UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

 OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 

 WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Issued by the Department of Transportation on March 4, 2010

 NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKET DOT-OST-2010-0009 

CORRECTED COPY** __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

This serves as notice to the public of the action described below, taken by the Department official 

indicated (no additional confirming order will be issued in this matter). 

Joint Application of AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC. (American)1

 and VGR LINHAS AEREAS S.A., 

d/b/a GOL (Gol) filed 1/7/10 for: 

XX Exemption for American under 49 U.S.C. 40109 to provide the following services: 

Scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property, and mail between American’s 

authorized Brazil gateways and points in Brazil selected by the United States for code-share-only 

service.2 3

XX Statement of authorization for blanket code-share authority for Gol under 14 CFR Part 212 to: 

Display American’s “AA” designator code in conjunction with foreign air transportation on flights 

operated by Gol between and among American’s Brazil gateways and points in Brazil selected by 

the United States for code-share-only service.4

Applicant reps: Carl B. Nelson (202) 496-5647 (American) DOT Analyst: Thuy H. Cooper (202) 366-5423

 Charles F. Donley, II (202) 626-6840 (Gol)

D I S P O S I T I O N 

XX Granted request of American for exemption authority (subject to conditions, see below) 

XX Granted request of Gol for blanket statement of authorization (subject to conditions, see below)

** This Notice of Action Taken is corrected to add the Belo Horizonte-Sao Paulo (Congonhas) code-share route, 

which was inadvertently omitted in Appendix A of the Notice. 

 

1

 The joint applicants include American affiliates American Eagle Airlines, Inc., and Executive Airlines, Inc. d/b/a 

American Eagle. 

2

 The joint applicants state that American’s “AA*” designator code will be displayed on Gol-operated flights within 

Brazil selected by the United States for code-share-only service beyond American’s Brazil gateways. 3

 American holds certificate authority to serve between New York/Miami and Sao Paulo/Rio de Janeiro (see Order 

2001-5-26, renewal application pending in DOT-OST-1995-297) and exemption authority to serve between U.S. 

points and Belem, Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Manaus, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, and Sao Paulo, 

and beyond to Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Chile (see Notice of Action Taken dated July 8, 2009, in Docket 

DOT-OST-1996-1353). 

4 See Attachment A for list of initial code-share routes. The Joint Applicants propose to implement the code-share 

service on April 1, 2010. 
The above action granting exemption authority to American was effective when taken: March 4, 2010, 

through March 4, 2012. 

The above action granting a statement of authorization to Gol was effective when taken: March 4, 2010, 

and will remain in effect indefinitely, subject to the conditions below. 

Action taken by: Paul L. Gretch, Director 

 Office of International Aviation 

XX The authority granted is consistent with the aviation agreement between the United States and 

Brazil. 

Except to the extent exempted or waived, this authority is subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations 

indicated: XX American’s certificates of public convenience and necessity 

 XX Standard U.S. Exemption Conditions (attached as Appendix B) 

 XX Conditions for Statement of Authorization (see below) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Conditions: The statement of authorization granted to Gol is subject to the following conditions: 

(a) The statement of authorization will remain in effect only as long as (i) American and Gol 

continue to hold the necessary underlying authority to operate the code-share services at issue, 

and (ii) the code-share agreement providing for the code-share operations remains in effect. 

(b) American and/or Gol must promptly notify the Department (Office of International Aviation) if 

the code-share agreement providing for the code-share operations is no longer effective or if the 

carriers decide to cease operating all or a portion of the approved code-share services. Such 

notices should be filed in Docket DOT-OST-2010-0009.5

(c) American and/or Gol must notify the Department no later than 30 days before they begin any new 

code-share service under the code-share services authorized here. Such notice shall identify the 

market(s) to be served, which carrier will be operating the aircraft in the code-share market 

added, and the date on which the service will begin. Such notices should be filed in 

DOT-OST-2010-0009. 

(d) The code-sharing operations conducted under this authority must comply with 14 CFR 257 and 

with any amendments to the Department’s regulations concerning code-share arrangements that 

may be adopted. Notwithstanding any provisions in the contract between the carriers, our 

approval here is expressly conditioned upon the requirements that the subject foreign air 

transportation be sold in the name of the carrier holding out such service in the computer 

reservation systems and elsewhere; that the carrier selling such transportation (i.e., the carrier 

shown on the ticket) accept responsibility for the entirety of the code-share journey for all 

obligations established in its contract of carriage with the passenger; that the passenger liability of 

the operating carrier be unaffected; and that the operating carrier shall not permit the code of its 

U.S. code-sharing partner to be carried on any flight that enters, departs, or transits the airspace of 

any area for whose airspace the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a flight prohibition. 

