UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on May 9, 2013

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKET DOT-OST-2012-0081

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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).

Applicant: BRITISH AIRWAYS (BA) LIMITED (BA Limited) Date Filed: May 17, 2012

Relief requested: Statement of authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 to the extent necessary to enable BA Limited to display the AA* 

designator code of American Airlines, Inc. (American) on flights operated by BA Limited to and from the United States.1

Date and citation of last action: June 11, 2012, in this Docket.

Applicant representative: Don H. Hainbach, 202-776-3970 DOT analyst: Brett D. Kruger, 202-366-8025

Responsive pleadings: None.

DISPOSITION

Action: Approved, subject to conditions(See conditions and remarks below.)

Action date: May 9, 2013

Effective dates of authority granted: The statement of authorization granted to BA Limited to display the AA* designator code of 

American is effective May 9, 2013, for an indefinite period. 

Basis for approval (bilateral agreement/reciprocity): U.S.-EU Air Transport Agreement.

Except to the extent exempted/waived, this authority is subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations of the attached code-share 

conditions.

Special conditions/Remarks: We note that American has conducted a code-share safety audit of BA Limited underthe Department’s 

code-share safety audit program and the FAA has advised the Department that it has reviewed the relevant audit report and found it to 

be acceptable.

Action taken by: Paul L. Gretch, Director, Office of International Aviation

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Under authority assigned by the Department in its regulations, 14 CFR Part 385, we found that (1) our action was consistent with 

Department policy; (2) the applicant was qualified to perform its proposed operations; (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

 1 Our present action addresses the remaining portion of the applicant’s pending request in this Docket, on which the Department

previously deferred action. By Notice of Action Taken in this Docket dated June 11, 2012, we granted the requests of BA Limited 

for exemption authority under 49 U.S.C. §40109, and statements of authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 to (1) wet lease its 

aircraft to British Airways Plc, and (2) display the IB* designator code of Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana Anonima Sociedad 

Operadora. At that time, American had not yet conducted a code-share safety audit of BA Limited and we accordingly deferred on 

BA Limited’s request for a statement of authorization to display the AA* designator code. American has since conducted the 

code-share safety audit and the FAA has advised the Department that it has reviewed the relevant audit report and found it to be 

acceptable; therefore, we are now granting the remainder of the applicant’s request.
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) BA Limited and American continue to hold 

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

providing for the code-share operations remain in effect.

(b) BA Limited and/or American, 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 and the date on which the service will begin. Such notice should be filed in Docket DOT-OST-2012-0081.

2

(c) BA Limited and/or American, 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 Docket DOT-OST-2012-0081.

3

(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; that the passenger liability of the operating carrier be unaffected; and that the operating 

carrier shall not permit the code of its U.S. code-sharing partner to be carried on any flight that enters, departs, or 

transits the airspace of any area for whose airspace the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a flight prohibition.

(e) Any service provided shall be consistent with the provisions of the U.S.-EU agreement, and all applicable 

agreements with other foreign countries involved. Furthermore, (i) nothing in the award of the blanket statement of 

authorization should be construed as conferring upon American rights (including code-share, fifth-freedom 

intermediate and/or beyond rights) to serve markets where U.S. carrier rights are limited unless American notifies us of 

its intent to serve such 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;4 and (ii) should there be a 

request by any carrier to use the limited-entry route rights that are included in American’s authority by virtue of the 

blanket statement of authorization granted here, but that are not being used by American, the holding of such authority 

will not be considered as providing any preference for American in a carrier selection proceeding to determine which 

carrier(s) should be entitled to use the authority at issue;

(f) The authority granted here is specifically conditioned so that neither BA Limited nor American 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.

 2 BA Limited will initially display the AA* designator code on its flights between London City and New York (JFK). 3 We expect this notification to be received within ten (10) days after such non-effectiveness or of such decision. 4 The notice reference in condition (b) above may be used for this notification.