BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

A pplication s of AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC. DELTA AIR LINES, INC. HAWAIIAN AIRLINES, INC.
in the matter of 2010 U.S.

- Haneda Combination Services Allocation Proceeding Docket DOT

- OST

- 2010

- 0018

ANSWER OF AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC.

TO ORDER 2015
- 3
- 17

Howard Kass Vice President

– Regulatory Affairs Robert A. Wirick Managing Director, Regulatory and International Affairs Abigail Donovan Director, Congressional and Federal Affairs American Airlines, Inc. 1101 17th Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20036 (202) 326

- 5153
howard.kass@aa.com robert.wirick@aa.com abigail.donovan@aa.com
April 6 , 2015BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Application s of AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC. DELTA AIR LINES, INC. HAWAIIAN AIRLINES, INC.
in the matter of 2010 U.S.

- Haneda Combination Services Allocation Proceeding Docket DOT

- OST

- 20 10

- 0018 April 6 , 2015

ANSWER OF AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC.

TO ORDER 2015
- 3
- 17

American Airlines, Inc. (“American”) hereby a nswers Order 2015

- 3

- 17 (“Order”) , in
which the Department of Transportation (“Department”) tentatively determined that Delta Air Lines, Inc. (“Delta”) should retain the U.S.

- Haneda slot pair currently allocated to it for daily

year
- round scheduled service between Seattle and Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, subject to conditions and reporting requirements set forth therein

. I. American Strongly Supports the Conditions Imposed by the Department and Stands Ready to Commence Daily Haneda Service w ithin 60 Days
American wishes to thank the D epartment for its thorough consideration of the difficult
issues involved in this proceeding

. Amer ican recognizes the significant challenge the Department faced in balancing competing interests

. While American would have preferred to begin Ha neda service , American accepts the Department’s tentative decision , provided that the
conditions and requirements proposed to be placed on Delta’s retention of the slot pair are imposed in the Final Order and not diminished in any way

.2

American app laud s the Department’s decision to impose safeguards on Delta’s use of this particular slot pair to ensure that Delta provide s the “daily year
- round service ” it promised
between Seattle and Haneda

. 1 This includes Delta’s requirement to obtain a waiver for non

operation , a quarterly reporting requirement regarding slot pair utilization , and the Department specifying that Delta’s authority to operate the slot pair automatically expires if the slot pair is
not used

. American strongly supports the Department ’s two

- year tentative designat ion of American as the backup carrier to serve Haneda , and stands ready to implement Los Angeles

- Haneda
servic e within 60 days of its backup award being activated , ensur ing continuity of service and
maximization of the public benefit s associated with this slot pair

.

II. The Department’s Proposed Conditions are t he Minimum Requir e d to Ensure Delta Uses its Seattle
- Haneda Slot Pair Undoubtedly, Delta will request the Department eliminate or reduce these necessary safeguards on its u se of the Seattle

- Haneda slot pair

. The more Delta protests these safeguards,
the more skeptical the Department should be of Delta ’s willingness to abide by its daily year

round service commitment. American urges the Department not to dilute its proposed conditions , and not to yield to any Delta threat of litigation. 2 Given Delta's history with regard to this slot pair, t he proposed
conditions are the minimum required to ensure that either ( i) Delta actually provide s daily year
-

1 Response of Delta to Evidence Request, January 5, 2015, Docket DOT

- OST

- 2010

- 0018, p. 2. See also Delta Press Release, “Delta Issues Statement on DOT Tentative Decision on Haneda Slots”, March 27, 2015 (“Delta will operate year

- round, nonstop flights betw een Seattle and Haneda....”) available at http://news.delta.com/2015

- 03

- 27

- Delta

- issues

- statement

- on
- DOT

- tentative

- decision

- on
- Haneda

- slots

. 2 Should Delta pursue its current litigation or initiate new litigation over this proceeding, the Department can be a ssured of American’s support for the Department’s position. Indeed, American has already filed to intervene in the current litigation

