 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, DC

Issued by the Department of Transportation on December 23, 2004

   NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKET OST-2004-19689         

________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________

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).

Joint Application of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (Delta) and Aerovias de
Mexico, S.A. de C.V. (Aeromexico) filed   11/17/04 for:

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

Scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property, and mail
between the terminal point San Diego, California, and the terminal point
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and to combine this exemption authority with
all of Delta’s existing certificate and exemption authority,
consistent with applicable international agreements.  Delta proposes to
use the requested authority by placing its airline designator code on
flights operated by Aeromexico in the subject market.  The joint
applicants intend to begin the code-share services on or about January
13, 2005. 

XX  Statement of authorization for Aeromexico, for indefinite duration,
under Part 212 of the Department’s Regulations to:

Display Delta’s “DL” designator code on flights operated by
Aeromexico between San Diego, California, and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Applicant reps: Robert E. Cohn (202) 663-8060 (Delta)   DOT Analyst:
Thuy H. Cooper, 202-366-5423

            William C. Evans (202) 861-6459 (Aeromexico)  		      

D I S P O S I T I O N

XX  Granted (subject to conditions, see below)

The above action granting exemption authority to Delta was effective
when taken: December 23, 2004, through December 23, 2006.

The above action granting a statement of authorization to Aeromexico was
effective when taken:

December 23, 2004, and will remain in effect indefinitely, subject to
the conditions below.

Action taken by:   Paul L. Gretch, Director	

		      Office of International Aviation

XX  The 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 Delta’s certificates of public convenience and necessity 

XX Standard exemption conditions (attached)  

Conditions:  The U.S.-Mexico exemption authority granted to Delta is
subject to the dormancy notice requirements set forth in condition 7 of
Appendix A of Order 88-10-2, and is limited to operations conducted on a
code-share basis only.  Consistent with our standard policy, the
dormancy notice period for the San Diego-Puerto Vallarta service will
begin January 13, 2005, the carriers’ proposed start-up date for this
service.  The exemption authority granted is limited to operations
conducted on a code-share basis only.

The route integration authority granted to Delta is subject to the
condition that any service provided under this exemption shall be
consistent with all applicable agreements between the United States and
the foreign countries involved. Furthermore, (a) nothing in the award of
the route integration authority granted should be construed as
conferring upon Delta rights (including fifth-freedom intermediate
and/or beyond rights) to serve markets where U.S. carrier entry is
limited unless Delta notifies the Department of its intent to serve such
a market and unless and until the Department has completed any necessary
carrier selection procedures to determine which carrier(s) should be
authorized to exercise such rights); (b) should there be a request by
any carrier to use the limited-entry route rights that are included in
Delta’s authority by virtue of the route integration exemption granted
here, but that are not then being used by Delta, the holding of such
authority by route integration will not be considered as providing any
preference for Delta in a competitive carrier selection proceeding to
determine which carrier(s) should be entitled to use the authority at
issue.

The Statement of Authorization granted to Aeromexico is subject to the
following conditions:

The statement of authorization will remain in effect only as long as
Delta and Aeromexico continue to hold the underlying authority to
operate the code-share services at issue, and the code-share agreement
providing for the code-share operations remains in effect.

Delta and/or Aeromexico must promptly notify the Department (Office of
International Aviation) if the code-share agreement is no longer
effective or if the carriers decide to cease operating all or a portion
of the approved code-share services. (Such notice should be filed in
Docket OST-2004-19689).

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 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 the operating carrier shall not permit the code of its U.S.
code-sharing partner to be carried on any flight that enters, departs,
or transits the airspace of any area for whose airspace the Federal
Aviation Administration has issued a flight prohibition; and

The authority granted here is specifically conditioned so that neither
Delta nor Aeromexico 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 Delta 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:

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

 

U.S. Carrier 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, including, but not limited to, 49 CFR Part 1544. 
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
International Principal Security Inspector (IPSI) to advise the IPSI 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.

										  

05/2004

 By Notice of Action Taken, dated October 25, 2004 (Docket
OST-2004-19453), the Department granted exemption authority for
Aeromexico to operate the San Diego-Puerto Vallarta market.

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

