 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, DC

Issued by the Department of Transportation on December 16, 2002

   NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKET OST-2002-13705           

________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________

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      US Airways, Inc.       filed   10/29/02  for:

XX  Exemption under 49 U.S.C. 40109 to provide the following service:

Scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property, and mail
between points in the United States, on the one hand, and Anguilla,
Saba, St. Eustatius, and St. Barthelemy, on the other.  US Airways
intends to operate this service pursuant to a code-share arrangement
with Windward Islands Airways International, N.V.

Application of  Windward Islands Airways International, N.V.   filed  
10/29/02  for:

XX  Statement of authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 to:

Permit Windward Islands Airways to display the designator code of US
Airways in conjunction with foreign air transportation of persons,
property, and mail on flights operated by Windward between St. Maarten,
on the one hand, and Anguilla, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Barthelemy, St.
Kitts and Nevis, and Antigua, on the other. 

Applicant rep: Joel Stephen Burton (202) 383-5300           DOT Analyst:
 Sylvia Moore, (202) 366-6519

D I S P O S I T I O N

XX  Granted  (subject to conditions, see below)

The exemption authority granted to US Airways was effective when taken: 
December 16, 2002, through 

December 16, 2004.

The statement of authorization granted was effective when taken:  
December 16, 2002, and will remain in effect indefinitely, subject to
the conditions listed below.

Action taken by:   Paul L. Gretch, Director	

		    Office of International Aviation

XX  The authority granted to serve Saba and St. Eustatius is consistent
with the aviation agreement between the United States and the
Netherlands Antilles; the authority granted to serve St. Barthelemy is
consistent with the aviation agreement between the United States and
France; and the authority granted to serve Anguilla is consistent with
the aviation agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom.

(See Reverse Side)

2

Except to the extent exempted or waived, this authority is subject to
the terms, conditions, and limitations indicated:  XX Holder’s
certificates of public convenience and necessity (US Airways)

	   XX  Holder’s foreign air carrier permit (Windward Islands Airways)
    

	   XX  Standard exemption conditions (attached)

The statement of authorization granted is subject to the following
conditions:

(a)	The statement of authorization will remain in effect only as long as
(i) US Airways and Windward Islands Airways continue to hold the
necessary underlying authority to operate the code-share services at
issue, and (ii) the code-share agreement providing for the code-share
operations remains in effect.

(b)	US Airways and Windward Islands must promptly notify the Department
(Office of International Aviation) if the code-share agreement providing
for the code-share operations is no longer effective or if the carriers
decide to cease operating all or a portion of the approved code-share
services.  Such notices should be filed in Docket OST-2002-13609.2

(c)	The code-sharing conducted under this authority must comply with
Part 257 and with any amendments to the Department’s regulations
concerning code-share arrangements that may be adopted.  
Notwithstanding any provisions in the contract between the carriers, our
approval here is expressly conditioned upon the requirements that the
subject foreign air transportation be sold in the name of the carrier
holding out such service in the computer reservation systems and
elsewhere; that the carrier selling such transportation (i.e., the
carrier shown on the ticket) accept responsibility for the entirety of
the code-share journey for all obligations established in its contract
of carriage with the passenger; and that the passenger liability of the
operating carrier be unaffected.  Further, the operating carrier shall
not permit the code of its U.S. air carrier code-sharing partner to be
carried on any flights that enter, depart, or transit the airspace of
any area for whose airspace the Federal Aviation Administration has
issued a flight prohibition.

(d)	The authority granted here is specifically conditioned so that
neither US Airways nor Windward Islands Airways shall give any force or
effect to any contractual provisions between themselves that are
contrary to these conditions.

________________________________________________________________________
__________

On the basis of data officially noticeable under Rule 24(g) of the
Department's regulations, we found US Airways, Inc. qualified to provide
the exemption services authorized.

Under authority assigned by the Department in its regulations, 14 CFR
Part 385, we found that (1) our action was consistent with Department
policy; (2) grant of the authority was consistent with the public
interest; and (3) grant of the authority would not constitute a major
regulatory action under the Energy, Policy and Conservation Act of 1975.
 To the extent not granted, we denied all requests in the referenced
Docket.  We may amend, modify, or revoke the authority granted 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

APPENDIX 

U.S. CARRIER

Standard Exemption Conditions

In the conduct of operations authorized by the attached notice, the
applicant(s) shall:

(1)  Hold at all times effective operating authority from the government
of each country served;

(2)  Comply with applicable requirements concerning oversales contained
in 14 CFR 250 (for scheduled operations, if authorized);

(3)  Comply with the requirements for reporting data contained in 14 CFR
241;

(4)  Comply with requirements for minimum insurance coverage, and for
certifying that coverage to the Department, contained in 14 CFR 205;

(5)  Except as specifically exempted or otherwise provided for in a
Department Order, comply with the requirements of 14 CFR 203, concerning
waiver of Warsaw Convention liability limits and defenses;

(6)  Comply with the applicable requirements of the Federal Aviation
Administration Regulations and with all applicable U.S. Government
requirements concerning security;1 and

(7)  Comply with such other reasonable terms, conditions, and
limitations required by the public interest as may be prescribed by the
Department of Transportation, with all applicable orders and regulations
of other U.S. agencies and courts, and with all applicable laws of the
United States.

The authority granted shall be effective only during the period when the
holder is in compliance with the conditions imposed above.

										10/2002

 In connection with US Airways’ proposed code share to these points,
the joint applicants state that US Airways already holds authority for
U.S.-St. Kitts and Nevis, U.S.-Antigua, and U.S.-France services.  (See
Notices of Action Taken dated January 16, 2002, July 5, 2001, and Order
2002-5-25, respectively.)

2 We expect this notification to be received within 10 days of such
non-effectiveness or of such decision.

1 To assure compliance with all applicable U.S. Government requirements
concerning security, the holder should, before commencing any new
service (including charter flights) to or from a foreign airport, inform
its Principal Security Inspector of its plans.