. ( See Motion of American Airlines, Inc. for Leave to Intervene, filed on March 27, 2015, in the case of Delta Air Lines, Inc. v. U.S. DOT, March 13, 2015, D.C. Cir .)3

round service between Seattle and Haneda or ( ii) th is scarce resource is automatically , and
without delay, reall ocated in a n economically efficient and consumer friendly way

. Delta’s past

a ctions with this slot pair warrant nothing less, and American w ill vigorously object to any
diminution of the Department’s propos ed conditions and safeguards

. American also endorses the Department’ s proposed reservation of its right , “on its own
initiative and without hearing , to activate the backup award ” to American in the event of “ any repeated pattern of non

- performance , or of waiver request s seeking to justify non
- performance” by Delta. 3 This proposed condition protects consumers should Delta attempt to circumvent compliance

. American urges the Department to strict ly apply this condition upon implementation.

III. American Will Continue to Seek Haneda Access
American remains the only U.S. global airline that cannot provide its own service to
Haneda

– the most import ant airport in one of the most important countries in Asia. American
has less Asia service than Delta and United , and gaining greater access to Asia remains a top priority for American. 4
American ’s disappointment in not gaining Haneda access in this proceeding is heightened by Delta’s efforts to impede liberaliz ed access to Haneda for any carrier except itself . American calls upon the Department to move beyond Delta’s past efforts to block liberaliz ed Haneda access, and promptly renew formal negotiation s with the Government of Japan to secure Haneda
access for American. Further liberali zation will enable American to compete with the U.S.

3 Order, p. 9. 4 See Answer of American Airlines, Inc., January 5, 2015, Docket DOT

- OST

- 2010

- 0018, Exhibits AA

- T

- 1 and AA

T

- 2.4

airlines currently serving Haneda , and provide the benefits the Department ’s Order specifically recogniz ed American’s service would produce. 5

IV. Conclusion
The Department has thoroughly consider ed the issues in this proceeding and the need to

ensure a scarce resource is used to benefit consumers . While American would have prefer red to

start Haneda service, American support s the Department’s tentative decision in Order 2015

- 3

- 17, provided American remains the backup carrier , and the conditions and requirements proposed
therein are made final without relaxation . American also urges the Department to expeditiously begin negotiations with Japan to secure additional Haneda access
.

Respectfully submitted,

Howard Kass Robert A. Wirick Abigail Donovan

5 See Order, p. 7, 9.CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I, Abigail Donovan, certify that, on April 6 , 2015, I ca us ed to be served a copy of the foregoing Answer of American Airlines, Inc. by email upon those addressees listed below:
paul.gretch@dot.gov (DOT) brian.hedberg@dot.gov ( DOT) brett.kruger@dot.gov ( DOT) todd.homan@dot.gov (

DOT) peter.irvine@dot.gov ( DOT) e ngle ts @state.gov (

Dep’t of State ) cristinasa@state.gov ( Dep’t of State ) eugene.alford@ita.doc.gov ( Dep’t of Commerce) ejames@jamhoff.com (

Allied Pilots Association ) seth.waxman@wilmerhale.com ( Delta ) sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com (Delta) chris.walker@delta.com (Delta) Mike.Donatelli@alpa.org ( Delta MEC/ALPA) john.s.duncan@faa.gov ( FAA ) jhill@cooley.co m (Hawaiian) p erkmann@cooley.com ( Hawaiian) Robert.Lamansky@hawaiianair.com (Hawaiian) glindsey@lawa.org ( Los Angeles World Airports) ishiwata.k@portseattle.org ( Port of Seattle) safora.i@portseattle.org (P ort of Seattle) dan.weiss@united.com ( United) steve.m orrissey@united.com ( United) gmurphy@crowell.com ( United) sseiden@crowell.com ( United) i nfo@airlineinfo.com (AirlineInfo.com)

_________________________________ Abigail Donovan