Order 2009-12-21

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Issued by the Department of Transportation 

on the 23rd day of December, 2009 

 

 Served: December 23, 2009 

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE 

Summary

By this Order, we have tentatively decided to further streamline our regulatory licensing 

procedures by removing point restrictions on existing economic authority held by U.S. 

air carriers between the United States and those non-open-skies markets that are not 

entry- or frequency-limited, and by incorporating the newly broadened authority into 

consolidated certificates of public convenience and necessity in accordance with the 

streamlining initiative announced February 13, 2009 in this docket.1

Background

In August 2005, we established Docket DOT-OST-2005-22228 for the implementation of 

a number of regulatory streamlining initiatives. Most recently, we announced that, for 

those U.S. air carriers holding a blanket open-skies certificate, we would realign the 

balance of their economic authority, upon request and to the extent practicable, into 

consolidated certificates of public convenience and necessity, in the following manner. 

We stated that we would issue an indefinite duration certificate for markets that are not 

entry or frequency limited and a five-year certificate for limited entry/frequency markets 

 

1 See Notice dated February 13, 2009, in the instant docket, Docket DOT-OST-2005-22228. 

In the Matter of Streamlining Regulatory 

Procedures for Licensing U.S. Air 

Carriers 

Docket DOT-OST-2005-22228 
so that all of the authority held by a U.S. air carrier in restricted markets will have a 

common expiration date. We stated that we would cover a carrier’s U.S.-Mexico citypair authority in a separate five-year certificate. We specified that the initiative would 

encompass operating authority already held by the carriers by certificate or exemption 

and that we would not act upon requests for new authority as part of the consolidation 

exercise. 

We received a number of consolidation requests in response to the February 13, 2009 

Notice, and have begun issuing consolidated certificates. Several such requests have 

sought broader authority than that held by the requesting carrier in terms of the U.S. or 

foreign points to be included in the new certificate. For example, where a carrier held 

economic authority to serve a foreign market from a named U.S. point, the carrier listed 

its authority as covering all U.S. points. Similarly, in other instances, a carrier identified 

a foreign market as the entire country rather than the point listed in its existing economic 

authority. Because the February 13 Notice expressly stipulated that we would not act 

upon requests for new authority, we were not able to broaden the requesting carriers’ 

authority in issuing consolidated certificates. However, we recognize that in markets that 

are not entry- or frequency-limited, point restrictions may not be necessary under the 

applicable bilateral aviation agreement, and that we may, consistent with the public 

interest, relieve the air carrier of such restrictions.2

 

Tentative Decision 

We have tentatively decided that where a foreign market is not entry- or frequencylimited, and where the air transport agreement or the state of the aviation relationship 

does not limit U.S. carriers to service to or from named points, we may at the request of a 

carrier remove the named U.S. and/or foreign-market points from the carrier’s economic 

authority, and include all U.S. points and all points in the foreign market, as appropriate, 

and that we will do so as part of the certificate consolidation initiative.3 In doing so, we 

may also remove code-share-service-only restrictions from a carrier’s economic authority 

upon the carrier’s request. 

Under the proposed new procedures, a U.S. air carrier seeking consolidation of its 

economic authority may also request removal of point restrictions from the economic 

 

2

 We recognize that in some instances, economic authority held by a carrier names the specific points the 

carrier may serve not because of a restrictive bilateral aviation agreement, but because the applicant 

identified those points in its application and received the economic authority it had requested. In other 

instances, points are no longer limited under a newly-liberalized aviation agreement. Regardless of the 

reason the points were named in the carrier’s economic authority in the first instance, we have tentatively 

decided that they may be removed if they are not necessary under the applicable bilateral aviation 

agreement, and we have further tentatively determined that certificate consolidation provides the 

opportunity for doing so. In this manner, all such authority may be broadened and realigned efficiently as 

part of a single order, rather than through a piecemeal approach. Generally, we would not anticipate that 

this change would be prejudicial to any interested party. However, to ensure due process, we will consider 

requests for point-broadening authority only after service of the requests and an opportunity for comment. 3

