U.S. Department of Transportation Office ofthe Secretary ofTransportation

January 8, 2015

Ms. LisaA. Harig Counsel for Compass Airlines, LLC McBreen & Kopko 1501 Lee Highway, Suite 180 Arlington, VA 22209 DearMs. Harig: 1200 New JerseyAvenue SE Washington DC 20590

On October 9, 2014, Compass Airlines, LLC ("Compass") filed an application inDocket DOT-OST-2014-0178 requesting an amendment to the certificate ofpublic convenience and necessity issued to the air carrier to remove the restriction on the total number of aircraft that Compass is permitted to operate. In connection with this filing, Compass filed a motion for confidential treatment under 14 CFR section 302.12 (Rule 12) ofour Procedural Regulations for certain informationthe company was providing. The purpose ofthis letter is to rule onthat motion. Compass requests confidentialtreatment ofthe following exhibits: 1. Exhibit 1- Compass' balance sheet atAugust 31, 2014; 2. Exhibit 2- Compass' projected statements ofoperations for the 12-monthperiods ending September 30, 2014 and 2015; and 3. Exhibit 3 -third party verification offunds on deposit with Compass' financial institution. In the motion, Compass states that this information warrants confidential treatment because these exhibits contain non-public financial data and projections relating to Compass' current and proposed operations which, ifreleased, could cause the company substantial competitive harm. Compass contends that the information for which confidential treatment is requested incorporates private, commercial, sensitive, and financial information ofa type that is notnormally disclosedto thepublic. Rule 12, instructs us to evaluate requests for confidential treatment by the standards of disclosure found in the Freedom ofInformation Act (5 U.S.C. section 552). Information may be withheld from disclosure under 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) if it is (1) commercial or2 financial, (2) obtained from a person outside of government, and (3) privileged or confidential (Gulf and Western Industries, Inc. v. UnitedStates, 615 F.2d 527, 529 (D.C. Cir. 1979)). There is no questionthatthe information for which Compass seeks confidentialtreatment is financial or commercial in nature and that it was obtained from a person outside the government. The remaining question is whether the information is privileged or confidential--whether "disclosure of the information is likely to have either of the following effects: (1) impairthe Government's abilityto obtainnecessary information; or (2) cause substantial harm to the competitive position of the person from whom the information was obtained" (National Parks and ConservationAssociation v. Morton, 498 F.2d765, 770 (D.C. Cir. 1974)). Further, to beprivileged orconfidential, the information must not be ofthe type that is usuallyreleased to the public (Gulf and Western Industries, Inc. v. UnitedStates, 615 F.2d 527, 530 (D.C. Cir. 1979)). A review ofthe above-referenced exhibits show that much ofthe information contained therein is ofthe type and scope the Department typically requires to be part ofthe public record in a fitness determination. Generally, it is not the Department's practice to withhold from public disclosure an applicant's bank statements and historical financial statements,1 nor its operating plan, pre-operating costs, and operating expense projections. Thus, we deny confidentialtreatmentto Exhibits 1and 3. With respect to Exhibit 2, we find that there is nothing inthe nature ofthe exhibit which

.would result in a blanket grant of confidential treatment. Therefore, we cannot grant confidential treatmentto Exhibit 2 in its entirety. However, we recognize that the exhibit does contain some information for which we have typically granted confidential treatment, such as revenue projections. Thus, we will grant confidentiality to the September 30, 2015, projected revenues and projected net income in Exhibit 2. To the remainingportions ofExhibit 2, we deny confidential treatment. Thank youfor your cooperation inthis matter. Ifyouhave any questions, please feel free to contact VanessaBalgobin at 202-366-9721. Sincerely, 

# CX!J

**;//~/~**

**Laur~y-~Yke~o** Chief, Air CarrierFitness Division Office ofAviationAnalysis

It appears that Compass titled the first page of Exhibit 2 as "Projected Statement of Operations" because the date ofthe statement is September 26, 2014, but was submitted for the 12-monthperiod ending September 30, 2014. For the purposes ofour review, we will consider this exhibit as a historical financial statement as opposedto aprojected financial statement.

### cc: DocketDOT-OST-2014-0178 Mr. DavidJ.A. Hayes III, Esq. Vice President & 

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