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 2003-16735

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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    America West Airlines, Inc.  filed  12/16/03 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:   Joanne W. Young (202) 861-1532    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, America West’s proposed startup
date for these services.  The exemption authority granted is limited to
service provided on a code-share basis only. 

The code-share operations conducted under this authorization are subject
to the following conditions:  (a) the code-sharing operations conducted
under this authority must comply with 14 CFR 257 and with any amendment
to the Department’s regulations concerning code-share arrangements
that may be adopted.  Notwithstanding any provisions 

														2

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 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; and (b) the authority granted here is specifically
conditioned so that neither America West nor Mesa shall give any force
or effect to any contractual provisions between themselves that are
contrary to these conditions.

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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.

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

 America West states that it will use the requested authority pursuant
to a code-share arrangement with Mesa Airlines, Inc. (Mesa), whereby
America West will place its “HP” code on flights operated by Mesa 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 America West/Mesa 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.

