BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C.

Transcription

1 BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C. In the matter of the application of AUSTRAL LINEAS AEREAS CIELOS DEL SUR S.A. Docket DOT-OST for an exemption from 49 U.S.C APPLICATION FOR RENEWAL OF EXEMPTION Communications with respect to this document should be addressed to: Squire Patton Boggs (US LLP th Street, N.W., Suite 300 Washington, D.C ( phone ( fax Counsel to Austral Lineas Aereas Cielos del Sur S.A.

2 BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C. In the matter of the application of AUSTRAL LINEAS AEREAS CIELOS DEL SUR S.A. Docket DOT-OST for an exemption from 49 U.S.C APPLICATION FOR RENEWAL OF EXEMPTION Austral Lineas Aereas Cielos del Sur S.A. ( Austral, pursuant to 49 U.S.C , hereby requests renewal of the exemption authority granted to it by the Department of Transportation ( Department in the above-captioned docket permitting Austral to transport persons, property and mail under the designator code of Delta Air Lines, Inc. ( Delta between points in Argentina. 1 Austral requests renewal of this exemption for a one-year period on its existing terms and conditions. Austral relies upon the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act and Part 377 of the Department s procedural regulations to continue its existing authorization in force pending a final decision on this renewal request. In further support of its renewal request, Austral states as follows: 1. Austral holds exemption authority permitting it to engage in scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail to the extent necessary to display Delta s two-letter 1 Notice of Action Taken, Docket DOT-OST , January 30, 2014

3 Application of Austral Lineas Aereas Cielos del Sur S.A. for Renewal of Exemption Docket DOT-OST January 20, 2015 designator code on flights operated by Austral between points in Argentina. Under this authority, Austral currently engages in codeshare services with Delta. 2. Service between the United States and Argentina is governed by the Air Transport Services Agreement between the two countries ( Agreement. In accordance with Article VI, Paragraph 7, of the Agreement, Argentine and U.S. carriers may engage in codeshare operations: In operating or holding out the authorized services on the agreed routes, any designated airline of one Party may enter into cooperative marketing arrangements such as blocked-space, code sharing or leasing arrangements, with an airline or airlines of either party and/or an airline or airlines of a third country; provided that all airlines in such arrangements (a hold the appropriate authority and (b meet the requirements normally applied to such arrangements. The Department has previously found that the codeshare services operated by Austral are within the scope of the Agreement. The United States has consistently recognized that the inclusion of a service in a bilateral agreement to which the United States is a party and the submission of an application by a qualified foreign carrier for such service satisfy all relevant public interest requirements for grant of exemption authority Austral s fitness remains beyond question. Austral is subject to the safety and operational rules of the Government of Argentina. Argentina is a contracting party to the Convention on International Civil Aviation and observes all applicable ICAO standards. 14 C.F.R All codeshare services are, and will continue to be, operated in compliance with 2 See, S.REP. No , at 4 (1979, reprinted in 1980 U.S.C.C.A.N. 54, 57 ( The negotiation of a bilateral agreement itself represents a determination by the Government of the United States that the grant of route authority provided for under the bilateral is in the public interest.. 2

4 Application of Austral Lineas Aereas Cielos del Sur S.A. for Renewal of Exemption Docket DOT-OST January 20, This renewal application raises no environmental or energy issues. Similarly, approval of the application will not result in a near term increase in fuel consumption of ten million gallons or more. WHEREFORE, Austral Lineas Aereas Cielos del Sur S.A. respectfully requests renewal of its exemption permitting it to engage in scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail as more fully described herein, or such other relief as the Department deems necessary and proper. Respectfully submitted, /s/ Squire Patton Boggs (US LLP th Street, N.W., Suite 300 Washington, D.C ( phone ( fax charles.donley@squirepb.com Counsel to Austral Lineas Aereas Cielos del Sur S.A. 3

5 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that one copy of the foregoing renewal application of Austral Lineas Aereas Cielos del Sur S.A. has this day been served on each of the following individuals via e- mail. /s/ sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com steve.morrissey@united.com; dan.weiss@united.com; robert.wirick@aa.com; howard.kass@aa.com brian.hedberg@dot.gov; robert.finamore@dot.gov info@airlineinfo.com i