Served: April 30, 2015

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Joint Application of

DELTA AIR LINES, INC. AND

AEROVIAS DE MEXICO, S.A. DE C.V.

under 49 U.S.C. §§ 41308 and 41309 for approval of 

and antitrust immunity for alliance agreements

Docket DOT-OST-2015-0070

NOTICE

On March 31, 2015, Delta Air Lines, Inc. and Aerovias de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. (collectively, 

the “Joint Applicants”) filed a joint application requesting approval of and antitrust immunity for 

alliance agreements covering routes between the United States and Mexico. As is our standard 

practice, the Department on April 8th suspended the procedural schedule to provide time for the 

Joint Applicants to submit documents in support of their application. The Joint Applicants 

submitted documents on April 17th. By this Notice, we are providing interested parties with 

access to those documents and other materials that may be submitted in this proceeding in the 

future. The Department will continue to review all materials to determine whether additional 

information is necessary.

Access to Documents

On April 17, along with their submission of documents, the Joint Applicants filed a motion under 

14 C.F.R. § 302.12 (Rule 12) of the Department’s regulations seeking confidential treatment for 

supporting documents and information. The Joint Applicants state that this material is 

confidential, proprietary, and commercially sensitive, and therefore qualifies for being withheld 

from public disclosure. They ask that access to this material be limited to counsel and outside 

experts who have filed valid confidentiality affidavits.

1

 

In order to afford interested parties prompt access to the documents in the record, we grant 

immediate interim access to all documents covered by the Rule 12 Motion to counsel and outside

experts for interested parties who file appropriate affidavits with the Department in advance.

2

 

 

1 See Joint Applicants’ Motion for Confidential Treatment under 14 C.F.R. § 302.12, at 1 (April 17, 2015).

2 See, e.g., Virgin/Delta/Air France/KLM/Alitalia – Approval of and Antitrust Immunity for Alliance Agreements, 

Docket DOT-OST-2013-0068-0004, Notice Suspending Procedural Schedule and Providing Access to Documents 

(April 10, 2013).
2

Moreover, Parties are permitted to make copies of hard copy documents, at the Dockets facility, 

for use by persons who have filed confidentiality affidavits. We also find it appropriate to grant 

interim access to any subsequent materials that may be filed in this case under a Rule 12 Motion 

under the same terms, unless the party filing the Motion objects. 

We expect all affidavits to state, at a minimum, that (1) the affiant is counsel for an interested 

party or an outside independent expert providing services to such a party; (2) the affiant will use 

the information only for the purpose of participating in this proceeding; and (3) the affiant will 

disclose such information only to other persons who have filed a valid affidavit in 

Docket DOT-OST-2015-0070. Affiants and interested parties must understand and agree that 

any pleading or other filing that includes or discusses information contained in the covered 

documents must itself be accompanied by a Rule 12 Motion requesting confidential treatment. 

Affidavits must be filed in Docket DOT-OST-2015-0070 with the Department of Transportation, 

Dockets, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, D.C. 20590. 

Affiants having filed affidavits may examine the documents at the Department of Transportation 

at the Dockets office. Affiants must present a stamped copy of the affidavit filed with the 

Department of Transportation before examination of the documents. Immediately after the 

completion of any judicial review of our final decision in this docket or the expiration of the 

60-day period within which a person may petition for judicial review, all persons who have filed 

confidentiality affidavits in this proceeding are hereby directed to file a notice or record in the 

docket stating that all copies of the applicants’ confidential materials have been destroyed or 

returned to the applicants. 

We will serve this Notice on all persons on the service list for this docket. 

By: 

SUSAN L. KURLAND

Assistant Secretary 

for Aviation and International Affairs 

Date: April 30, 2015

(SEAL) 

An electronic version of this document is available at http://www.regulations.gov