BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, D.C.

 

 ) 

Motion of ) 

 ) 

 UNITED AIR LINES, INC. ) Dockets DOT-OST-2009-0192 

 ) 

for waiver of dormancy condition ) 

(U.S.-Mexico code share with Continental) ) 

 ) 

MOTION OF UNITED AIR LINES, INC. 

Communications with respect to this document should be sent to: 

MARY BARNICLE 

Manager – International & 

Regulatory Affairs 

UNITED AIR LINES, INC. 

77 West Wacker Drive, HDQIZ 

Chicago, IL 60601 

JULIE OETTINGER 

Managing Director – International & 

Regulatory Affairs 

JEFFREY A. MANLEY 

Senior Advisor – Regulatory Affairs 

UNITED AIR LINES, INC. 

1025 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. 

Suite 1210 

Washington, D.C. 20036 

Phone: (301) 229-8571 

jeffrey.manley@united.com 

Dated: January 15, 2010 

Notice: United is requesting expedited treatment of this application and will poll 

carrier representatives in the attached Service List. United will advise the 

Department of the results. 

 
BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, D.C.

 

 ) 

Motion of ) 

 ) 

 UNITED AIR LINES, INC. ) Dockets DOT-OST-2009-0192 

 ) 

for waiver of dormancy condition ) 

(U.S.-Mexico code share with Continental) ) 

 ) 

Dated: January 15, 2010 

MOTION OF UNITED AIR LINES, INC. 

 United Air Lines, Inc. (United) hereby requests a temporary dormancy waiver 

with respect to U.S.-Mexico city-pairs listed in the attached Appendices, an exemption 

for which was granted by Notice of Action Taken dated September 18, 2009. This 

motion is being submitted as a result of delays in obtaining approval from Mexico’s 

Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil (DGAC) for U.S.-Mexico markets to which 

United and Continental Airlines (Continental) would code share. To date, United has 

secured DGAC approval for markets listed in Appendix 1 and plans to begin code sharing 

to those markets on February 11, 2010.1

 United, however, continues to seek DGAC 

approval for markets listed in Appendix 2 and hopes to begin code-share service to those 

markets as soon as DGAC approval is secured. Therefore, United requests that the 

dormancy condition be waived for markets listed in Appendix 1 until February 28, 2010 

 

1

 Implementation of markets already approved by the DGAC was delayed in order to maintain 

balanced phasing-in of code-share opportunities as agreed between the carriers in circumstances 

where there were delays in approval in several markets. 
Motion of United 

Page 2

and those listed in Appendix 2 until July 24, 2010. 

 In support of this request, United states the following: 

1. On September 18, 2009, the Department granted United exemption 

authority to code share with Continental to several foreign markets, including U.S.-

Mexico markets operated by Continental and ExpressJet. The Department granted 

United exemption authority consistent with the type of service provided either by 

Continental or ExpressJet. Consistent with DOT’s standard policy, United’s U.S.-

Mexico exemption authority is subject to dormancy notice requirements, which began on 

October 25, 2009, the proposed start-up date for United’s code share with Continental. 

2. Since the Department’s award of exemption authority to United, the 

company has diligently worked to secure DGAC approval for its code share with 

Continental. To date, DGAC has authorized United to code share to only ten markets, all 

of which are listed in Appendix 1. Code sharing to these markets is planned to begin on 

February 11 and United will be selling services to these markets starting on January 23, 

the date in which its current exemption authority expires. In view of this fact, United is 

seeking a limited dormancy waiver through February 28 for these ten markets. 

3. Despite United’s best efforts and for reasons wholly beyond the 

company’s control, DGAC’s approval remains outstanding for 26 U.S.-Mexico markets 

listed in Appendix 2. These markets are operated by either Continental or ExpressJet or 

both. United remains committed to serving these markets and is working with 

Continental to address issues raised by DGAC. To this end, United hopes to implement 

code-share service to these 26 markets as soon as DGAC approval is secured. United 

expects to receive DGAC’s approval for these markets in time to begin code sharing no 
Motion of United 

Page 3

later than July 24, 2010. 

