U.S. Department of Transportation Office ofthe Secretary OfTransportation

July 7, 2014

Mr. David C. Agee Ms. AmandaE. Tummons -.**~ -~** 

Counsel for JetAviationFlight Services, Inc. HUSCH BLACKWELL, LLP 901 St. Louis Street, Suite 1800 Springfield, MO 65806

DearMr. Agee and Ms. Tummons: 1200 NewJersey Ave., S.E. Washington, DC 20590

On June 6, 2014, Jet Aviation Flight Services, Inc. ("JAFS"), filed applications in Dockets DOT-OST-2014-0097 and DOT-OST-2014-0098 requesting authority to engage in interstate and foreign charter air transportation of persons, property and mail. In connection with these filings, JAFS filed a motion for confidential treatment under 14 CFR section 302.12 (Rule 12) ofour Procedural Regulations for certain information the company was providing. Thepurpose ofthis letter is to rule on thatmotion.

JAFS requests confidential treatment ofExhibit E- the aircraft dry lease and commercial operations agreement between JFAS and the beneficial owner of the Airbus ACJ 318 aircraft ("ACJ") which JAFS intends to use in its operations, and Exhibit R- the aircraft services agreementbetweenJAFS andthebeneficial owners ofthe ACJ.

In the motion, JFAS states thatthis information warrants confidential treatmentbecause it is (1) commercial or financial, (2) obtained from aperson outside ofthe government, and (3) privileged and confidential. Moreover, JFAS states that release ofthis information would cause substantial harm to the competitive position ofJFAS and/or the beneficial
owner ofthe ACJ. JFAS contends thatbothExhibits E and R ("the Agreements") contain financial and commercial information and were subjectto substantial negotiationbetween the parties. JFAS states that the terms ofthe Agreements do not reflect the terms that JAFS would ordinarily give to another customer, and that public release of such terms would cause the company significant commercial harm.

Rule 12, instructs us to evaluate requests for confidential treatment by the standards of disclosure found in the Freedom ofInformation Act (5 U.S.C. section 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 (Gulfand Western Industries, Inc. v. United States, 615 F.2d 527, 529 (D.C. Cir. 1979)).

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There is no question that the information for which JAFS 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) impairthe Government's ability to obtainnecessary information; or (2) cause substantial harm to the competitive position of the person :from whom the information was obtained" (National Parks andConservationAssociation v. Morton, 498 F.2d 765, 770 (D.C. Cir. 1974)). Further, to be privileged orconfidential, the information must notbe ofthe type that is usually released to the public (Gulf and Western Industries, Inc. v. UnitedStates, 615 F.2d 527, 530 (D.C. Cir. 1979)).

We have reviewed the information for which JFAS requests confidentiality and agree with the company that public disclosure ofthe Agreements, which include certain terms and financial information that be used by competitors, could substantially harm JFAS competitive position. Moreover, it has been the Department's practice to grant confidentiality to such agreements and we see no reason not to do so in this case. Therefore, we provide confidential treatment to Exhibit E and Exhibit R to JFAS applications for interstate and foreign charter authority.

Ifyou have any questions regarding this letter, please contact Vanessa Balgobin ofmy staffat 202-366-9721.

n Remo, Chief Air Carrier Fitness Division Office ofAviationAnalysis

cc: Dockets DOT-OST-2014-0097 and DOT-OST-2014-0098

Mr. Charles D. Nottingham Counsel for JetAviationFlight Services, Inc. HUSCH BLACKWELLLLP 750 1

## ih Street, NW, Suite 900 Washington, DC 20006

Ms. Valerie Fattoross Sales Contracts Administrator JET AVIATION FLIGHT SERVICES, INC. 112 Charles Lindbergh Drive Teterboro, NJ 07608

Mr. Mark Buttikofer Principal Operations Inspector Federal AviationAdministration