CORRECTED COPY

 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

 OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

 WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on March 25, 2015

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKET DOT-OST-2015-0046 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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 Applicants: JetBlue Airways Corporation (JetBlue) and Royal Air Maroc

Date Filed: March 2, 2015 

Relief requested:

Royal Air Maroc: Exemption from 49 USC § 40109 to engage in scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, 

property and mail from points behind Morocco, via Morocco and intermediate points to points in the United States, and 

beyond, under a code-share arrangement with JetBlue.1

JetBlue: Blanket statement of authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 to permit JetBlue to display Royal Air Maroc’s AT* 

designator code on flights operated by JetBlue between Royal Air Maroc’s U.S. gateways in conjunction with foreign air 

transportation held out by Royal Air Maroc and (a) any point or points in the United States; and (b) any point or points in 

any third country.

The joint applicants also requests a waiver of the 45-day advance filing requirement under 14 CFR Part 212.

Applicant representatives: Don H. Hainbach (Royal Air Maroc), 202-776-3970 

 J. Parker Erkmann & Jonathan B. Hill (JetBlue), 202-842-7800

DOT Analyst: Shelita A. Johnson, 202-366-1226

Responsive pleadings: None filed

DISPOSITION

Action: Approved Action date: March 25, 20152

The exemption authority granted to Royal Air Maroc is effective: March 25, 2015 – March 25, 2017

The statement of authorization granted to JetBlue is effective March 25, 2015, and will remain in effect for an indefinite 

duration, subject to conditions.

Our action granting a waiver of the 45-day advance filing requirement under 14 CFR Part 212 is effective 

March 25, 2015.

 1 Royal Air Maroc holds a foreign air carrier permit that authorizes it to engage in (a) scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, 

property, and mail between a point or points in Morocco, via the intermediate point New York, NY, and the terminal point Montreal, 

Canada, and (b) charter trips in foreign air transportation pursuant to 14 CFR Part 212. See Order 75-2-61, issued February 12, 1975, 

in Docket 26260. The carrier also holds exemption authority to engage in certain mail code-share operations with the U.S. certificated 

carrier Northern Air Cargo. See Notice of Action Taken dated December 5, 2014, in Docket DOT-OST-2014-0211. 2 The Department is acting on JetBlue’s statement of authorization request prior to the expiration of the 45-day advance filing 

requirement under 14 CFR Part 212 with the consent of all parties served.
Basis for approval (bilateral agreement/reciprocity): U.S.-Morocco Air Transport Agreement

Except to the extent exempted/waived, this authority is subject to the following terms, conditions, and limitations

indicated:

 X Standard exemption conditions (attached as Appendix A) X Code-share conditions (attached as Appendix B)

 X Royal Air Maroc’s foreign air carrier permit (Order 75-2-61).

 

Action taken by: Paul L. Gretch, Director

 Office of International Aviation

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Under authority assigned by the Department in its regulations, 14 CFR Part 385, we found that (1) the applicants are

qualified to perform the proposed operations; (2) our action was consistent with Department policy; (3) grant of the 

authority was consistent with the public interest; and (4) 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/deferred/dismissed, 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:

http://www.regulations.gov
Appendix A

Foreign Carrier Exemption Conditions

In the conduct of the operations authorized, the foreign carrier applicant(s) shall:

(1) Not conduct any operations unless it holds a currently effective authorization from its homeland for such operations, 

and it has filed a copy of such authorization with the Department;

(2) Comply with all applicable requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration, the Transportation Security 

Administration, and with all applicable U.S. Government requirements concerning security, including, but not limited to, 

14 CFR Parts 129, 91, and 36 and 49 CFR Part 1546 or 1550, as applicable. To assure compliance with all applicable 

U.S. Government requirements concerning security, the holder shall, before commencing any new service (including 

charter flights) from a foreign airport that would be the holder’s last point of departure for the United States, contact its

International Industry Representative (IIR) (formerly referred to as International Principal Security Inspector) to advise 

the IIR 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;

(3) Comply with the requirements for minimum insurance coverage contained in 14 CFR Part 205, and, prior to the 

commencement of any operations under this authority, file evidence of such coverage, in the form of a completed OST 

Form 6411, with the Federal Aviation Administration’s Program Management Branch (AFS-260), Flight Standards 

Service (any changes to, or termination of, insurance also shall be filed with that office);

(4) Not operate aircraft under this authority unless it complies with operational safety requirements at least equivalent to 

Annex 6 of the Chicago Convention;

(5) Conform to the airworthiness and airman competency requirements of its Government for international air services;

(6) Except as specifically exempted or otherwise provided for in a Department Order, comply with the requirements of 

14 CFR Part 203, concerning waiver of Warsaw Convention liability limits and defenses;

(7) Agree that operations under this authority constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity, for the purposes of 28 U.S.C. 

1605(a), but only with respect to those actions or proceedings instituted against it in any court or other tribunal in the 

United States that are: (a) based on its operations in international air transportation that, according to the contract of 

carriage, include a point in the United States as a point of origin, point of destination, or agreed stopping place, or for 

which the contract of carriage was purchased in the United States; or (b) based on a claim under any international 

agreement or treaty cognizable in any court or other tribunal of the United States. In this condition, the term 

"international air transportation" means "international transportation" as defined by the Warsaw Convention, except that 

all States shall be considered to be High Contracting Parties for the purpose of this definition;

(8) Except as specifically authorized by the Department, originate or terminate all flights to/from the United States in its

homeland;

(9) Comply with the requirements of 14 CFR Part 217, concerning the reporting of scheduled, nonscheduled, and charter 

data;

(10) If charter operations are authorized, except as otherwise provided in the applicable aviation agreement, comply with 

the Department's rules governing charters (including 14 CFR Parts 212 and 380); and

(11) Comply with such other reasonable terms, conditions, and limitations required by the public interest as may be 

prescribed by the Department, with all applicable orders or regulations of other U.S. agencies and courts, and with all 

applicable laws of the United States.

This authority shall not be effective during any period when the holder is not in compliance with the conditions imposed 

above. Moreover, this authority cannot be sold or otherwise transferred without explicit Department approval under Title 

49 of the U.S. Code.

12/2007
Appendix B

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

(a) The statement of authorization will remain in effect only as long as (i) JetBlue and Royal Air Maroc 

continue to hold the necessary underlying authority to operate the code-share services at issue, and (ii) 

the code-share agreement providing for the code-share operations remains in effect.

(b) JetBlue and/or Royal Air Maroc must promptly notify the Department if the code-share agreement 

providing for the code-share operations is no longer effective or the carriers decide to cease operating 

any or all of the approved code-share services.3

 Such notice should be filed in Docket DOT-OST-2015-

0046.

(c) JetBlue and/or Royal Air Maroc 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 and the date on which the services will begin. Such notices shall be filed in 

Docket DOT-OST-2015-0046.

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 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 granted here is specifically conditioned so that neither JetBlue nor Royal Air Maroc 

shall give any force or effect to any contractual provisions between themselves that are contrary to these 

conditions.

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

 3 We expect this notification to be received within 10 days of such non-effectiveness or of such decision. 4 Pursuant to DOT’s Notice in the Matter of Blanket Notification of Code-Share Service to Open-Skies Partners and 

Points dated February 9, 2009, the joint applicants state in their application that they hereby provide blanket notice 

of their intent to engage in codeshare services between open skies points. They further state that they will notify the 

Department no later than 30 days before commencing any codeshare services to non-open skies points.