UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on August 12, 2014

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN – DOCKET DOT-OST-2014-0124 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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: SHANGHAI AIRLINES CO., LTD. (Shanghai Airlines) and DELTA AIR LINES, INC. (Delta)

Date Filed: July 18, 2014 

Relief requested: 

A. Exemption for two years under 49 USC §40109 to permit Delta to engage in scheduled foreign air transportation of 

persons, property, and mail, on a code-share only basis with Shanghai Airlines, between points in China and behind, 

intermediate, and beyond points in third countries.

B. Blanket statement of authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 to permit the display of Delta’s DL* designator code on 

flights operated by Shanghai Airlines within China, and to behind, intermediate, and beyond points in third countries.

The Joint Applicants further request a waiver of the 45-day advance filing requirement under 14 CFR Part 212.

Applicant representatives: Evelyn D. Sahr and Beth A. FitzPatrick, 202-659-6622 (Shanghai Airlines), & Alexander Van 

der Bellen and Christopher Walker, 202-842-4184 (Delta)

DOT analyst: David R. Christofano, 202-366-0584

Responsive pleadings: None

DISPOSITION

Action: Approved, subject to conditions Action date: August 12, 2014

Effective dates of authority granted: The exemption authority granted to Delta is effective from August 12, 2014, through

August 12, 2016. 

The statement of authorization granted to Shanghai Airlines is effective August 12, 2014, and will remain in effect for an 

indefinite duration, subject to conditions. 

Our action granting the joint applicants’ request for waiver of the 45-day advance filing requirement under 14 CFR Part 

212 is effective August 12, 2014.

Basis for approval (bilateral agreement/reciprocity): The Air Transport Agreement between the United States and the 

People’s Republic of China.

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

U.S. carrier exemption conditions attached as Appendix A and code-share conditions attached as Appendix B.

Special conditions/Remarks: We note that Delta has conducted a safety audit of Shanghai 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.
The exemption authority granted to Delta is limited to operations conducted only through a code-share arrangement with 

Shanghai Airlines, only on flights operated by Shanghai Airlines.

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 were 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, we denied all requests in the referenced Dockets. 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

U.S. Carrier Exemption Conditions

In the conduct of the operations authorized, the U.S. carrier applicant(s) shall:

(1) Hold at all times effective operating authority from the government of each country served;

(2) Comply with applicable requirements concerning oversales contained in 14 CFR 250 (for scheduled operations, if 

authorized);

(3) Comply with the requirements for reporting data contained in 14 CFR 241;

(4) Comply with requirements for minimum insurance coverage, and for certifying that coverage to the Department, 

contained in 14 CFR 205;

(5) Except as specifically exempted or otherwise provided for in a Department Order, comply with the requirements of 14 

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

(6) 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, 49 CFR Part 1544. To assure compliance with all applicable U.S. Government requirements concerning security, 

the holder shall, before commencing any new service (including charter flights) to or from a foreign airport, contact its 

Principal Security Inspector (PSI) to advise the PSI 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;

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

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

courts, and with all applicable laws of the United States.

The authority granted shall be effective only during the period when the holder is in compliance with the conditions 

imposed above.

 

1/2008
Appendix B

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) Shanghai Airlines and Delta 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) Shanghai Airlines and Delta must promptly notify the Department (Office of International Aviation) 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 notices should be filed in Docket DOT-OST-2014-0124.

1

(c) Shanghai Airlines and Delta 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 

notices should be filed in Docket DOT-OST-2014-0124.

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) Any service provided shall be consistent with all applicable agreements between the United States and the foreign 

countries involved. Furthermore, (i) nothing in the award of the blanket statement of authorization should be construed 

as conferring upon Delta rights (including code-share, fifth-freedom intermediate and/or beyond rights) to serve 

markets where U.S. carrier rights are limited unless Delta notifies us 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;3 and (ii) should there be a request by any carrier to use the limited-entry route rights 

that are included in the authority of Delta by virtue of the blanket statement of authorization granted here, but that are 

not being used by Delta, the holding of such authority will not be considered as providing any preference for Delta in a 

carrier selection proceeding to determine which carrier(s) should be entitled to use the authority at issue.

(f) The authority granted here is specifically conditioned so that neither Shanghai Airlines nor Delta 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.

 1 We expect this notification to be received within 10 days of such non-effectiveness or of such decision. 2 See Appendix C for a list of initial code-share points. Shanghai Airlines and Delta state that they will notify the Department no later 

than 30 days before commencing any code-share services to new points. 3 The notice referenced in condition (c) above may be used for this notification.
Appendix C

Initial Code-Share Points

Shanghai (PVG) -- Beijing (PEK) 

Shanghai (PVG) -- Guangzbou (CAN) 

Shanghai (PVG) -- Fuzhou (FOC) 

Shanghai (PVG) -- Shenyang (SHE) 

Shanghai (PVG) -- Cheogdu (CTU) 

Shanghai (PVG) -- Qingdao (TAO) 

Shanghai (PVG) -- Dalian (DLC) 

Shanghai (PVG) -- Xiamen (XMN) 

Shanghai (PVG) -- Kunming (KMG) 

Shanghai (PVG) -- Xianyang (XJY) 

Shanghai (PVG) -- Nanjing (NKO) 

Shanghai (PVG) -- Chongqing (CKG) 

Shanghai (PVG) -- Wenzhou (WNZ) 

Shanghai (PVG) -- Cbangchun (CGQ) 

Shanghai (PVG) -- Harbin (1 lRB) 

Shanghai (PVG) -- Shenzhen (SZX) 

Shanghai (PVG) -- Zhengzhou (CGO) 

Shanghai (PVG) -- Nanchang (KHN) 

Shanghai (PVG) -- Hefei (HFF:) 

Shanghai (PYG) -- Changsha (CSX) 

Shanghai (PVG) -- Haikou (HAK) 

Shanghai (PVG) --Wuhan (WUH) 

Shanghai (PVG) - Guilin (KWL) 

Shanghai (PVG) -- Shijiazhuang (SJW) 

Shanghai (PVG) - Saoya (SYX) 

Shanghai (PVG) -- Jinan (TNA) 

Shanghai (PVG) -- Xining (XNN) 

Beijing (PEK) -- Hefei (l-IFE) 

Beijing (PEK) -- Hangzhou (HGH) 

Beijing (PEK) -- Yinchuan (INC) 

Beijing (PEK) -- Nanchang (KHN) 

Beijing (PEK) -- Kunn1ing (KMG) 

Beijing (PEK) -- Lanzhou (LHW) 

Beijing (PEK) -- Luoyang (L Y A) 

Beijing (PEK) -- 1\ingbo (NOB) 

Beijing (PEK) -- Nanjing (NKG) 

Beijing (PEK) -- Hongqiao (STJA) 

Beijing (PEK) -- Qingdao (TAO) 

Beijing (PEK) -- Talyuan (TYN) 

Beijing (PEK) -- Wenzhou (WNZ) 

Beijing (PEK) -- Wuhan (WUH) 

Beijing (PEK) -- Xianyang (XIY) 

Beijing (PEK) -- Xining (XNN) 

Beijing (PEK) -- Yantai (YNT)