 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, DC

Issued by the Department of Transportation on January 30, 2004

                     NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN – DOCKETS OST-03-15021 and
OST-99-6210

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______

This serves as notice to the public of the action described below, taken
by the Department official indicated (no additional confirming order
will be issued in this matter).

Request of   Delta Air Lines, Inc.          filed   1/27/04 for:

				 

XX  Interim dormancy waiver to preserve Delta’s seven U.S.-Argentina
frequencies from the March 31, 2004, blanket dormancy waiver expiration
date, until Delta’s intended December 1, 2004, startup date of
Atlanta-Buenos Aires services.

Background

Order 2003-4-18 granted U.S. passenger carriers holding limited
international route authority a blanket waiver of the dormancy
conditions applicable to their authorities through March 31, 2004.  The
order also required U.S. carriers to notify the Department in writing no
later than February 15, 2004, of the limited-entry rights that they will
not be using beginning April 1.  Finally, Order 2003-4-18 provided that
carriers are free to seek extension of the dormancy waiver beyond March
31, 2004, for specific city-pair limited-entry services where they can
demonstrate that circumstances warrant.

Delta filed a Notice of its intent to resume services in the
Atlanta-Buenos Aires market, effective December 1, 2004.  It included
with that Notice a request for an interim waiver for its U.S.-Argentina
frequencies beyond the March 31 date through December 1, 2004.  Delta
states that, absent a waiver, its frequencies will expire March 31,
2004.  Delta states that it is ready to resume sales and marketing
activities immediately and that it will poll carriers regarding its
notice and its request.  

On January 29, Delta informed the Department that it had polled the
carriers served with its Notice and Request and had received no
objections.

Applicant rep:  Robert E. Cohn, 202-663-8060   DOT analyst:    Linda
Senese, 202-366-2367

DISPOSITION

XX  Granted (see Remarks below)

The above action was effective when taken   January 30 , 2004, through  
December 1, 2004

2

XX  Action taken by:	Paul L. Gretch, Director

			Office of International Aviation

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Remarks:  We find that grant of Delta’s request, in the particular
circumstances presented, is in the public interest.  However, we are
putting Delta on notice that there should be no expectation that an
additional request will necessarily be granted.  Any future request to
extend the dormancy waiver for the frequencies at issue here will have
to be considered in light of any specific arguments offered and
responses thereto, and in the context of the circumstances present at
that time, including whether another carrier seeks to use the
frequencies at issue.

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____

Under authority assigned by the Department in its regulations, 14 CFR
Part 385, we found that

 (1) our action was consistent with Department policy; and (2) grant of
the authority was consistent with the public interest.  To the extent
not granted, we denied all requests in the referenced Docket.  We may
amend, modify, or revoke the action taken in this Notice at any time
without hearing at our discretion.

Persons entitled to petition the Department for review of the action set
forth in this Notice under the Department’s regulations, 14 CFR
§385.30, may file their petitions within seven (7) days after the date
of issuance of this Notice.  This action was effective when taken, and
the filing of a petition for review will not alter such effectiveness.

An electronic version of this document is available on the World Wide
Web at:

http://dms.dot.gov//reports/reports_aviation.asp

 Delta’s waiver from the dormancy condition is effective through
December 1 2004, or until the date on which Delta begins service with
each of these frequencies, whichever occurs earlier.  As to any
frequency with which Delta does not begin service by December 1, 2004,
its frequency allocation with respect to that frequency expires
automatically.

