- 1

- Alexander Van der Bellen

Managing Director and

Associate General Counsel

Delta Air Lines, Inc.

1212 New York Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20005

202.842.4184

s ascha.vanderbellen@ delta .com

October 2 , 2013

Todd Homan

Director, Office of Aviation Analysis

U.S. Department of Transportation

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.

Washington, D.C. 20590

Re: National Airlines, DOT Docket OST

- 2012

- 0204

Delta respectfully submits this letter to bring to the Department’s attention supplemental

authority which supports Delta’s objections to National Airlines ’ (“National”) certificate

application. As Delta detailed in its objections of Septe mber 5, 2013, National would use its

scheduled international passenger certificate to create a subterfuge for Emirates, a foreign air

c arrier, to obtain GSA city

- pair contracts that Emirates is prohibited from bidding on under the

Fly America Act. National is doing little more than renting its U.S. carrier code to Emirates,

which would operate all of the long haul service between the U.S. and Dubai

.

In closely analogous circumstances, the Department denied certificate authority to Trans

Internat ional Express (TIE) which sought DOT economic authority for the purposes of entering

into U.S. Postal Service contracts by placing its code on foreign air carriers. See Order 2000

- 9

-

20 at 4

- 5. Like TIE, National does not have intercontinental range passe nger aircraft capable of

operating the 7,000 mile stage lengths between Dubai and the seven U.S. gateways proposed

in its city

- pair bid. The Department stated that “we do not find that it in the public interest to

permit TIE to hold out service as a direc t air carrier that it is not capable o providing in its own

right. To offer such service could violate the requirements of 49 U.S.C. 41712, which prohibits

unfair methods of competition and unfair and deceptive trade practices on the part of air carriers

and foreign air carriers.” Id

.

The Department further expressed its concerns “about the public interest ramifications of

carriers using our licensing process to compete in a potentially unfair manner for Postal Service

subsidies. Thus, we are also sensi tive to the arguments made by the objecting air carriers that

TIE merely wants to ‘rent its code to foreign air carriers’ in order to give those foreign air carriers

preferential treatment that is reserved for properly authorized U.S. air carriers.” Id. This is

exactly what National is doing with Emirates.

Accordingly, consistent with DOT precedent , Delta urges that National’s certificate application

be denied.October 2 , 2013

Page 2

Sincerely,

Alexander Van der Bellen

Attachment

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