BEFORE THE 

 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

 WASHINGTON, D. C. 

--------------------------------------------- 

In the matter of : 

 : 

 AEROLINEAS ARGENTINAS, S.A. : OST-2003-l5092 

 : 

under Section 4l3l0(c) of the International : 

Air Transportation Fair Competitive Prac- : 

tices Act, as amended : 

--------------------------------------------- 

MOTION OF JOINT COMPLAINANTS FOR AN ORDER 

REQUIRING DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS FROM THE 

 AEROLINEAS ARGENTINAS ESCROW ACCOUNT 

Communications with respect to this document should be sent to: 

CARL B. NELSON JEFFREY A. MANLEY 

Associate General Counsel Senior Regulatory Advisor 

American Airlines, Inc. United Air Lines, Inc. 

ll0l l7th Street, N.W. 1025 Connecticut Ave., N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20036 Suite 1210 

(202) 496-5647 Washington, D.C. 20036 

carl.nelson@aa.com (301) 229-8571 

 jeffrey.manley@united.com 

COURTNEY E. FELTS 

Senior Counsel – Legal and DAVID L. VAUGHAN 

Regulatory Affairs Kelley, Drye, Collier, Shannon 

Federal Express Corporation 3050 K Street, N.W. 

3620 Hacks Cross Road Suite 400 

Building B, 3d Floor Washington, D.C. 20007 

Memphis, TN 38125 (202) 342-8462 

(901) 424-8632 david.vaughan@kelleydrye.com 

cefelts@fedex.com Counsel for United Parcel 

 Service Co.

March 2, 2011 
BEFORE THE 

 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

 WASHINGTON, D. C. 

--------------------------------------------- 

In the matter of : 

 : 

 AEROLINEAS ARGENTINAS, S.A. : DOT-OST-2003- 

 : 15092 

under Section 4l3l0(c) of the International : 

Air Transportation Fair Competitive Prac- : 

tices Act, as amended : 

--------------------------------------------- 

MOTION OF JOINT COMPLAINANTS FOR AN ORDER 

REQUIRING DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS FROM THE 

AEROLINEAS ARGENTINAS ESCROW ACCOUNT 

Introduction

 American Airlines, Inc., Federal Express Corporation, 

United Air Lines, Inc., and United Parcel Service Co. (the 

Joint Complainants) hereby move the Department to issue an 

order requiring distribution of $10,261,834 from the Aerolineas 

Argentinas escrow account. That is the amount owed to the 

Joint Complainants for the period September 3, 2002 to January 

19, 2004, as detailed below. 

 On February 14, 2011, Aerolineas reported that the 

escrow account contains $10,179,251. At the current rate of 

escrow deposits by Aerolineas (about $36,000 per week), we 

expect the account to reach $10,261,834 shortly. 

 If the Joint Complainants are promptly paid in full the 

$10,261,834 they are owed for the 2002-2004 time period, we are 

willing to forego any demand for interest in order to conclude 

this matter, which has been pending since 2003. 
- 2 – 

Background

 By Order 2003-6-33, June 28, 2003, the Department found 

that the imposition of higher service fees at Buenos Aires 

Ezeiza Airport on U.S. carriers than those paid by Aerolineas 

constituted a violation of the Air Transport Agreement between 

the United States and the Argentine Republic. In the absence 

of a satisfactory resolution of the issue through consultations, the Department, by Order 2003-10-18, October 15, 2003, 

tentatively found that countermeasures should be imposed, and 

tentatively determined that Aerolineas should remit into a U.S. 

escrow account, on a per-flight basis, the difference between 

what it actually pays for services at EZE and the higher 

amounts it would be paying if it were not benefiting from 

discriminatorily favorable treatment vis-à-vis U.S. carriers. 

 The tentative order was made final by Order 2003-11-26, 

November 25, 2003. Aerolineas petitioned for judicial review 

in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia 

Circuit. That petition was denied on July 8, 2005 (No. 04-

1030). In January 2004, Aerolineas began to make escrow 

payments, with respect to its flights between Argentina and the 

United States on and after January 19, 2004, consisting of the 

difference between what it pays for EZE services in pesos and 

what it would be paying for EZE services in dollars. 
- 3 - 

Basis For Our $10,261,834 Claim

 During the period September 3, 2002 to January 19, 2004, 

the value of the peso was approximately three pesos to one 

dollar. As shown by Attachment 1, which we initially filed 

with a motion in this docket on August 29, 2005, the Joint 

Complainants paid a total of $15,392,753 for EZE services 

during this period. Had they paid in pesos, as Aerolineas was 

allowed to do, the Joint Complainants would have paid only 

$5,130,919. Therefore, to be made whole for the September 2002 

to January 2004 period, the Joint Complainants are owed 

$10,261,834. 

Basis For Distribution To Each Joint Complainant

 As shown by Attachment 1, the distribution to each of 

the Joint Complainants for the September 2002 to January 2004 

period should be based on the following percentages, derived 

from the share of EZE service fees that each of the Joint 

Complainants paid during that period: 

 American 55.60% $5,705,580 

 FedEx 04.61 473,070 

 United 35.38 3,630,637 

 UPS 04.41 452,547

 100.00% $10,261,834 
- 4 – 

Statutory Basis for Distribution of Escrow

 Payments to injured U.S. carriers from an account of 

compensating charges established under the International Air 

Transportation Fair Competitive Practices Act are specifically 

authorized by 49 USC 41310(b)(2), providing that “an air carrier shall be paid from the account an amount certified by the 

Secretary of Transportation to compensate the air carrier for 

the discriminatory charge paid to the [foreign] government.” 

Recent Judicial Developments in Argentina

 Counsel for Aerolineas contends that recent judicial 

decisions in Argentina have now placed Aerolineas on an equal 

footing with U.S. carriers with respect to service fees at EZE. 

If that fact can be established by Aerolineas through submission of evidence in this docket, we would expect Aerolineas to 

ask the Department to end the requirement for escrow payments 

and to terminate this proceeding. That, however, is up to 

Aerolineas to pursue. 

Conclusion

 For their part, the Joint Complainants are seeking 

immediate payout from the escrow account when it reaches 

$10,261,834 and in the proportions presented in the above 

chart. When the Joint Complainants receive the amounts they 

are owed, we will have no further interest in this proceeding.

 






CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

 I hereby certify that I have this day served the 

 foregoing document by email on the following persons: 

 johnromanslaw@optonline.net 

 sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com 

 dan.weiss@coair.com 

 howard.kass@usairways.com 

 ursk@state.gov 

 

 

 ___________________________ 

 CARL B. NELSON 

March 2, 2011