U.S. Department Assistant Secretary 

of Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

Ms. Carol Powell 

P.O. Box 3893/656 Tumbleweed Circle 

Incline Village, NV 89450-3893 

Dear Ms. Powell: 

APR 1 2 2010 

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.. :,'ii/\j:L};· 1200 r~ev.'JerseyA'''''EP1Ll'';. SE 

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On behalf of the U.S. Department of Transportation, I am writing to respond to your concerns 

about labor issues in the American Airlines/ British Airways/ Iberia alliance, which you shared in 

a letter to Senator Harry Reid. 

American, British Airways, Iberia, and other members of the "oneworld" alliance applied for a 

grant of antitrust immunity from the Department in August 2008. The Department's review of 

such a request is part of a public proceeding in which interested parties have the opportunity to 

comment. The Department carefully considers all requests for antitrust immunity, beginning with 

a review of the record to assess whether there is sufficient infonnation to make a reasoned 

decision that satisfies all statutory requirements. Decisions regarding requests for antitrust 

immunity are made after consultation with the Department of Justice, and are based upon statutory 

standards that include antitrust principles. 

As you may be aware, we recently issued a show-cause order that proposes to grant the antitrust 

immunity requested by the oneworld carriers, subject to conditions designed to preserve 

competition. The order is available at http://www.regulations.gov. You can access the order by 

entering Harder 201 0-2-8" into the keyword search engine. I assure you that the Department gave 

fuJI and fair consideration to the application, as well as all comments in the docket. 

As is our nonllal practice, I am placing a copy of your letter and this response in Docket OST2008-0252 as a contact outside the record in this matter. I appreciate your interest in this 

proceeding. 

cc: Senator Harry Reid . 

, , 0 lM!], 

\.4tYSusan L. Kurland 

()Assistant Secretary for 

A vlation and International Affairs 
iawrmsg.txt capitol Correspond Incoming Email Message 

constituent ID: 1484608 

Mr. carol Powell 

post office BOX 3893/ 656 Tumbleweed 

Incline village, NV 89450-3893 

Email: cpowell@nvbell.net 

phone(s): (H) (775)831-0348 

Activity created: 10/11/2009 

File Location: 1932240 

Interest Code(s): TRAN 

Incoming Message: 

RSP: Yes. 

Date Received: 10/11/2009 12:09:58 PM 

Topic/subject Desc: TRAN 

carol powell P.O. Box 3893/ 656 Tumbleweed cir. 

Incline village, NV 89450-3893 

october 11, 2009 

The Honorable Harry Reid 

united States Senate 

522 Hart Senate Office Building washington, DC 20510-2803 

Dear Senator Reid: 

I :)(1-091207-004 

I am a const~tuent and.a pilo~ for Amer1fan Air1ines, ~nd a~ wrltln9 to. 

urge you to lntervene ln Amerlcan Airl1ne~antltrust lmmunlty appllcatlon with the Department of Transportation. I fear that the DOT is about to 

rule on the application without due consideration of the detrimental 

consequences it could have. 

The proposed expanded international alliance among American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia and others is a virtual merger in disguise. This 

merger would adversely affect Americans in the following ways: 

There would be a high likelihood of American job outsourcing to foreign airlines. There would be a decreased level of national security due to 

increased foreign control of and influence on American Airlines. There 

would be reduced competition, resulting in higher air fares and reduced 

service. 

My concerns are not the result of conjecture, and they are not 

speculative. Every international airllne alliance has cost u.S. airline 

worker jobs, resulted in less commercial air service and increased air 

fares for passengers. I am truly in fear for the future of my career. 

please take the time to call or contact president obama's staff and urge his administration to take a stand on u.S. airlines outsourcing labor and 

Page 1 
t XI-091207-004 

iawrmsg.txt have DOT secretary Ray LaHood delay ruling until a comprehensive aviation 

policy is developed by the administration. 

Thank you for your intervention on this matter. 

Sincerely, 

carol powell 775-831-0348 

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