UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on January 11, 2011

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKET DOT-OST-2010-0092

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

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 Applicants: CONTINENTAL AIRLINES, INC. (Continental) and 

TRANSPORTES AEROMAR, S.A. de C.V.(Aeromar) 

Date Filed: April 9, 2010

Relief requested: Exemption under 49 USC §40109 to permit Aeromar to conduct scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, 

property and mail between Houston and New York/Newark, on the one hand, and Mexico City, on the other hand, on a code-share 

basis with Continental and ExpressJet Airlines, Inc. 

A blanket statement of authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 to permit Aeromar to display the (CO*) designator code of Continental 

on flights operated by Aeromar within Mexico beyond Continental’s authorized Mexican gateways for the carriage of Continental’s 

authorized U.S.-Mexico traffic.1

A statement of authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 to permit Continental to display the (VW*) designator code of Aeromar on 

flights operated by Continental between Houston and New York/Newark, on the one hand, and Mexico City, on the other hand.

Applicant representatives: Lorraine B. Halloway 202-624-2500 (Continental) & DOT analyst: Brett D. Kruger, 202-366-8025

Herbert A. Rosenthal 202-785-9773 (Aeromar)

Responsive pleadings: None.

DISPOSITION

Action: Approved in part(statement of authorization for Aeromar), subject to conditions;remainder (exemption authority for 

Aeromar and statement of authorization for Continental) deferred (See conditions and remarks below).

 

Action date: January 11, 2011

Effective dates of authority granted: The statement of authorization granted to Aeromar is effective January 11, 2011, for an indefinite 

period. 

Basis for approval (bilateral agreement/reciprocity): United States-Mexico Air Transport Services Agreement.

Except to the extent exempted/waived, this authority is subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations of the code-share conditions 

attached as Appendix A.

Special conditions/Remarks: We note that we have not yet received notification from the Government of Mexico that it has 

authorized Aeromar to conduct code-share services in the transborder markets listed above. Accordingly, we are deferring action on 

Aeromar’s request for an exemption and Continental’s request for a statement of authorization.

 1 See Appendix B for a list of initial code-share points.
We also note that Continental has conducted a safety audit of Aeromar under the Department’s Code-Share Safety Audit Program, 

and the FAA has advised us that it has reviewed the relevant audit report and found it to be acceptable.

Action taken by: Paul L. Gretch, Director, Office of International Aviation

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

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/deferred/dismissed, 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
Appendix A

The code-share operations authorized here are subject to the following conditions:

(a) The statement of authorization will remain in effect only as long as (i) Continental and Aeromar 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) Continental and/or Aeromar, as appropriate, 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 notice should be filed in Docket DOT-OST-2010-0092.

(c) Continental and/or Aeromar, as appropriate, must promptly notify the Department 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 notice should be filed in Docket DOT-OST-2010-0092.

2

(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) The authority granted here is specifically conditioned so that neither Continental nor Aeromar shall give any force 

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

We may amend, modify, or revoke the authority granted at any time without hearing at our discretion.

 2 We expect this notification to be received within ten (10) days after such non-effectiveness or of such decision.
Appendix B

INITIAL CODE-SHARE POINTS

CO* on Aeromar Intra-Mexico Flights (all operated by Aeromar with small aircraft)

Mexico City -Acapulco

-Aguascalientes

-Colima

-Ciudad Victoria

-Jalapa

-Lazaro Cardenas

-Morelia

-Poza Rica

-San Luis Potosi

-Saltillo

-Tepic

-Zacatecas

-Manzanillo