 U.S.-Mexico operating authority remains limited in terms of the number of U.S. air carriers that may be 

designated to provide service in any city-pair market. Accordingly, U.S.-Mexico economic authority 

would not be affected under this proposal. 
authority it holds to serve markets that are not entry- or frequency-limited, or pointlimited.4

 The carrier must identify specifically the authority it seeks to have broadened 

(in terms of the U.S. or foreign points or both) and do so by identifying the order in 

which the authority was granted (for previously-issued certificate authority) and the 

docket in which it was granted (for exemption authority). Carriers are reminded that, for 

consolidation of all non-open-skies authority, the carrier must also indicate whether its 

authority is limited to code-share services only and, as part of the initiative proposed 

here, the carrier may request to have that limitation removed.5 We will require each U.S. 

air carrier seeking broadened authority as described in this order through certificate 

consolidation to serve its request upon all U.S. air carriers operating large aircraft. 

Answers to requests will be due within fifteen calendar days of the date of service. 

Assuming no issues arise making it impractical to broaden and combine currently-held 

authority into consolidated certificates, we will draft a self-executing final order designed 

to issue eligible carriers the consolidated certificates described herein upon completion of 

the 49 USC 41307 Presidential review process.6

We reiterate that this latest tentative streamlining decision involves only economic 

authority to serve markets that, while not open skies, are not limited as to entry or 

frequency. Unless a change has been discussed above, we would retain the certificate 

consolidation procedures explained in the February 13, 2009 Notice. 

ACCORDINGLY, 

1. We tentatively decide to adopt the regulatory streamlining measures described in 

this order under which point restrictions may be removed from a carrier's 

economic authority to serve between the United States and a foreign market that 

is not entry- or frequency-limited, or point-limited, as part of the certificate 

consolidation initiative described in the February 13, 2009 Notice in this docket; 

2. We direct all interested parties objecting to the tentative decisions described in 

this order to file their objections with the Department, Dockets, in Docket DOTOST-2005-22228, U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, 

West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, 

Washington, DC 20590, no later than 15 days from the date of service of this 

order. Answers to objections shall be filed no later than 5 calendar days 

thereafter;7

 

4

 Consistent with the February 13, 2009 Notice, should a carrier find it preferable to leave certain pointspecific route authority out of the streamlining initiative offered in this Notice, it may do so. We will leave 

it to each carrier’s discretion to determine which of its eligible authority it would like broadened by 

removal of named points when it requests that its authority be realigned in the consolidated certificates. 5

 We will entertain requests for removal of code-share-only restrictions on a carrier’s economic authority to 

serve non-open-skies markets that are not entry- or frequency-limited, or point-limited. 6

 We remind carriers that all final decisions to award a new certificate still need to undergo Presidential 

review under 49 USC 41307, even though the point-specific authority is already held by a carrier under an 

existing certificate. 

7

 The original filing should be on 81⁄2" x 11" white paper using dark ink (not green) and be unbound without 

tabs, which will expedite use of our docket imaging system. In the alternative, parties are encouraged to 

use the electronic submission capability available through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 
3. If timely and properly supported objections are filed, we will accord full 

consideration to the matters or issues raised by the objections before we take 

further action;8

 

4. In the event that no objections are filed, we will deem all further procedural steps 

to be waived and we will enter an order finalizing our tentative decision; and 

5. We will serve a copy of this order on all U.S. air carriers operating large aircraft. 

By: 

 

 Susan L. Kurland 

 Assistant Secretary for Aviation 

 and International Affairs 

 

(SEAL) 

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

www.regulations.gov 

 

(http://www.regulations.gov) and follow the online instructions for filing submissions. Additionally, 

service by facsimile or electronic mail is authorized. Parties should include their fax numbers and email 

addresses on their submissions and should indicate the method(s) of service used on their certificates of 

service. Parties should also provide courtesy e-mail copies of their submissions to the U.S. Carrier 

Licensing Division at: Esta.Rosenberg@dot.gov 8

 We will not entertain petitions for reconsideration of the tentative procedures set forth in this order as we 

are providing for objections and answers.