 

			  UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

		        DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

			  OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

			          WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on May 15, 2003

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKET OST 2003-14889

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

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:  ANTONOV DESIGN BUREAU                                       
                           Date Filed:  April 7, 2003

Relief requested:  Exemption from 49 U.S.C. section 40109(g) to permit
the applicant to operate one, one-way, cargo charter flight from
Richmond, VA, to Bismarck, ND, during the period June 1-30, 2003, using
its AN-124 aircraft to transport an outsized turbine rotor/trailer unit
and ancillary equipment, on behalf of CAP Logistics, Inc., acting on
behalf of Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin Electric).  The
applicant stated that Basin Electric urgently needed to move the turbine
late April 2003 to Richmond for reconditioning (that portion of the
applicant’s request was granted on April 15, 2003, in this Docket),
and to return it to Bismarck in June 2003 in order to restore a power
plant to full service.  It stated that the size and weight of the rotor,
coupled with the distance involved, foreclosed the possibility of
transporting the unit on a timely and reasonably safe basis by surface
transportation.  The applicant further stated that in order to avoid
undue delays to the rotor’s reconditioning and return to service, and
possible service disruptions for Basin Electric’s customers, the rotor
needed to be shipped by air, and that the unit is too large for
transportation on U.S. carrier aircraft.

Applicant representative:  Sheryl Israel, 202-663-8060             DOT
analyst:  Allen F. Brown, 202-366-2405

Responsive pleadings:  Antonov served its application on those U.S.
carriers operating large all-cargo aircraft.  Each carrier indicated
that it did not have aircraft available to conduct the proposed
operations and that it had no comment or did not oppose grant of the
requested authority to Antonov.

Statutory Standards:  Under 49 U.S.C. section 40109(g), we may authorize
a foreign air carrier to carry commercial traffic between U.S. points
(i.e., cabotage traffic) under limited circumstances.  Specifically, we
must find that the authority is required in the public interest; that
because of an emergency created by unusual circumstances not arising in
the normal course of business the traffic cannot be accommodated by U.S.
carriers holding certificates under 49 U.S.C. section 41102; that all
possible efforts have been made to place the traffic on U.S. carriers;
and that the transportation is necessary to avoid unreasonable hardship
to the traffic involved (an additional required finding, concerning
emergency transportation during labor disputes, was not relevant here). 
For examples of earlier grants of authority of this type, see, i.e.,
Order 2001-5-23.

                                                                        
        DISPOSITION

Action: Approved                                                        
                                               Action date:  May 15,
2003

Effective dates of authority granted:  June 1-30, 2003

Basis for approval:  We are granting Antonov’s request to operate its
proposed flight from Richmond to Bismarck, during the period June 1-30,
2003.  We found that its request met all the relevant criteria of 49
U.S.C. section 40109(g) for the grant of an exemption of this type and
that the grant was required in the public interest.  Specifically, we
were persuaded that the need to move the cargo back to Bismarck in June
to meet Basic Electric’s schedule to restore an electrical power plant
to full services as soon as possible; the fact that the cargo could not
be transported by other modes in time promptly to meet the restoration
schedule; the potential negative impact of delivery delay; and the
unique, outsized nature of the cargo, constituted an emergency not
arising in the normal course of business.  Moreover, based on the
representations of the U.S. carriers, we concluded that no U.S. carrier
had aircraft available which could be used to conduct the operation at
issue here.  Finally, we found that the applicant was qualified to
perform its proposed operation (see, e.g., Notice of Action Taken dated
August 26, 2002, in Docket OST-96-1454).

Except to the extent exempted/waived, this authority is subject to our
standard exemption conditions and to the condition that the applicant
must comply with an FAA-approved flight routing for the authorized
flight.

Action taken by:      Read C. Van de Water

                                  Assistant Secretary for Aviation

                                     and International Affairs	

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

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

