1 

BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 

WASHINGTON, D.C.

________________________________________________ 

Request of ) 

 ) 

Silk Way West Airlines ) Docket OST 2014-0111 

 ) 

to amend issued exemption authority and ) 

pending application for a foreign air carrier permit ) 

and motion to expedite processing ) 

(Baku-Hong Kong-Chicago-New York-Luxemburg-Baku) ) 

________________________________________________) 

ANSWER OF NATIONAL AIR CARRIER ASSOCIATION 

TO APPLICATION OF SILK WAY WEST AIRLINES 

FOR AMENDED EXEMPTION AUTHORITY 

Communications with respect to this document should be sent to: 

A. Oakley Brooks 

President 

Paul H. Doell 

Director of Government Affairs 

National Air Carrier Association 

1000 Wilson Blvd. 

Suite 1700 

Arlington, VA 22209 

Jonathan B. Hill 

J. Parker Erkmann 

Cooley LLP 

1299 Pennsylvania Ave., NW 

Washington, DC 20004 

(202) 842-7800 

jhill@cooley.com 

perkmann@cooley.com

Counsel for National Air Carrier Association 

October 29, 2014 

 
2 

BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 

WASHINGTON, D.C.

________________________________________________ 

Request of ) 

 ) 

Silk Way West Airlines ) Docket OST 2014-0111 

 ) 

to amend issued exemption authority and ) 

pending application for a foreign air carrier permit ) 

and motion to expedite processing ) 

(Baku-Hong Kong-Chicago-New York-Luxemburg-Baku) ) 

________________________________________________) 

ANSWER OF NATIONAL AIR CARRIER ASSOCIATION 

TO APPLICATION OF SILK WAY WEST AIRLINES 

FOR AMENDED EXEMPTION AUTHORITY 

The National Air Carrier Association (“NACA”) submits this answer in opposition to the 

application of Silk Way West Airlines Limited Liability Company (“Silk Way West”) for 

amended exemption authority. On the basis or comity and reciprocity, Silk Way West seeks to 

expand the Department’s initial grant of authority to allow scheduled cargo service between New 

York and Baku, Azerbaijan1 to include broad intermediate and beyond authority to serve major 

U.S. all-cargo markets of Luxembourg and Hong Kong. NACA respectfully submits that the 

Department’s initial order was correct. In the absence of a governing bilateral aviation 

agreement with Azerbaijan or demonstration that Azerbaijan adheres to the principles of comity 

and reciprocity, the Department should deny Silk Way West’s request for broad authority that 

would typically be available to airlines of countries with a liberalized aviation relationship with 

the United States. 

 

1

 Order 2014-8-15 (issued Aug. 15, 2014). 
3 

NACA has an interest in ensuring that the Department’s decisions do not disadvantage 

U.S. carriers. Founded in 1962, NACA is a trade association comprised of fourteen air carriers, 

certificated under Title 14, Part 121 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Our members are a 

diverse group of air carriers, providing non-scheduled and scheduled passenger and cargo 

services. NACA carriers fill a unique niche in the air carrier industry, offering services in 

response to ever changing demands by the U.S. military, the traveling public and businesses. 

Some of NACA’s members conduct operations to Azerbaijan. In its role representing its 

members in Washington, NACA seeks to assure that the decisions of the United States 

government allow U.S. carriers to operate on a level playing field in a competitive global airline 

industry. Granting Silk Way West’s amended exemption request would undermine this goal and 

the public interest. 

The Department should not grant the expansive authority requested by Silk Way West for 

two reasons. First, the grant of expansive intermediate and beyond authority to an Azeri carrier 

in the absence of a meaningful bilateral aviation agreement reduces the chances of reaching such 

agreements in the future. Silk Way West has proposed to fly Boeing 747-400F and “brand new” 

Boeing 747-8F equipment on the round-the-world Baku-Hong Kong-Chicago-New YorkLuxemburg-Baku routing.2

 The ability to serve these Fifth Freedom U.S. cargo markets is a 

significant commercial opportunity that would typically be available to carriers from countries 

with an open skies agreement with the United States. It should not be granted casually. Indeed, 

if the Department grants the authority, it would effectively open the U.S. market to Azeri carriers 

 

2

 Request of Silk Way West Airlines to Amend Issued Exemption Authority and Pending 

Application for a Foreign Air Carrier Permit and Motion to Expedite Processing, DOT-OST2014-0111 (Oct. 8, 2014), ¶¶ 4, 7. 
4 

without U.S. carriers receiving the protections of a bilateral and liberalized aviation relationship 

with Azerbaijan. 

