BEFORE THE 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

) 

Application of ) 

) 

ISLANDER ENTERPRISES SAMOA LTD. ) Docket: DOT-OST-2012- o t'fS 

d/b/a SAMOA AIR ) 

) 

for an exemption pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109 ) 

and a foreign air carrier permit pursuant to ) 

49 U.S.C. § 41302 ) 

MOTION OF ISLANDER ENTERPRISES SAMOA LTD. D/B/A SAMOA AIR 

FOR CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT PURSUANT TO RULE 12 

Communications with respect to this document may be served upon: 

Christopher S. Langton 

Chief Executive Officer 

and Managing Director 

ISLANDER ENTERPRISES 

SAMOA LTD. D/B/A SAMOA AIR 

APB Complex, Matafagatele Road 

Apia Park, Box 2894, Samoa 

Dated: November 20,2012 

Robert P. Silverberg, Esq. 

L. Jeffrey Johnson, Esq. 

SILVERBERG, GOLDMAN & 

BIKOFF, L.L.P. 

1101 30th Street, N.W. 

Suite 120 

Washington, D.C. 20007 

Tel: (202) 944-3300 

Fax: (202) 944-3306 

E-mail: rsilverberg@sgbdc.com 

jjohnson@sgbdc.com 

Attorneys for 

ISLANDER ENTERPRISES SAMOA LTD. 

d/b/a SAMOA AIR 
BEFORE THE 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Application of 

ISLANDER ENTERPRISES SAMOA LTD. 

d/b/a SAMOA AIR 

for an exemption pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109 

and a foreign air carrier permit pursuant to 

49 u.s.c. § 41302 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

Docket: DOT-OST-2012-

MOTION OF ISLANDER ENTERPRISES SAMOA LTD. D/B/A SAMOA AIR 

FOR CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT PURSUANT TO RULE 12 

Islander Enterprises Samoa Ltd. d/b/a Samoa Air ("Samoa Air") hereby moves, 

pursuant to Rule 12 ofthe Department of Transportation's Rules of Practice (14 C.F.R. § 

302.12) ("Rule 12"), for confidential treatment of the documents submitted as Exhibit 4, 

Exhibit 6 and Exhibit 7 to the Application of Samoa Air for an Exemption and a Foreign 

Air Carrier Permit (the "Application") being filed with the Department 

contemporaneously with this Motion. Specifically, Samoa Air makes reference in the 

Application to certain commercial or financial information contained in Exhibit 4, 

Exhibit 6 and Exhibit 7 to the Application and notes that the exhibits are being submitted 

under seal pursuant to a Rule 12 Motion for Confidential Treatment. 

The exhibits for which confidential treatment is requested set forth detailed 

commercial and financial information, including (i) information regarding the ownership 

of Samoa Air, a privately held company (Exhibit 4), (ii) the carrier's capitalization 

(Exhibit 6) and (iii) a traffic forecast and projected financial results for its first year of 

operations to American Samoa (Exhibit 7). Disclosure of this highly sensitive 
Motion oflslander Enterprises Samoa Ltd. d/b/a Samoa Air 

November 20, 2012 

Page2 

commercial and financial information would cause substantial competitive harm to 

Samoa Air. Therefore, Samoa Air requests that these documents be accorded 

confidential treatment. 

Pursuant to Rule 12, participants in any proceeding before the Department may 

request that information submitted to the Department not be disclosed to the public if that 

information falls within one of the exemptions from disclosure in the Freedom of 

Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(1)-(9) ("FOIA"). Samoa Air submits that the 

information for which it seeks confidential treatment falls within § 552(b)(4) of FOIA 

("Exemption 4"). 

Exemption 4 protects from disclosure "trade secrets and commercial or financial 

information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential." Exemption 4 has 

been held to include "information that is not the type usually released to the public and is 

of the type that, if released to the public, would cause substantial harm to the competitive 

position of the person from whom the information was obtained." Gulf & Western 

Industries, Inc. v. United States, 615 F.2d 527, 530 (D.C. Cir. 1980); see also American 

Airlines, Inc. v. NMB, 588 F.2d 863, 871 (2nd Cir. 1978); National Parks & Conservation 

Ass'n. v. Kleppe, 547 F.2d 673, 684 (D.C. Cir. 1976); Joint Application of Delta and 

Virgin Atlantic, Order 94-5-42 (May 28, 1994); Joint Application of United and 

Lufthansa, Order 93-12-32 (December 18, 1993); Joint Application of Northwest and 

KLM, Order 93-1-11 (January 8, 1993). Exemption 4 is designed "to protect the 

confidentiality of information which citizens provide to their government, but which 

would customarily not be released to the public, and to facilitate citizens' ability to 

confide in their government." Burke Energy Corp. v. Dept. of Energy, 583 F. Supp. 507, 
Motion of Islander Enterprises Samoa Ltd. d/b/a Samoa Air 

November 20,2012 

Page 3 

510 (D.Kan. 1984); Sterling Drug, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission, 450 F.2d 698, 709 

(D.C. Cir. 1971). 

