UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on June 6, 2012

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKET DOT-OST-2012-0084

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

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: US AIRWAYS, INC. (US Airways)1 and CROATIA AIRLINES

Date Filed: May 23, 2012, as supplemented May 31, 2012.

Relief requested: Exemption under 49 USC §40109 to permit Croatia Airlines to engage in foreign air transportation of persons, 

property, and mail to the extent necessary to display the designator code of US Airways and any other duly authorized U.S. air carrier 

on flights operated by Croatia Airlines within Croatia and between points in Croatia and points in third countries.

Blanket statement of authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 to permit US Airways to display Croatia Airlines’ “OU” designator code 

on flights operated by US Airways (1) between any points in the United States and any points in Croatia (either non-stop or via open 

skies third-country intermediate points); (2) between any points within the United States, in conjunction with services held out by 

Croatia Airlines between Croatia and the United States; and (3) between any points in the United States and any points in third 

countries.

Blanket statement of authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 to permit Croatia Airlines to display US Airways’ “US” designator code 

on flights operated by Croatia Airlines (1) between any points in the United States and any points in Croatia (either non-stop or via 

open skies third-country intermediate points); (2) between any points within Croatia, in conjunction with services held out by US 

Airways between the United States and Croatia; and (3) between any points in Croatia and any points in third countries.

The Joint Applicants further request a waiver of the 45-day advance filing requirement under 14 CFR Part 212.2

Applicant representatives: David Heffernan 202-663-6360 (Croatia Airlines) and Howard Kass 202-326-5153 (US Airways) 

DOT analyst: Brett D. Kruger 202-366-8025

Responsive pleadings: None.

DISPOSITION

Action: Approved in part(exemption authority to Croatia Airlines; statement of authorization for US Airways; and statement of 

authorization for Croatia Airlines to transport US Airways code-share traffic on flights operated by Croatia Airlines between points 

within Croatia and between points in Croatia and any points in third countries), subject to conditions,remainder (statement of 

authorization for Croatia Airlines to transport US Airways code-share traffic on flights operated by Croatia Airlines between the 

United States and Croatia) deferred. (See conditions and remarks below.)

 

Action date: June 6, 20123

Effective dates of authority granted: The exemption authority granted to Croatia Airlinesis effective June 6, 2012, through June 6, 

2014.

The statements of authorization granted to Croatia Airlines and US Airways are effective June 6, 2012, for an indefinite period. 

 1 US Airways states that it is also applying on behalf of its affiliated carriers Piedmont Airlines, Inc. (Piedmont) and PSA Airlines, 

Inc. (PSA).

2 The Joint Applicants filed a motion requesting confidential treatment of their unredacted Code Share Agreement under 14 CFR 

§301.12. We will grant the motion. 3 We acted on this application without awaiting expiration of the answer period with the consent of all parties served.
Basis for approval (bilateral agreement/reciprocity): U.S.-Croatia Air Transport Agreement.

Except to the extent exempted/waived, this authority is subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations of our standard exemption 

conditions attached as Appendix A and to the code-share conditions attached as Appendix B.

Special conditions/Remarks: We note that Croatia Airlines does not hold DOT authority to operate to/from the United States with its 

own aircraft and crews. Accordingly, we are deferring action on the portion of Croatia Airlines’ request for a statement of 

authorization to transport US Airways code-share passengers on flights operated by Croatia Airlines between the United States and 

Croatia until such time that Croatia has received the underlying DOT authority to engage in those U.S. services.

We also note that US Airways has conducted a safety audit of Croatia Airlines 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) the applicants are qualified to perform their proposed operations; (3) grant of the authority was consistent 

with the public interest; and (4) 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

Foreign Carrier Exemption Conditions

In the conduct of the operations authorized, the foreign carrier applicant(s) shall:

(1) Not conduct any operations unless it holds a currently effective authorization from its homeland for such 

operations, and it has filed a copy of such authorization with the Department;

(2) 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, 14 CFR Parts 129, 91, and 36 and 49 CFR Part 1546 or 1550, as applicable. To assure compliance with all 

applicable U.S. Government requirements concerning security, the holder shall, before commencing any new service 

(including charter flights) from a foreign airport that would be the holder’s last point of departure for the United States, 

contact its International Industry Representative (IIR) (formerly referred to as International Principal Security 

Inspector) to advise the IIR 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;

(3) Comply with the requirements for minimum insurance coverage contained in 14 CFR Part 205, and, prior to the 

commencement of any operations under this authority, file evidence of such coverage, in the form of a completed OST 

Form 6411, with the Federal Aviation Administration’s Program Management Branch (AFS-260), Flight Standards 

Service (any changes to, or termination of, insurance also shall be filed with that office);

(4) Not operate aircraft under this authority unless it complies with operational safety requirements at least equivalent 

to Annex 6 of the Chicago Convention;

(5) Conform to the airworthiness and airman competency requirements of its Government for international air 

services;

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

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

(7) Agree that operations under this authority constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity, for the purposes of 28 U.S.C. 

1605(a), but only with respect to those actions or proceedings instituted against it in any court or other tribunal in the 

United States that are: (a) based on its operations in international air transportation that, according to the contract of 

carriage, include a point in the United States as a point of origin, point of destination, or agreed stopping place, or for 

which the contract of carriage was purchased in the United States; or (b) based on a claim under any international 

agreement or treaty cognizable in any court or other tribunal of the United States. In this condition, the term 

"international air transportation" means "international transportation" as defined by the Warsaw Convention, except 

that all States shall be considered to be High Contracting Parties for the purpose of this definition;

(8) Except as specifically authorized by the Department, originate or terminate all flights to/from the United States in 

its homeland;

(9) Comply with the requirements of 14 CFR Part 217, concerning the reporting of scheduled, nonscheduled, and 

charter data;

(10) If charter operations are authorized, except as otherwise provided in the applicable aviation agreement, comply 

with the Department's rules governing charters (including 14 CFR Parts 212 and 380); and

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

prescribed by the Department, with all applicable orders or regulations of other U.S. agencies and courts, and with all 

applicable laws of the United States.

This authority shall not be effective during any period when the holder is not in compliance with the conditions 

imposed above. Moreover, this authority cannot be sold or otherwise transferred without explicit Department approval 

under Title 49 of the U.S. Code.

12/2007
Appendix B

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

(a) The statements of authorization will remain in effect only as long as (i) US Airways and Croatia Airlines 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) US Airways and/or Croatia Airlines, 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-2012-0084.

4

(c) US Airways and/or Croatia Airlines, 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-2012-0084.

5

(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 to operate to third countries is subject to the condition that any service provided under the statement 

of authorization shall be consistent with all applicable agreements between the United States and the foreign countries 

involved. Furthermore, (i) nothing in the award of this statement of authorization should be construed as conferring 

upon US Airways rights (including code-share, fifth freedom intermediate and/or beyond rights) to serve markets 

where U.S. carrier entry is limited unless US Airways notifies the Department of its intent to serve such a 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; and (ii) should there be a request by any carrier to use the limited-entry 

route rights that are included in the authority of US Airways by virtue of the statement of authorization granted here, 

but that are not then being used by US Airways, the holding of such authority will not be considered as providing any 

preference for US Airways in a competitive carrier selection proceeding to determine which carrier(s) should be 

entitled to use the authority at issue.6

(f) The authority granted here is specifically conditioned so that neither US Airways nor Croatia Airlines 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.

 4 See Appendix C for a list of initial code-share points. 5 We expect this notification to be received within ten (10) days after such non-effectiveness or of such decision. 6 The notice in paragraph (b) above can be used for this notification. 
Appendix C