UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on August 29, 2014

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN – DOCKET DOT-OST-2014-0135 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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: JETCONNECT LIMITED (Jetconnect)

Date Filed: August 5, 2014 

Relief requested: 

Exemption for two years under 49 USC §40109 and a blanket statement of authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 to permit 

Jetconnect to display the AA* designator code of American Airlines, Inc. (American) on flights operated by Jetconnect 

between points in New Zealand; between points in Australia; and between any point or points in New Zealand, via 

intermediate points, and any point or points in Australia; for the purpose of transporting code-share traffic of American 

on U.S.-Australia and/or U.S.-New Zealand flights operated by Qantas Airways Limited (Qantas) or other carriers

authorized to display the AA* designator code on those routes.1

Jetconnect further requests a waiver of the 45-day advance filing requirement under 14 CFR Part 212.

Applicant representative: Moffet B. Roller, 202-331-3300

DOT analyst: David R. Christofano, 202-366-0584

Responsive pleadings: None

DISPOSITION

Action: Approved, subject to conditions Action date: August 29, 2014

Effective dates of authority granted: The exemption authority granted to Jetconnect is effective from August 29, 2014, 

through August 29, 2016. 

The statement of authorization granted to Jetconnect is effective August 29, 2014, and will remain in effect for an

indefinite duration, subject to conditions. 

Our action granting Jetconnect’s request for waiver of the 45-day advance filing requirement under 14 CFR Part 212 is 

effective August 29, 2014.

Basis for approval (bilateral agreement/reciprocity): The Multilateral Agreement on the Liberalization of International

Air Transport (MALIAT) and the Air Transport Agreement between the United States and Australia.

Except to the extent exempted/waived, this authority is subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations of our standard 

exemption conditions (attached as Appendix A) and the code-share conditions (attached as Appendix B).

Special conditions/Remarks: We note that Jetconnect is operationally and financially qualified to conduct the proposed 

services. The record indicates that Jetconnect, which is incorporated in New Zealand, is a wholly-owned subsidiary 

 1 Jetconnect states that the code-share arrangement between it and American is governed by the code-share agreement between Qantas 

and American. Jetconnect further states that it will initially display the AA* designator code on Jetconnect flights between 

Sydney-Auckland, Sydney-Christchurch, and Brisbane-Auckland. 
of Qantas, a licensed foreign air carrier of Australia. (See Order 2008-8-17). The record further indicates that 

Jetconnect’s three Directors also serve as Qantas executives and are Australian citizens. With respect to the 

non-homeland involvement in the ownership and control of Jetconnect, we find that a waiver of our ownership and control 

policy is warranted in the circumstances presented, as there is nothing in the ownership and control of the carrier that 

would be inimical to U.S. aviation policy or interests. We also note that the applicant is properly licensed by its homeland 

to perform the proposed services. We further note that American has conducted a safety audit of Jetconnect under the 

Department’s Code-Share Safety Audit Program, and the FAA has advised us 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

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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, 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
Appendix A

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
Appendix B

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) Jetconnect and American continue to hold the 

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

for the code-share operations remains in effect.

(b) Jetconnect and American must promptly notify the Department (Office of International Aviation) 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 notices should be filed in Docket DOT-OST-2014-0135.

1

(c) Jetconnect and American 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 notices should be filed in Docket DOT-OST-2014-0135.

2

(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 all applicable agreements between the United States and the 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 a 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;3 and (ii) should there be a request by any carrier to use the limited-entry 

route rights that are included in the authority of American 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 Jetconnect 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.

 1 We expect this notification to be received within 10 days of such non-effectiveness or of such decision. 2 Jetconnect provides notice of its intent to display the AA* code on open skies routes as described in its application. Jetconnect states

that it will notify the Department no later than 30 days before commencing any code-share services to non-open skies points. 3 The notice referenced in condition (c) above may be used for this notification.