U.S. Department of 

Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

May 15, 2015 

Mr. Vaughn J. Crawford 

Director of Operations 

Altius Aviation, LLC 

113 Tuskegee Road 

Syracuse, NY 13211 

Re: Docket DOT-OST-2015-0064 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE 

Washington DC 20590 

Application of Altius Aviation, LLC for Commuter Air Carrier Authority 

Dear Mr. Crawford: 

On March 25, 2015, Altius Aviation, LLC ("Altius"), filed an application in Docket DOT-OST20 15-0064 requesting authority to conduct scheduled passenger operations as a commuter air 

carrier under 49 U.S.C. § 41738. In connection with this filing, Altius filed a motion for · 

confidential treatment under 14 CFR § 302.12 (Rule 12) of our Procedural Regulations for 

certain information the company was providing. The purpose of this letter is to rule on that 

motion. Also, we have completed our initial review of Altius's application and this review has 

revealed the need for additional and/or clarifying information before we can complete the 

processing of Altius' application. 

Altius requests confidential treatment of (1) the personal financial statement of Mr. Henry 

Laughlin, Altius' majority shareholder, stating his account balance with his financial institution, 

and (2) a letter from Mr. Laughlin's financial advisor confirming the validity of the financial 

statement. Altius states that this information warrants confidential treatment because it is 

(1) commercial or financial, (2) obtained from a person outside of the government, and 

(3) privileged and confidential. Moreover, Altius states that release of this information would 

cause substantial harm to the competitive position of Altius and/or the individual from whom the 

information was obtained. Further, Altius contends that the two personal financial documents 

contain account balance and account numbers which should not be publically disclosed due to 

the sensitive nature ofthe information. 

Rule 12, instructs us to evaluate requests for confidential treatment by the standards of disclosure 

found in the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. § 552). Information may be withheld from 

disclosure under 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) if it is (1) commercial or financial, (2) obtained from a 

person outside of government, and (3) privileged or confidential (Gulf and Western Industries, 

Inc. v. United States, 615 F.2d 527, 529 (D.C. Cir. 1979)). 
2 

There is no question that the information for which Altius seeks confidential treatment is 

financial or commercial in nature and that it was obtained from a person outside the government. 

The remaining question is whether the information is privileged or confidential--whether 

"disclosure of the information is likely to have either of the following effects: (1) impair the 

Government's ability to obtain necessary information; or (2) cause substantial harm to the 

competitive position of the person from whom the information was obtained" (National Parks 

and Conservation Association v. Morton, 498 F.2d 765, 770 (D.C. Cir. 1974)). Further, to be 

privileged or confidential, the information must not be of the type that is usually released to the 

public (Gulf and Western Industries, Inc. v. United States, 615 F.2d 527, 530 (D.C. Cir. 1979)). 

We have reviewed the information for which Altius requests confidentiality and agree with the 

company that public disclosure of such information could potentially harm the individual from 

whom the information was obtained. Moreover, it has been the Department's practice to grant 

confidentiality to such personal financial documents and we see no reason not to do so in this 

case. Therefore, we grant confidential treatment to the two documents for which Altius has 

requested confidentiality. 

With respect to Altius's application for commuter authority, in evaluating an applicant's 

financial fitness, the Department generally asks that the applicant have available to it resources 

sufficient to cover all pre-operating costs and any negative working capital balance, plus a 

working capital reserve equal to the operating costs that would be incurred in three months of 

normal operations. 1 Altius expects to incur pre-operating costs of $940,000. Plus, Altius's 

balance sheet as of December 31, 2014, shows the company having negative working capital of 

$180,030.2 Additionally, Altius expects to incur first-year operating expenses of $10.4 million, 

one quarter of which is $2.6 million. Thus, in order to meet the Department's financial fitness 

test, Altius would need to show that it has access to a total of approximately $3.7 million to meet 

the Department's financial fitness requirements.3 

As mentioned above, in support of its application, Altius provided third-party verification of the 

funds that Altius' majority shareholder, Mr. Henry Laughlin, has on deposit with his financial 

institution. Although our review of the documents submitted demonstrate that Mr. Laughlin has 

access to financial resources sufficient to meet the Department's requirements, we require a letter 

from Mr. Laughlin committing to Altius for use· in its operations the financial resources 

necessary to meet the Department's financial fitness test, that is, $3.7 million as indicated above. 

I ask that you respond fully to this request within 30 days of the date of this letter. You may 

upload your response via the web at www.regulations.gov, or you may mail your response to 

Because projected expenses during the first several months of operations frequently do not include all of the 

costs that will be incurred during a "normal" period of operations, it is our practice to base our three-month standard 

on one quarter of the first year's operating cost forecast. In calculating available resources, projected revenues may 

not be used. 

2 On Page 80 of the application, Altius indicates that it has negative working capital of $115,417 as of 

December 31, 2014. However, the December 31, 2014, balance sheet submitted with Altius' application shows the 

company having current assets of $274,451 and current liabilities of $454,481, leaving the company with negative 

working capital of $180,030. 3 The $3.7 million financial fitness requirement includes $940,000 in pre-operating expenses, $180,030 in 

negative working capital, and $2.6 million for our three-month standard fitness requirement 
3 

U.S. Department of Transportation Dockets, West Building, Ground Floor, (M-30, Room 

W12-140), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, D.C. 20590. In either case, your 

response should be filed in Docket DOT-OST-2015-0064. 

As is the Department's practice, further processing of Altius's application will be deferred 

pending receipt of this material. In addition, please remember that Altius should promptly 

provide the Department with any information regarding changes it may undergo in areas 

affecting its fitness (i.e., management, operating plans or financial condition, compliance 

disposition, or ownership) while its application is under review by the Department. 

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. If you have any questions regarding this letter or 

the requested information, please feel free to contact Vanessa Balgobin of my staff at 

(202) 366-9721 or vanessa.balgobin@dot.gov. 

Chief, Air Carrier Fitness Division 

Office of Aviation Analysis 

Enclosure 

cc: DOT-OST-2015-0064 

Mr. Patrick 0 'Neill 

Principal Operations Inspector 

Federal Aviation Administration