BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

__________________________________________

Joint Application of ) 

) 

AEROVIAS DE MEXICO, S.A. DE C.V. ) 

DELTA AIR LINES, INC. ) Dockets OST-1997-3289

COMPASS AIRLINES, LLC ) OST-2000-7708

) OST-2014-_____

for exemptions under 49 U.S.C. § 40109 and ) 

statements of authorization under 14 C.F.R. ) 

Part 212 (Los Angeles-Monterrey) )

__________________________________________)

JOINT APPLICATION OF AEROVIAS DE MEXICO,

S.A. DE C.V., DELTA AIR LINES, INC.,

AND COMPASS AIRLINES, LLC

Communications with respect to this document should be sent to:

John R. Mietus, Jr. Alexander Van der Bellen

Law Office of John Mietus, LLC Managing Director, Regulatory and Int’l

6701 Democracy Blvd., Suite 300 Affairs & Associate General Counsel

Bethesda, MD 20817-7500 Christopher Walker

(202) 747-5212 Regional Director, Regulatory and Int’l

john@mietuslaw.com Affairs

Counsel for AEROVIAS DE MEXICO, DELTA AIR LINES, INC.

S.A. DE C.V. 1212 New York Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20005

Lisa A. Harig (202) 842-4184

McBreen & Kopko sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com

1501 Lee Highway, Suite 180 chris.walker@delta.com

Arlington, VA 22209

(703) 247-5487

lharig@mklawdc.com

Counsel for COMPASS AIRLINES, LLC

NOTICE: Any person may support or oppose this application by filing an 

answer and serving a copy of the answer on counsel for the Joint 

Applicants and upon persons served with this application no 

later than March 25, 2014.

March 10, 2014
BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

__________________________________________

Joint Application of ) 

) 

AEROVIAS de MEXICO, S.A. de C.V. ) 

DELTA AIR LINES, INC. ) Dockets OST-1997-3289

COMPASS AIRLINES, LLC ) OST-2000-7708

) OST-2014-_____

for exemptions under 49 U.S.C. § 40109 and ) 

statements of authorization under 14 C.F.R. ) 

Part 212 (Los Angeles-Monterrey) )

__________________________________________)

JOINT APPLICATION OF AEROVIAS DE MEXICO,

S.A. DE C.V., DELTA AIR LINES, INC.,

AND COMPASS AIRLINES, LLC

Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109 and Subpart C of the Department’s 

Rules of Practice, Delta Air Lines, Inc. (“Delta”) and Compass Airlines, LLC

(“Compass”) (together, the “Joint Applicants”) hereby apply for exemptions 

from 49 U.S.C. § 41101 authorizing each to engage in scheduled foreign air 

transportation of persons, property, and mail between Los Angeles, 

California and Monterrey, Mexico. The Joint Applicants also apply for 

statements of authorization to carry the “AM” code of Aerovias de Mexico, 

S.A. de C.V. (“Aeromexico”) on their flights. Delta intends to operate a B737-

800 equipped with 16 first class, 18 economy comfort class, and 126 economy 

class seats; Compass intends to operate Embraer 175 aircraft with 12 first 

class, 12 economy comfort class, and 52 economy class seats. The Joint 

Applicants intend to operate year-round service beginning on or about 
- 2 - Aeromexico, Delta, and Compass

Joint Code-Sharing Application

October 1, 2014 and request that the requested authority be granted as soon 

as possible. In support of this Joint Application, Delta and Compass state as 

follows: 

1. The Joint Applicants request the issuance of the following 

authorities: 

a) an exemption to Delta, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109, 

authorizing Delta to engage in scheduled foreign air 

transportation of persons, property and mail on the Los AngelesMonterrey route; 

b) an exemption to Compass authorizing it to engage in scheduled 

foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail on the 

Los Angeles-Monterrey route;

c) a statement of authorization to Delta, pursuant to 14 C.F.R. 

Part 212, to permit Delta to display Aeromexico’s “AM” 

designator code on flights operated by Delta on the Los AngelesMonterrey route. 

c) a statement of authorization to Compass to permit it to display 

Aeromexico’s “AM” designator code on flights operated by 

Compass on the Los Angeles-Monterrey route. 

2. The proposed service will provide significant benefits to travelers 

and shippers and is clearly in the public interest. The requested exemption 

authority is fully consistent with the terms of the U.S.-Mexico Air Transport 

Agreement (“Agreement”) as most recently amended on December 12, 2005. 

Route 1(a) of the Agreement authorizes carriers designated by the U.S. to 

operate “[f]rom a point or points in the United States to a point or points in 

Mexico.” Annex I(A)(1)(a). Three U.S. carrier designations are authorized for 

this market, and all three designations are available. Agreement Annex
- 3 - Aeromexico, Delta, and Compass

Joint Code-Sharing Application

I(B)(4-5). The Joint Applicants request that the Department promptly notify 

the Government of Mexico of their designations on this route. 

3. Aeromexico is a flag carrier of the United Mexican States and holds 

a foreign air carrier permit which authorizes service between Mexico and 

numerous U.S. points. Order 91-5-25. Pursuant to its permit and various 

exemption authorities, Aeromexico provides extensive service between 

Mexico and the United States. Aeromexico currently holds exemption 

authority in the Los Angeles-Monterrey market by Notice of Action Taken 

dated October 22, 2013 in Docket OST-2013-0182.