In order to fall within Exemption 4, the information at issue must be: (1) 

commercial or financial in nature; (2) obtained from a person outside the government; 

and (3) privileged or confidential. See Public Citizen Health Research Group v. FDA, 

704 F.2d 1280, 1290 (D.C. Cir. 1983); Gulf & Western, 615 F.2d at 529. The 

information for which confidential treatment is sought in this Motion clearly meets this 

three-part test. 

With respect to the first prong of the test, the documents for which Samoa Air 

seeks confidential treatment are clearly commercial or financial in nature (i.e., 

information on the ownership of Samoa Air, a privately held company, the carrier's 

capitalization, and a traffic forecast and projected financial results for its first year of 

operations to American Samoa). 

With respect to the second prong of the confidentiality test, it is axiomatic that the 

information at issue has been "obtained from a person outside the government" having 

been submitted to the Department by Samoa Air. 

Finally, with respect to the third element of the test (the "confidential" nature of 

the information), the D.C. Circuit has held that a commercial or financial matter is 

"confidential" for purposes of Exemption 4 if it would not customarily be released to the 

public by the person from whom it was obtained and if disclosure of the information is 

likely to have either of the following effects: (1) to impair the Government's ability to 

obtain necessary information in the future; or (2) to cause substantial harm to the 
Motion of Islander Enterprises Samoa Ltd. d/b/a Samoa Air 

November 20, 2012 

Page4 

competitive position of the person from whom the information was obtained. National 

Parks & Conservation Ass'n. v. Morton, 498 F.2d 765, 770 (D.C. Cir. 1974). 

Samoa Air submits that Exhibit 4, Exhibit 6 and Exhibit 7 clearly meet the 

definition of "confidential." The information contained in these exhibits is highly 

proprietary and confidential, and would not normally be made available to the public. 

Samoa Air is a privately held company organized and existing under the laws of the 

Independent State of Samoa. As such, Samoa Air would not normally release to the 

public the detailed ownership and financial information contained in these exhibits. In 

addition, disclosure of this information would cause substantial harm to the competitive 

position of Samoa Air. Knowledge of such detailed information would permit a 

competitor to make strategic judgments - to the detriment of Samoa Air - based on data 

that it would not otherwise have access to. Moreover, disclosure of this information 

might impair the Government's ability to obtain similar commercial or financial 

information from future applicants for exemption and permit authority thus hindering the 

Government's ability to evaluate their fitness. Finally, the Department has granted 

confidential treatment to similar information submitted by foreign air carriers applying to 

the Department for economic authority to operate to the United States. See Order 2008-

9-22, issued September 18, 2008, Docket DOT -OST -2008-0117, footnote 4 (granting 

confidential treatment to financial and ownership information); and Notice of Action 

Taken, issued October 7, 2004, Docket DOT-OST-2004-18979, footnote 1 (granting 

confidential treatment to a traffic forecast and projected financial results). 
Motion oflslander Enterprises Samoa Ltd. d/b/a Samoa Air 

November 20, 2012 

Page 5 

WHEREFORE, Samoa Air respectfully requests that Exhibit 4, Exhibit 6 and 

Exhibit 7 to its Application for an Exemption and a Foreign Air Carrier Permit be 

accorded confidential treatment pursuant to Rule 12. 

Dated: November 20,2012 

Respectfully submitted, 

SILVERBERG, GOLDMAN & BIKOFF, L.L.P. 

Attorneys for 

ISLANDER ENTERPRISES SAMOA LTD. 

d/b/a SAMOA AIR 

By. '?obi:t:. elf~ L. Jeffrey Johnson 
Certificate of Service 

I hereby certify that I have on this 20th day of November 2012 served a copy of 

the foregoing Motion of Islander Enterprises Samoa Ltd. d/b/a Samoa Air for 

Confidential Treatment Pursuant to Rule 12 by e-mail or First Class Mail upon the 

following persons: 

Inter Island Airways, Inc. 

Pago Pago International Airport 

4929 Airport Road, Hanger 2 

P.O. Box 4929 

Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799 

United States 

Krishna R. Urs 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for 

Transportation Affairs 

Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs 

U.S. Department of State 

Room 3425 

Washington, D.C. 20520-5820 

urskr@state.gov 

Hardie H. DeGuzman, Manager 

Los Angeles International Field Office 

Federal Aviation Administration 

P.O. Box 92007 

Los Angeles, CA 90009 

Hardie.H.DeGuzman@faa.gov 

Matagi R.M. McMoore 

Department of Port Administration 

P.O. Box 1539 

Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799 

United States