U.S. Department of 

Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

Of Transportation 

July 7, 2014 

Mr. David C. Agee 

Ms. Amanda E. Tummons 

-. ~ -~ 

Counsel for Jet Aviation Flight Services, Inc. 

HUSCH BLACKWELL, LLP 

901 St. Louis Street, Suite 1800 

Springfield, MO 65806 

Dear Mr. Agee and Ms. Tummons: 

1200 New Jersey 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) of our Procedural Regulations for certain information the 

company was providing. The purpose of this letter is to rule on that motion. 

JAFS requests confidential treatment of Exhibit E- the aircraft dry lease and commercial 

operations agreement between JF AS 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 agreement between JAFS and the beneficial owners of the ACJ. 

In the motion, JF AS 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, JF AS states that release of this information 

would cause substantial harm to the competitive position of JF AS and/or the beneficial 

owner of the ACJ. JFAS contends that both Exhibits E and R ("the Agreements") contain 

financial and commercial information and were subject to substantial negotiation between 

the parties. JF AS states that the terms of the 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 of Information 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 (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 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) 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 JF AS requests confidentiality and agree 

with the company that public disclosure of the Agreements, which include certain terms 

and financial information that be used by competitors, could substantially harm JF AS 

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 JF AS 

applications for interstate and foreign charter authority. 

If you have any questions regarding this letter, please contact Vanessa Balgobin of my 

staff at 202-366-9721. 

n Remo, Chief 

Air Carrier Fitness Division 

Office of Aviation Analysis 

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

Mr. Charles D. Nottingham 

Counsel for Jet Aviation Flight Services, Inc. 

HUSCH BLACKWELL LLP 

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 Aviation Administration