("The dormancy conditions were designed to maximize U.S. carrier opportunities under the U.S.-Mexico aviation agreement to ensure that limited-entry routes not being served would be readily available for service by other carriers.")

3. United also questions the wisdom of incorporating U.S.-Mexico code-share routes into certificate authority. /1 It is hard to see how incorporation would "reduce the administrative burden" on the Department, as Northwest claims. Northwest Application at 6. The Department's dormancy requirements would continue to apply to each of these routes, many of which may prove to involve a high level of dormancy. Indeed, Northwest recently sought an extension of the start-up requirement for each and every U.S.-Mexico route on which it seeks to code share with Alaska and Continental - the same routes for which Northwest now

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seeks long-term certificate authority. /2 If Northwest's application were granted, its certificate would quickly become outdated and remain so for many years. Because certificates are infrequently updated, it would be difficult for other U.S. carriers to determine which of the segments were actually dormant and available for alternate U.S. carrier service.

WHEREFORE, for the foregoing reasons, United requests that the Department seriously consider whether it is advisable to convert U.S.-Mexico code-share exemptions into certificate authority - for Northwest or for any other U.S. carrier - and decline to grant Northwest a general waiver from its dormancy requirements that exceeds the case-by-case seasonal waivers generally available to all carriers serving U.S.-Mexico markets.

Respectfully submitted,

JEFFREY A. MANLEY

CATHLEEN P. PETERSON

KIRKLAND & ELLIS

655 Fifteenth Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20005

(202) 879-5161

Counsel for UNITED AIR LINES, INC.

DATED: November 2, 1999

2/ See, August 19, 1999 request of Northwest Airlines, Inc. for extension of dormancy conditions in U.S.-Mexico code-share markets; approved August 30, 1999, with new dormancy date set at December 1, 1999.