Second, Silk Way West has not demonstrated that Azerbaijan adheres to the principles of 

comity and reciprocity with respect to the proposed services. Indeed, in its most recent pleading, 

Silk Way West admits that it has not done so: a “formal letter from the State Civil Aviation 

Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan . . . reiterating [its] adherence to the principles of 

comity and reciprocity in considering any similar applications form US carriers, is being 

currently transmitted to the Department.”3 More troublesome, however, is that NACA 

understands from its members that U.S. carriers encounter difficulties conducting business in 

Azerbaijan. At least one member has reported difficulty obtaining visas for crew members. 

Other members report discriminatory pricing on cargo handling fees and fuel purchases. If a 

carrier operates to Azerbaijan pursuant to a contract with Silk Way West, these discriminatory 

fees do not apply. NACA carriers report that the discrimination is so severe that it makes 

operating to Azerbaijan uneconomic – unless the operations are conducted under the auspices of 

Silk Way West. It seems counter intuitive to grant broader authority to Silk Way West in the 

absence of a bilateral framework for resolving these doing-business issues. The frustration of 

U.S. carriers’ operations in Azerbaijan suggest the Department reached the correct conclusion 

when it determined that “sufficient reciprocity exists with Azerbaijan” to warrant grant of a oneyear exemption for New York-Baku service, but no more.4

 

 

3

 Response of Silk Way West Airlines to Answers of National Airlines to Silk Way West 

Airlines Motion to Expedite Processing and Request of Silk Way West Airlines to Amend 

Exemption Authority, DOT-OST-2014-0111 (Oct. 24, 2014) at 3. 

4

 Order 2014-8-15 at 3.
5 

 Wherefore, NACA requests that Silk Way West’s request for an amended exemption be 

DENIED as inconsistent with the public interest. 

 Respectfully Submitted, 

 ____________________________ 

Jonathan B. Hill 

J. Parker Erkmann 

Cooley LLP 

1299 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Ste. 700 

Washington, DC 20004 

(202) 842-7800 

jhill@cooley.com 

perkmann@cooley.com 

 

Counsel for the National Air Carrier Association
6 

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

I, Erin Combs, hereby certify that I have on this day served a copy of the foregoing 

document upon each of the following electronic mail addresses: 

gpwicks@wicks-group.com

ekagrimes@wicks-group.com

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com 

sametta.c.bamett@delta.com 

chris.walker@delta.com 

dshort@fedex.com

sllunsford@fedex.com 

nssparks@fedex.com 

gbleopard@fedex.com 

msinick@ssd.com

enisson@nac.aero 

mwiegele@nac.aero 

kevin.montgomery@polaraircargo.com 

peter.beckett@polaraircargo.com

dan.weiss@coair.com

dan.weiss@united.com 

robert.wirick@aa.com 

francis.heil@aa.com 

howard.kass@aa.com 

rsilverberg@sgbdc.com 

jjohnson@sgbdc.com

jrichardson@johnrichardson.com 

mriordan@johnrichardson.com

jcanny@amerijet.com 

john@mietuslaw.com 

rpommer@atlasair.com 

matwood@cozen.com

nwallace@wallaceair.com 

agoerlich@ggh-airlaw.com

dhainbach@ggh-airlaw.co

judy@lac.lynden.com 

rzerkel@lac.lynden.com

gwhite@lac.lynden.com

jdavis@lac.lvnden.com 

TGillies@southemair.com 

info@airlineinfo.com 

anita.mosner@hklaw.com

jennifer.nowak@hklaw.com

dsmalls@ups.com

stephen.lachter@lachterlaw.com

pmurphy@lopmurphy.com

kleake@ggh-airlaw.com

EngleTS@state.gov 

 

 /s/ Erin Combs 

 Erin Combs