 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on February 5, 2004

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKET OST 2003-16718

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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    Mesa Airlines, Inc.  filed  12/11/03 for:

XX  Exemption for two years under 49 U.S.C. §40109 to provide the
following service:

Scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property, and mail
between Los Angeles, California, and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Applicant rep:   Brian S. Gillman (602) 685-4051    DOT Analyst:  Linda
L. Lundell (202) 366-2336

D I S P O S I T I O N

XX  Granted, subject to conditions (See below).

The action above was effective when taken:   February 5, 2004, through 
February 5, 2006    .

Action taken by:   Paul L. Gretch, Director	

		        Office of International Aviation	

XX  Authority granted is consistent with the aviation agreement between
the United States and Mexico.

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

XX  Standard Exemption Conditions (attached)

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Special Conditions:  The U.S.-Mexico exemption authority granted is
subject to the dormancy notice requirements set forth in condition 7 of
Appendix A of Order 88-10-2.  Consistent with our policy, the dormancy
notice period will begin June 1, 2004, Mesa’s proposed startup date
for these services.  

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_____________________________

On the basis of data officially noticeable under Rule 24(g) of the
Department’s regulations, we found the applicant qualified to provide
the services authorized.

- see next page -

													2

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 application 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_aviation.asp

						APPENDIX 

U.S. Carrier Standard Exemption Conditions

In the conduct of the operations authorized, the U.S. carrier
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 all applicable requirements of the Federal Aviation
Administration and with all applicable U.S. Government requirements
concerning security.  To assure compliance with all applicable U.S.
Government requirements concerning security, the holder shall, before
commencing any new service (including charter flights) to or from a
foreign airport, contact its Principal Security Inspector (PSI) to
advise the PSI of its plans and to find out whether the Transportation
Security Administration has determined that security is adequate to
allow such airport(s) to be served; 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.

											8/2003

   Mesa states that, as part of this service, it will place the “HP”
code of America West on Mesa’s flights in the subject market.  Under
the U.S.-Mexico aviation agreement, up to two U.S. carriers may be
designated to operate direct-carrier service (own-aircraft flights), and
up to four U.S. carriers may be authorized to provide code-share
services in a given city-pair market.  At the time this application was
filed, Alaska Airlines, Inc., held one of the designations to serve the
Los Angeles-Puerto Vallarta route, and the second designation was
available.  However, four carriers already held the Los Angeles-Puerto
Vallarta code-share authorizations (Continental Airlines, Inc.; Delta
Air Lines, Inc.; Northwest Airlines, Inc.; and Hawaiian Airlines, Inc.
(Hawaiian)).  Thus, there were no code-share authorizations available
for the Mesa/America West code-share proposal here.  Subsequently,
Hawaiian filed a dormancy notice for the Los Angeles-Puerto Vallarta
market, and we withdrew Hawaiian’s code-share authorization.  As a
result, both the requisite designation and code-share authorizations
were available to allow us to proceed with the instant application.

