UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on March 22, 2013

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKET DOT-OST-2012-0199 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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: ISLANDER ENTERPRISES SAMOA LTD. d/b/a SAMOA AIR (Samoa Air)

Date Filed: November 20, 2012, as supplemented December 6, 20121

Relief requested: Exemption from 49 USC § 40109(g) to permit the applicant to transport persons, property, and mail between 

Pago Pago International Airport, American Samoa, and the regional airports Fitiuta Airport in Ta’u and Ofu Airport located in the 

Manu’a Islands of American Samoa, using Britten Norman BN2A and Cessna 172 aircraft. Samoa Air states that grant of its 

request is primarily necessary to meet a critical need for reliable air transportation services required to enable the physicians and 

clinical staff of the Manu' a Health System and the rural access hospital in the Manu' a Islands to provide vital medical services to 

the islands' residents. In this regard, Samoa Air included in its application a letter from the Governor of American Samoa 

specifically supporting the request for emergency medical transportation of passengers and/or cargo.

Samoa Air asserts that no U.S. air carrier has provided air transportation services between Pago Pago and Ofu Airport for 

approximately three years. It further asserts that there is a pressing need to supplement the current, but highly irregular, flights 

offered by Inter Island Airways, Inc. (Inter Island), between Pago Pago and Fitiuta Airport on Ta’u, and states that if it is 

approached to conduct a flight between Pago Pago and Fitiuta Airport, it will contact Inter Island and give it the option of 

conducting the flight provided it can do so within a reasonable period of time in consideration of the urgent nature of the required 

transportation. 

Finally, Samoa Air asserts that its proposed services will also ensure that others, seeking non-medical-related air transportation 

between Pago Pago and the Manu'a Islands, have a means to do so rather than being required to travel by slower surface 

transportation. Samoa Air requests that this authority be granted for a period of 30 days.

Applicant representative: Robert P. Silverberg, 202-944-3300 DOT analyst: Robert J. Finamore, 202-366-2405

Responsive pleadings: Samoa served its application on Inter Island, a U.S. commuter air carrier that provides intra-American 

Samoa services. On December 5, 2012, Inter Island filed an answer stating that it does not object to Samoa Air’s request for an 

emergency and time-limited (30 days) exemption to conduct the proposed services. Inter Island requests that it be granted an 

opportunity to comment should Samoa Air seek an extension beyond the 30-day duration specified in its request. 

Statutory Standards: Under 49 USC § 40109(g), we may authorize a foreign air carrier to carry commercial traffic between U.S. 

points (i.e., cabotage traffic) under limited circumstances. Specifically, we must find that the authority is required in the public 

interest; that because of an emergency created by unusual circumstances not arising in the normal course of business the traffic 

cannot be accommodated by U.S. carriers holding certificates under 49 USC § 41102; that all possible efforts have been made to 

place the traffic on U.S. carriers; and that the transportation is necessary to avoid unreasonable hardship to the traffic involved (an 

additional required finding, concerning emergency transportation during labor disputes, is not relevant here).

DISPOSITION

Action: Approved in part, remainder denied. (See remarks below.) Action date: March 22, 2013

Effective dates of authority granted: March 22, 2013-April 21, 2013.

Basis for approval/partial grant: We are granting Samoa Air’s request to operate its proposed intra-American Samoa services in 

part, specifically authorizing it to conduct services limited to the emergency medical transportation of passengers and/or cargo. 

We will grant its request for a period of 30 days, that is, March 22, 2013, through April 21, 2013. We are denying the remaining 

 1 In its December 6, 2012 supplemental filing in Dockets DOT-OST-2012-0199 and DOT-OST-2012-0198 (which concerns the 

carrier’s request for exemption and foreign air carrier permit authority), Samoa Air requests that the 30-day period of its requested 

cabotage authority commence no earlier than the date that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issues it Part 129 Operations 

Specifications. We have been advised by the FAA that this occurred on March 14, 2013.
portion of Samoa Air’s application, that is, its request for authority to transport passengers and/or cargo unrelated to emergency 

medical transportation.

With respect to our action permitting the applicant to conduct intra-American Samoa emergency medical transportation of 

passengers and/or cargo, we find that this action met all the relevant criteria of 49 USC § 40109(g) for the grant of an exemption of 

this type, for a period of 30 days, and that the grant was required in the public interest. 

American Samoa is an isolated community uniquely dependent on air transportation, and the record before us indicates that the 

lack of air transportation services available to the residents of the Manu'a Islands negatively impacts their ability to obtain 

emergency medical services. We have determined that, in the circumstances presented, this situation constitutes an emergency not 

arising in the normal course of business.2

 The record indicates that Samoa Air’s services should provide the residents of the 

Manu'a Islands, and the physicians and clinical staff of the Manu' a Health System and the rural access hospital in the Manu' a 

Islands, with air transportation necessary to enhance the availability of emergency medical services to the islands' residents. Based 

on the record in this proceeding, we concluded that no U.S. carrier had aircraft available that could be used to conduct the 

operations at issue here. We also found that grant of this authority would prevent unreasonable hardship to the residents of 

American Samoa. Finally, we found that the applicant was qualified to perform its proposed operations.

