U.S. Department of

Transportation

Office of the Secretary

of Transportation

DEPARTMENT ACTION ON APPLICATION IN DOCKETS DOT-OST-1997-2653,

DOT-OST-1999-5031, DOT-OST-2001-9314, and DOT-OST-2001-10172

(Filed June 26, 2012)

Joint application of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (Delta), China Southern Airlines Company 

Limited (China Southern), Comair, Inc. (Comair), and Pinnacle Airlines, Inc. 

(Pinnacle) for blanket statements of authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 to display the 

“CZ” designator code of China Southern on Delta Connection flights operated by Comair 

and Pinnacle: (a) within the United States (in conjunction with China Southern’s services 

in foreign air transportation), and (b) between the United States and third countries.1

 

The Joint Applicants also request a waiver of the 45-day advance filing requirement 

under 14 CFR Part 212.

 * Approved under assigned authority (14 CFR §385.13).

 Date of Action: July 5, 20122

This action is subject to the conditions attached. Persons entitled to petition the Department for review of 

this action under the Department’s regulations, 14 CFR §385.30, should file their petitions within seven 

days of the date of this action. This action is effective immediately, and the filing of a petition for review 

will not alter its effectiveness.

An electronic version of this document is available on the World Wide Web at

http://www.regulations.gov

 1 The joint applicants also request that the code-share authority granted here be administered jointly with the existing 

Delta/China Southern statement of authorization in these dockets and that any beyond U.S. gateway point notice 

given by Delta or any of the Delta Connection carriers authorized in these dockets be deemed as notice given by all 

carriers. The joint applicants also state that they will continue to rely on established practice whereby any notice for 

a beyond U.S. gateway point is deemed notice for that point via all authorized U.S. gateways. In this regard, the 

joint applicants incorporate by reference all previous code-share notices provided in the Delta/China Southern codeshare dockets.

2 We acted on the request without awaiting expiration of the answer period with the consent of all parties served.
Appendix A

The code-share operations authorized here are subject to the following conditions:

(a) The statements of authorization granted will remain in effect only as long as (i) Delta, Comair, 

Pinnacle, and China Southern continue to hold the necessary underlying authority to operate the codeshare services at issue, and (ii) the code-share agreement providing for the code-share operations remains 

in effect.

(b) Delta, Comair, Pinnacle, and/or China Southern, as appropriate, must notify the Department no later 

than 30 days before they begin any new code-share service under the code-share services authorized here. 

Such notice shall identify the market(s) to be served, which carrier will be operating the aircraft in the 

code-share market added, and the date on which the service will begin. Such notice should be filed in 

Dockets DOT-OST-1997-2653, DOT-OST-1999-5031, DOT-OST-2001-9314, and DOT-OST-2001-

10172.3

(c) Delta, Comair, Pinnacle, and/or China Southern, as appropriate, must promptly notify the Department 

if the code-share agreement providing for the code-share operations 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 Dockets DOT-OST-1997-2653, DOT-OST-1999-5031, DOT-OST-2001-9314, and DOT-OST-2001-

10172.4

(d) The code-sharing operations conducted under this authority must comply with 14 CFR 257 and with 

any amendments 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 the 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.

(e) The authority to operate to third countries is subject to the condition that any service provided under 

this statement of authorization shall be consistent with all applicable agreements between the United 

States and the foreign countries involved. Furthermore, (i) nothing in the award of this statement of 

authorization should be construed as conferring upon Comair or Pinnacle rights (including code-share, 

fifth freedom intermediate and/or beyond rights) to serve markets where U.S. carrier entry is limited 

unless Comair or Pinnacle notifies the Department of their 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; and (ii) should there be a request by any carrier to 

use the limited-entry route rights that are included in the authority of Comair or Pinnacle by virtue of the 

statement of authorization granted here, but that are not then being used by Comair or Pinnacle, the 

holding of such authority will not be considered as providing any preference for Comair or Pinnacle in a 

competitive carrier selection proceeding to determine which carrier(s) should be entitled to use the 

authority at issue.5

(f) The authority granted here is specifically conditioned so that neither Delta, Comair, Pinnacle, nor 

China Southern shall give any force or effect to any contractual provisions between themselves that are 

contrary to these conditions.

We may amend, modify, or revoke the authority granted at any time without hearing at our discretion.

 3 See Appendix B for list of initial code-share points. We grant the requests that notice given by Delta, Comair, 

Pinnacle or any of the Delta Connection carriers authorized in these dockets, be deemed as notice given by all

carriers, that notice given for a beyond U.S. gateway point be deemed notice for that point via all authorized U.S. 

gateways, and the incorporation by reference of all previous code-share notices filed in the Delta/China Southern 

code-share dockets. 4 We expect this notification to be received within ten (10) days after such non-effectiveness or of such decision. 5 The notice in paragraph (b) above can be used for this notification. 
Appendix B

Initial Code Share Routes