2!Q 

U.S. Department Assistant Secretary 1200 New Jersey Avenuei'~ 

of Transportation Washington, DC 20590.,\

Office of the S~cretary March 25.2010 "'~~ 

of Transportation 

The Honorable John Thodos 


Mayor of East Moline 


East Moline, IL 61244 

Dear May?r Thodos: 

Thank you for your letter of February 24 supporting the application for antitrust immunity filed 

by American Airlines and Japan Airlines. I am responding on behalfof Secretary LaHood. 

As you may know, the applicants-members oftheoneworld Alliance-are seeking antitrust 

immunity to closely coordinate flights between the United States and Asia. According to the 

application, the alliance partners plan to launch a joint venture for conveyance oftranspacific 

traffic. 

The application is administered in a public docket, which ensures that interested parties have the 

opportunity to comment. The U.S. Department ofTransportation (DOT) will evaluate the 

application according to rigorous statutory standards, beginning with a review ofthe record to 

determine if it is substantially complete. Decisions on the application are made in consultation 

with the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division following a thorough analysis of 

competitive factors. As this matter is now pending, I hope you understand that I cannot 

comment on the merits ofthe application. I can assure you, however, that DOT will give full 

and fair consideration to the application as well as any comments filed in the docket. 

As is our normal practice, I am placing a copy of your letter and this response in Docket 

DOT-OST-2010--'as a contact outside the record in this matter. I appreciate your interest in 

this proceeding. 

Sincerely yours, 

Susan L. Kurland 


Assistant Secretary 


forAviation and International Mfairs 

S t0- t00303-043 


.. 

CITY OF EAST MOLINE 

OFFICE OF THE MAYOR 


February 24, 2010 

The Honorable Raymond H. LaHood 

Secretary - ... 

U.S. Department ofTransportation 

1200 New Jersey Ave. SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Docket DOT-OST-2010-_ 

Dear Mr. Secretary; 

Thank you for the opportunity to express my support for the application for antitrust Immunity and 

proposed joint business agreement filed by American Airlines and Japan Airlines. The proposed alliance 

between these two airlines Is vital for the oneworld alliance to compete effectively with the Star and 

SkyTeam alliances. This increased alliance competition will in turn enhance the benefits of ~e 

Department's Open Skies policy -first by solidifying U.S. - Japan Open Skies, then by serving as a 

foundation for further liberalization across Asia. 

I encourage the Department of Transportation to approve this application as it would enable these 

oneworld alliance airlines to work closely together to deliver hIghly competitive air transportation 

services. Approval for M/JAl alliance will have a positive impact on air travel by offering customers 

more service, scheduling and pricing options and will help to ensure that customers continue to benefit 

from the competItion Slfforded-by three competitive ~alliances. . .. ,,,, ..,........... . . 


,~., ..... 


Mr. Secr~tafy, as ,'m sure you remember American Airlines serves the Quad Cities region (MlI) and I 

urge ~o6 to approve this application. 

/ 

915 SIXTEENTH AVENUE e EAST MOLINE, ILLINOIS 61244