 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 

WASHINGTON, D.C.

					 ____________	

								:

ALASKA AIRLINES, INC, et al.			:

								:

		v.						:	Docket OST-2007

								:	         27331

LOS ANGELES WORLD AIRPORTS,			: 

ET AL.							:				

								:

SCHEDULING NOTICE

On February 16, 2007, seven airlines filed a complaint with the
Department of Transportation against the Los Angeles World Airports
(“LAWA”).  The complaint alleges that the recently-increased
terminal rental rates and lease policy for air carriers using Terminals
1 and 3 at Los Angeles International Airport (“LAX”), which LAWA
operates, are: 1) discriminatory; 2) improperly use “Fair Market
Value” to set rental rates; and 3) are unreasonable and excessive
under 49 U.S.C. §47129, which was enacted as section 113 of the Federal
Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994, P.L. 103-305 (August
23, 1994).  The complainant airlines also allege that LAWA improperly
refused to provide relevant documents and information.  The new fees
took effect on January 1, 2007.  The complainant airlines – Alaska
Airlines, Inc., AirTran Airways, Inc., ATA Airlines, Inc., Frontier
Airlines, Inc., Southwest Airlines Co., and U.S. Airways Group, Inc. --
use Terminals 1 and 3.

The statute prescribes very short deadlines for a decision on whether
the complaint should be set for hearing before an administrative law
judge and for the issuance of decisions by the administrative law judge
and us.  49 U.S.C. §47129(c).  Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. §47129 and
Subpart F of the Department's Rules of Practice, 14 C.F.R. Part 302,
adopted at 60 Fed. Reg. 6919 (February 3, 1995), we hereby give notice
to the parties in this proceeding and all other interested persons of
the following procedural dates that will govern filings in this
proceeding.  In order to process the complaint in an orderly and timely
manner we are also directing all parties that are interested in
participating or intervening in this proceeding to file such a petition
or request directly with the Department.

Complaints by other carriers:					February 23, 2007

Answer to the complaint(s):					March 2, 2007

Petitions to participate or intervene

pursuant to 14 C.F.R. 302.19 & 302.20:			March 2, 2007

Reply to the Answer:						March 5, 2007

Filing of letter of credit, surety bond,

or suitable credit facility by respondent

as required by 49 U.S.C. §47129(d)(1)(D), 

if applicable:							March 8, 2007

Department determination as to whether 

a significant dispute exists pursuant 

to 49 U.S.C. §47129(c)(2):					March 16, 2007 

Any airline filing a separate complaint must comply with the sixty-day
deadline set by the statute, 49 U.S.C. §47129(a)(1)(B), as stated in
our procedural rules, 14 C.F.R. 302.602(b), that is, the airline must
file its complaint on or before the sixtieth day after the airline
received written notice of the imposition of fee increases at LAX.  See
also City of Los Angeles Dept. of Airports v. U.S. Dept. of
Transportation, 103 F.3d 1027, 1035-1039 (D.C. Cir. 1997).  If the
sixtieth day is earlier than February 23, then the airline must file by
the earlier deadline.   

By:

                                                                        
     

							ANDREW B. STEINBERG

						Assistant Secretary for Aviation

						           and International Affairs

(SEAL)

Dated: February 16, 2007

An electronic version of this document is available on the World Wide
Web at http://dms.dot.gov//reports/reports_ aviation.asp