In taking this action, we find that it is in the public interest to closely monitor the carrier’s operations. In this regard, we 

specifically put Samoa Air on notice that in any requests for subsequent extensions of this authority, we would expect to see a 

description of the carriers’ cabotage operations for the previous 30-day period. We expect this description include at a minimum

the number of flights completed between U.S. points, the number of passengers carried on each flight, the circumstances of each 

flight, and a statement as to whether Samoa Air ascertained the availability of Inter Island and gave it the option of conducting the 

flight within a reasonable period of time.

With respect to Samoa Air’s request that the scope of its authority encompass the transportation of other passengers and cargo as 

an alternative to transport by slower surface transportation, we found, based on the record before us and in the circumstances

presented, that this portion of the applicant’s request would not address an emergency not arising in the normal course of business

under 49 USC § 40109(g). Therefore, we deny that portion of its request.

Except to the extent exempted/waived, this authority is subject to our standard exemption conditions (attached). We may amend, 

modify, or revoke the authority granted in this Notice at any time without hearing at our discretion.

Action taken by: Susan L. Kurland

Assistant Secretary for Aviation 

and International Affairs

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

http://www.regulations.gov

 2 Consistent with the statements made by the applicant in its application and because the authority granted here permits cabotage 

operations, we will expect Samoa Air, if approached to conduct a flight covered by this exemption between Pago Pago and Fitiuta 

Airport, to ascertain the availability of service by Inter Island and to give it the option of conducting the flight provided it can do 

so within a reasonable period of time in consideration of the urgent nature of the required transportation.
Foreign Carrier Exemption Conditions

In the conduct of the operations authorized, the foreign carrier applicant(s) shall:

(1) Not conduct any operations unless it holds a currently effective authorization from its homeland for such operations, 

and it has filed a copy of such authorization with the Department;

(2) Comply with all applicable requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration, the Transportation Security 

Administration, and with all applicable U.S. Government requirements concerning security, including, but not limited 

to, 14 CFR Parts 129, 91, and 36 and 49 CFR Part 1546 or 1550, as applicable. To assure compliance with all 

applicable U.S. Government requirements concerning security, the holder shall, before commencing any new service 

(including charter flights) from a foreign airport that would be the holder’s last point of departure for the United States, 

contact its International Industry Representative (IIR) (formerly referred to as International Principal Security 

Inspector) to advise the IIR of its plans and to find out whether the Transportation Security Administration has 

determined that security is adequate to allow such airport(s) to be served;

(3) Comply with the requirements for minimum insurance coverage contained in 14 CFR Part 205, and, prior to the 

commencement of any operations under this authority, file evidence of such coverage, in the form of a completed OST 

Form 6411, with the Federal Aviation Administration’s Program Management Branch (AFS-260), Flight Standards 

Service (any changes to, or termination of, insurance also shall be filed with that office);

(4) Not operate aircraft under this authority unless it complies with operational safety requirements at least equivalent to 

Annex 6 of the Chicago Convention;

(5) Conform to the airworthiness and airman competency requirements of its Government for international air services;

(6) Except as specifically exempted or otherwise provided for in a Department Order, comply with the requirements of 14 

CFR Part 203, concerning waiver of Warsaw Convention liability limits and defenses;

(7) Agree that operations under this authority constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity, for the purposes of 28 U.S.C. 

1605(a), but only with respect to those actions or proceedings instituted against it in any court or other tribunal in the 

United States that are: (a) based on its operations in international air transportation that, according to the contract of 

carriage, include a point in the United States as a point of origin, point of destination, or agreed stopping place, or for 

which the contract of carriage was purchased in the United States; or (b) based on a claim under any international 

agreement or treaty cognizable in any court or other tribunal of the United States. In this condition, the term 

"international air transportation" means "international transportation" as defined by the Warsaw Convention, except 

that all States shall be considered to be High Contracting Parties for the purpose of this definition;

(8) Except as specifically authorized by the Department, originate or terminate all flights to/from the United States in 

its homeland;

(9) Comply with the requirements of 14 CFR Part 217, concerning the reporting of scheduled, nonscheduled, and 

charter data;

(10) If charter operations are authorized, except as otherwise provided in the applicable aviation agreement, comply 

with the Department's rules governing charters (including 14 CFR Parts 212 and 380); and

(11) Comply with such other reasonable terms, conditions, and limitations required by the public interest as may be 

prescribed by the Department, with all applicable orders or regulations of other U.S. agencies and courts, and with all 

applicable laws of the United States.

This authority shall not be effective during any period when the holder is not in compliance with the conditions 

imposed above. Moreover, this authority cannot be sold or otherwise transferred without explicit Department approval 

under Title 49 of the U.S. Code.

12/2007