	

                    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

            DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

                    OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

                             WASHINGTON, DC

Issued by the Department of Transportation on December 10, 2002

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN – DOCKET OST-2002-11615

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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).

Application of   Continental Airlines, Inc.   filed  11/07/2002   for:	

XX     Waiver of the dormancy conditions applicable to certain of its
U.S.-Ecuador and U.S.-Brazil frequency allocations. 

By Order 2002-4-19 and Notice of Action Taken dated March 22, 2002, in
this docket, the Department granted Continental waivers through December
31, 2002, of the dormancy condition applicable to one-and-a-half (1.5)
of its U.S.-Ecuador frequencies and four (4) of its U.S.-Brazil
frequencies. 

Continental now requests an extension of its waivers through December
31, 2003.  Specifically, Continental requests a waiver of the dormancy
condition applicable to one-and-a-half (1.5) of its U.S.-Ecuador
frequencies for service between Houston and Ecuador; and four (4) of its
U.S.-Brazil frequencies for service between New York (Newark) and Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil.  Continental states that, due to economic conditions
and limited demand, it requires an extension of its existing waivers of
the dormancy conditions in these markets.      

American Airlines filed an answer.  American states that the Department
should deny Continental’s extended waiver request since Continental
has not indicated any firm plans to resume service.  In this connection,
American maintains that the unused frequencies should be returned to the
unallocated pool, where they will be available to interested carriers.  

Applicant rep:  R. Bruce Keiner (202) 624-2615  		DOT Analyst:  Michael
D. Bodman (202) 366-9667

D I S P O S I T I O N

XX  Denied (see remarks below).  

The above action was effective when taken: December 10, 2002.  

Action taken by:   Paul L. Gretch, Director	

		    Office of International Aviation	

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Remarks:  When we last issued Continental a waiver for these frequencies
through December 31, 2002, we placed the carrier on notice that “there
should be no expectation that an additional request will similarly be
granted.”  (Order 2002-4-19 and Notice of Action Taken dated March 22,
2002, Docket OST-2002-11615)  In the circumstances presented now, and
taking into consideration the record before us, we find that the public
interest would be best served by reassigning these frequencies to the
unallocated pool of frequencies so that whenever Continental or another
carrier has firm plans to use them, it may apply for the frequencies
accordingly.   

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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) denial of the waiver was consistent with the public
interest.  

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 order is available on the World Wide Web
at 

http://dms.dot.gov//reports/reports_ aviation.asp 

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