(e) Any service provided shall be consistent with all applicable agreements between the United States 

and Brazil, and all applicable agreements with other foreign countries involved. Furthermore, 

 

5

 We expect this notification to be received within 10 days of such non-effectiveness or of such decision. 
(i) nothing in the award of this blanket statement of authorization should be construed as 

conferring upon American rights (including code-share, fifth-freedom intermediate and/or beyond 

rights) to serve markets where U.S. carrier rights are limited unless American notifies us of its 

intent to serve such market and unless and until the Department has completed any necessary 

carrier selection procedures to determine which carrier(s) should be authorized to exercise such 

rights;6

 and (ii) should there be a request by any carrier to use the limited-entry route rights that 

are included in American’s authority by virtue of the blanket statement of authorization granted 

here, but that are not being used by American, the holding of such authority will not be 

considered as providing any preference for American in a carrier selection proceeding to 

determine which carrier(s) should be entitled to use the authority at issue. 

(f) The authority granted here is specifically conditioned so that neither American nor Gol shall give 

any force or effect to any contractual provisions between themselves that are contrary to these 

conditions. 

Remarks: We note that American has conducted a safety audit of Gol under the Department’s CodeShare Safety Audit Program, and the FAA has advised that it has reviewed the relevant audit report and 

found it to be acceptable. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the basis of data officially noticeable under Rule 24(g) of the Department’s regulations, we found the 

applicants qualified to provide the services authorized. 

Under authority assigned by the Department in its regulations, 14 CFR Part 385, we found that (1) our 

action was consistent with Department policy; (2) grant of the authority was consistent with the public 

interest; and (3) grant of the authority would not constitute a major regulatory action under the Energy 

Policy and Conservation Act of 1975. To the extent not granted, we denied all requests in the referenced 

Docket. We may amend, modify, or revoke the authority granted in this Notice at any time without 

hearing at our discretion. 

Persons entitled to petition the Department for review of the action set forth in this Notice under the 

Department’s regulations, 14 CFR §385.30, may file their petitions within seven (7) days after the date of 

issuance of this Notice. This action was effective when taken, and the filing of a petition for review will 

not alter such effectiveness. 

An electronic version of this document is available on the World Wide Web at: 

http://www.regulations.gov

 

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 The notice referenced in condition (c) above may be used for this notification. 
Appendix A 

INITIAL CODE-SHARE ROUTES 

(“AA” on Gol-operated flights) 

Belo Horizonte 

(Tancredo Neves International) 

Brasilia 

Belo Horizonte 

(Tancredo Neves International) 

Sao Paulo (Guarulhos Airport) 

Belo Horizonte 

(Tancredo Neves International) 

Campinas 

Belo Horizonte 

(Tancredo Neves International) 

Curitiba 

Belo Horizonte 

(Tancredo Neves International) 

Rio de Janeiro 

Belo Horizonte 

(Tancredo Neves International) 

Sao Paulo (Congonhas) 

Belo Horizonte 

(Tancredo Neves International) 

IIheus 

Belo Horizonte 

(Tancredo Neves International) 

Recife 

Belo Horizonte 

(Tancredo Neves International) 

Rio de Janeiro (Santos Dumont 

Airport) 

Belo Horizonte 

(Tancredo Neves International) 

Salvador 

Belo Horizonte 

(Tancredo Neves International) 

Vitoria 

Rio de Janeiro 

(Galeao Int’l Airport) 

Aracaju 

Rio de Janeiro 

(Galeao Int’l Airport) 

Belem 

Rio de Janeiro 

(Galeao Int’l Airport) 

Brasilia 

Rio de Janeiro 

(Galeao Int’l Airport) 

Sao Paulo (Congonhas Airport)

Rio de Janeiro 

(Galeao Int’l Airport) 

Belo Horizonte 

(Tancredo Neves International)

Rio de Janeiro 

(Galeao Int’l Airport) 

Campinas 

Rio de Janeiro 

(Galeao Int’l Airport) 

Curitiba 

Rio de Janeiro 

(Galeao Int’l Airport) 

Florianopolis 

Rio de Janeiro 

(Galeao Int’l Airport) 

Fortaleza 

Rio de Janeiro 

(Galeao Int’l Airport) 

Sao Paulo (Guarulhos Airport) 

Rio de Janeiro 

(Galeao Int’l Airport) 