4. Delta and Compass each hold various certificates of public 

convenience and necessity and exemptions authorizing them to engage in 

scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail, including 

between the United States and Mexico. See, e.g., Delta’s Certificate for Route 

901, issued by Order 2010-3-12, and Compass’s exemption issued by Notice of 

Action Taken dated April 16, 2013 in Docket OST-2013-0063. Pursuant to 

Rule 24 of the Department’s Rules of Practice, Delta and Compass ask the 

Department to take official notice of all data on file with the Department 

necessary to establish their continuing fitness.
- 4 - Aeromexico, Delta, and Compass

Joint Code-Sharing Application

5. Delta, Compass, and Aeromexico plan to introduce the proposed 

codeshare services upon receipt of all necessary DOT and Mexico DGAC 

approvals, and request that the exemptions and statements of authorization 

be granted as soon as possible so that Delta and Aeromexico can market 

these services without delay.1 The Joint Applicants request that the 

Department grant the requested exemptions for a period of at least two years 

and the statements of authorization for an indefinite duration.

6. The proposed codeshare services will be operated pursuant to the 

existing Delta/Aeromexico codeshare agreement previously approved by the 

Department. 

7. Approval of the requested codeshare authorities is in the public 

interest and will provide important additional service and competitive 

options to U.S. – Mexico travelers and shippers. Authorizing Aeromexico to 

display its code on this additional Delta route will enhance competition and 

expand price and service options for U.S. – Mexico travelers.

 

1/ To the extent necessary, the Joint Applicants request a waiver of the 45-day advance 

filing requirement for codeshare statements of authorization under 14 C.F.R. Part 

212. In the event that the exemption requests are ripe for action before DOT has 

received the codeshare letter for Aeromexico from Mexico DGAC, Delta and Compass 

request that their exemptions be approved and action deferred on the Aeromexico 

portion of this application. 
- 5 - Aeromexico, Delta, and Compass

Joint Code-Sharing Application

8. Approval of the codeshare exemptions and statements of 

authorization also is consistent with the U.S. – Mexico Agreement. The 

Department has granted multiple similar U.S. – Mexico transborder 

codesharing requests, finding that the exercise of such codeshare rights “will 

benefit travelers, shippers, businesses, cities, airlines, and airports.” DOT 

Order 99-6-6 at 6. The Mexican government will notify the U.S. government 

of Aeromexico’s authority to codeshare on the Joint Applicants’ services on 

this route.

9. The Joint Applicants will conduct these codeshare services in 

accordance with 14 C.F.R. Part 257 and the other conditions normally 

imposed by the Department on codesharing statements of authorization. 

10. Delta affirms that its operation of these routes will have no impact 

on Delta’s Civil Reserve Air Fleet (“CRAF”) commitment. 

11. The environmental impacts of the proposed services are de 

minimis, and the Joint Applicants do not anticipate that the proposed 

services will cause a near-term net annual change in aircraft fuel 

consumption of 10 million gallons or more.
- 6 - Aeromexico, Delta, and Compass

Joint Code-Sharing Application

WHEREFORE, Delta Air Lines, Inc. and Compass Airlines, LLC 

request issuance of exemption authorities to engage in scheduled foreign air 

transportation of persons, property, and mail on the Los Angeles-Monterrey

route, statements of authorization to display the code of Aerovias de Mexico, 

S.A. de C.V. on those flights, and such other and different relief as may be 

necessary or proper.

Respectfully submitted,

John R. Mietus, Jr. Alexander Van der Bellen

Law Office of John Mietus, LLC Managing Director, Regulatory and Int’l

6701 Democracy Blvd., Suite 300 Affairs & Associate General Counsel

Bethesda, MD 20817-7500 Christopher Walker

(202) 747-5212 Regional Director, Regulatory and Int’l

john@mietuslaw.com Affairs

Counsel for AEROVIAS DE MEXICO, DELTA AIR LINES, INC.

S.A. DE C.V. 1212 New York Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20005

(202) 842-4184

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com

chris.walker@delta.com

Lisa A. Harig

McBreen & Kopko

1501 Lee Highway, Suite 180

Arlington, VA 22209

(703) 247-5487

lharig@mklawdc.com

Counsel for COMPASS AIRLINES, LLC

March 10, 2014
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that I have, this 10th day of March, 2014 caused a copy 

of the foregoing Joint Application to be served by electronic mail on the 

following persons:

robert.wirick, francis.heil@aa.com

lhalloway@crowell.com for United

dan.weiss, steve.morrissey@united.com

howard.kass, benjamin.slocum@usairways.com

nssparks, gbleopard@fedex.com

jrichardson@johnlrichardson.com + jcanny@amerijet.com

anita.mosner, jennifer.nowak@hklaw.com for UPS

jhill@cooley.com for Hawaiian and JetBlue

robert.land@jetblue.com

thomas.ting@suncountry.com

bob.kneisley, leslie.abbott@wnco.com for Southwest and AirTran

robert.cohn, patrick.rizzi@hoganlovells.com for Frontier/Republic

jyoung, dkirstein@yklaw.com for Spirit

msinick@ssd.com for Alaska

agoerlich@ggh-airlaw.com for Ryan Int'l

barbara.russell@virginamerica.com

urskr@state.gov

john.s.duncan@faa.gov

_____________________________

John R. Mietus, Jr.

4821-2159-3876, v. 1