4. The Department’s grant of this request will not adversely impact any other 

carrier since there remain several designations for code-share service available for 

allocation in the markets concerned. Moreover, the Department has previously granted 

requests for relief from certain service obligations for Mexico city-pair markets when 

DGAC approval remained outstanding. See, Department approvals dated April 4, 2005 

in Docket DOT-OST-2002-13299 (granting Altas Air’s request for an additional two 

month waiver of the startup condition due to delays in securing a license from Mexican 

authorities), June 18, 2007 in dockets DOT-OST-2006-24671 and -2005-22151 (granting 

Florida West’s second request for a 90 day extension of its dormancy waiver due to 

unanticipated delays in securing a license from DGAC) and May 3, 2007 in docket DOTOST-2006-25495 (granting Delta and SkyWest’s second request for an extension of the 

90 day dormancy condition due to delays in securing DGAC approval for SkyWest’s 

services). 

 WHEREFORE, on the basis of the foregoing, United respectfully requests the 

Department promptly grant the waivers requested above and grant United such other and 

different relief as it may deem to be consistent with the public interest. 

 Respectfully submitted, 

JULIE OETTINGER 

Managing Director – International & 

Regulatory Affairs 

UNITED AIR LINES, INC. 

 

DATED: January 15, 2010
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

I hereby certify that I have this date served a copy of the foregoing document on 

all persons named below by causing a copy to be sent via email: 

byerlyjr@state.gov

carl.nelson@aa.com

dkirstein@yklaw.com (Spirit)

donna.kooperstein@usdoj.gov

dwight.moore@ustranscom.mil

efaberman@wileyrein.com (Air Tran/Frontier)

hkamen@coair.com

howard_kass@usairways.com

jhill@dowlohnes.com (Jet Blue)

john.allen@faa.gov

john.fredericksen@suncountry.com (Sun Country)

jrichardson@johnlrichardson.com (Amerijet)

nssparks@fedex.com

pmurphy@lopmurphy.com (USA 3000)

recohn@hhlaw.com (Atlantic Southeast) 

rpommer@atlasair.com

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com

temerson@skywest.com 

rbkeiner@crowell.com

gmurphy@crowell.com

Annalei Avanceña 

Advisor—Regulatory Affairs 

Dated: January 15, 2010 
Appendix 1 

UA*/CO U.S.-Mexico City Pairs

(Waiver requested through February 28, 2010) 

 Cleveland, OH – Cancun, Mexico 

 New York, NY/Newark, NJ – Acapulco, Mexico 

 – Cancun, Mexico 

– Cozumel, Mexico 

– Mexico City, Mexico 

– Puerto Vallarta, Mexico 

– San Jose del Cabo, Mexico 

 Houston, TX – Cancun, Mexico 

– Cozumel, Mexico 

– Merida, Mexico 
Appendix 2 

UA*/CO U.S.-Mexico City Pairs

(Waiver requested through July 24, 2010) 

Houston, TX – Acapulco, Mexico 

– Aguascalientes, Mexico 

– Chihuahua, Mexico 

– Ciudad Del Carmen, Mexico 

– Durango, Mexico 

– Guadalajara, Mexico 

– Huatulco, Mexico 

– Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Mexico 

– Leon/Guanajuato, Mexico 

– Manzanillo, Mexico 

– Mazatlan, Mexico 

– Mexico City, Mexico 

– Monterrey, Mexico 

– Morelia, Mexico 

– Oaxaca, Mexico 

– Puebla, Mexico 

– Puerto Vallarta, Mexico 

– Queretaro, Mexico 

– San Jose del Cabo, Mexico 

– San Luis Potosi, Mexico 

– Saltillo, Mexico 

– Tampico, Mexico 

– Toluca, Mexico 

– Torreon, Mexico 

– Veracruz, Mexico 

– Villahermosa, Mexico