Iguassu Falls 

Rio de Janeiro 

(Galeao Int’l Airport) 

Joao Pessoa 

Rio de Janeiro Manaus 
(Galeao Int’l Airport) 

Rio de Janeiro 

(Galeao Int’l Airport)

Maceio 

Rio de Janeiro 

(Galeao Int’l Airport) 

Natal 

Rio de Janeiro 

(Galeao Int’l Airport)

Porto Alegre 

Rio de Janeiro 

(Galeao Int’l Airport) 

Recife 

(Rio de Janeiro 

(Galeao Int’l Airport)

Sao Luiz 

Rio de Janeiro 

(Galeao Int’l Airport) 

Salvador 

Rio de Janeiro 

(Galeao Int’l Airport)

Vitoria 

Sao Paulo 

(Guarulhos Airport) 

Belem 

Sao Paulo 

(Guarulhos Airport) 

Porto Seguro

Sao Paulo 

(Guarulhos Airport)

Brasilia 

Sao Paulo 

(Guarulhos Airport) 

Cuiaba 

Sao Paulo 

(Guarulhos Airport)

Campo Grande 

Sao Paulo 

(Guarulhos Airport) 

Belo Horizonte 

(Tancredo Neves International)

Sao Paulo 

(Guarulhos Airport)

Curitiba 

Sao Paulo 

(Guarulhos Airport) 

Florianopolis 

Sao Paulo 

(Guarulhos Airport)

Fortaleza 

Sao Paulo 

(Guarulhos Airport) 

Rio de Janeiro (Galeao Int’l 

Airport) 

Sao Paulo 

(Guarulhos Airport)

Goiania 

Sao Paulo 

(Guarulhos Airport) 

Iguassu Falls 

Sao Paulo 

(Guarulhos Airport) 

Joao Pessoa 

Sao Paulo 

(Guarulhos Airport) 

Manaus 

Sao Paulo 

(Guarulhos Airport) 

Maceio 

Sao Paulo 

(Guarulhos Airport) 

Natal 

Sao Paulo 

(Guarulhos Airport) 

Navegantes 

Sao Paulo 

(Guarulhos Airport) 

Porto Alegre 

Sao Paulo Recife 
(Guarulhos Airport) 

Sao Paulo 

(Guarulhos Airport) 

Salvador 

Sao Paulo 

(Guarulhos Airport) 

Vitoria 

Salvador Aracaju 

Salvador Porto Seguro

Salvador Brasilia 

Salvador Sao Paulo (Congonhas Airport)

Salvador Belo Horizonte 

(Tancredo Neves International)

Salvador Campinas 

Salvador Rio de Janeiro (Galeao Int’l 

Airport) 

Salvador Sao Paulo (Guarulhos Airport) 

Salvador Ilheus 

Salvador Maceio 

Salvador Natal 

Salvador Recife 

Recife Sao Paulo (Guarulhos Airport) 

Recife Natal 

Recife Petrolina 

Recife Salvador 
Appendix B 

U.S. Carrier Exemption Conditions 

In the conduct of the operations authorized, the U.S. carrier applicant(s) shall: 

(1) Hold at all times effective operating authority from the government of each country served; 

(2) Comply with applicable requirements concerning oversales contained in 14 CFR 250 (for scheduled 

operations, if authorized); 

(3) Comply with the requirements for reporting data contained in 14 CFR 241; 

(4) Comply with requirements for minimum insurance coverage, and for certifying that coverage to the 

Department, contained in 14 CFR 205; 

(5) Except as specifically exempted or otherwise provided for in a Department Order, comply with the 

requirements of 14 CFR 203, concerning waiver of Warsaw Convention liability limits and defenses; 

(6) Comply with all applicable requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration, the Transportation 

Security Administration, and with all applicable U.S. Government requirements concerning security, including, 

but not limited to, 49 CFR Part 1544. To assure compliance with all applicable U.S. Government requirements 

concerning security, the holder shall, before commencing any new service (including charter flights) to or from 

a foreign airport, contact its Principal Security Inspector (PSI) to advise the PSI of its plans and to find out 

whether the Transportation Security Administration has determined that security is adequate to allow such 

airport(s) to be served; 

(7) Comply with such other reasonable terms, conditions, and limitations required by the public interest as may 

be prescribed by the Department of Transportation, with all applicable orders and regulations of other U.S. 

agencies and courts, and with all applicable laws of the United States. 

The authority granted shall be effective only during the period when the holder is in compliance with the 

conditions imposed above. 

 

 

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