 

			  UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

		        DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

			  OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

			          WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on May 10, 2004

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKET OST-2003-14393

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

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).

Applicant: AEROVIAS CARIBE, S.A. de C.V.                                
                             Date Filed: February 17, 2004

Relief requested:  Exemption from 49 USC section 41301 to permit
Aerovias Caribe to conduct scheduled, combination services between:  1)
Mexico City, Mexico, and Austin, Texas; and 2) the Mexican coterminal
points Cancun/Puerto Vallarta and the U.S. coterminal points San
Antonio/Austin, Texas; and a Statement of Authorization under Part 212
to permit Aerovias Caribe to carry Mexicana’s designator code on these
flights.

If renewal, date and citation of last action:  March 4, 2003, in this
Docket.

Applicant representative:  Charles F. Donley II, 202-626-6840           
  DOT analyst:  Allen F. Brown, 202-366-2405

Responsive pleadings:  None.

	DISPOSITION

Action:  Approved.                                                      
                                              Action date:  May 10, 2004

Effective dates of authority granted:  The exemption authority is
effective May 10, 2004, through May 10, 2005; and the Statement of
Authorization is effective May 10, 2004, for an indefinite duration.

Basis for approval:  United States-Mexico Air Transport Services
Agreement.

Remarks/Conditions:  The exemption authority is subject to the terms,
conditions, and limitations set forth in our standard exemption
conditions.  The code-share operations are subject to the following
conditions – a) the Statement of Authorization will remain in effect
only as long as (i) Aerovias Caribe and Mexicana 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) The subject foreign air carriers
(Aerovias Caribe and Mexicana) must promptly notify the Department
(Office of International Aviation) if the code-share agreement under
which these code-share services are operated is no longer in effect, or
if the carriers decide to cease operating all or any portion of the
approved code-share services.  (We expect this notification to be
received within ten days of such non-effectiveness or of such decision. 
This notice should be filed in Docket OST-2003-14393.)  c) The
code-sharing operations conducted under this authority must comply with
14 CFR 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 subject air
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 the service in computer reservation 

systems and elsewhere; that the carrier selling such transportation
(that is, 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.  d) The authority
granted here is specifically conditioned so that the subject foreign air
carriers shall not give any force or effect to any contractual
provisions between themselves that are contrary to these conditions.

Action taken by:   Paul L. Gretch, Director, Office of International
Aviation	

________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

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) the applicant was qualified to perform its proposed
operations; (3) grant of the authority was consistent with the public
interest; and (4) 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/deferred/dismissed, 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

