U.S. Department of Transportation Office ofthe Secretary OfTransportation

March 23,2015 Ms. RebeccaB MacPherson Jones Day 51 LouisianaAve., N.W Washington, DC 20001 .. ' - •' -, ....., ] ':) '."".!

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Re: Docket DOT-OST-2014-0192 1200 NewJersey Ave., S.E. Washington, DC 20590

Motion of Menagerie Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a Monarch Air for Confidential Treatment ofDocuments DearMs. MacPherson: We are currently reviewing the application of Menagerie Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a Monarch Air ("Monarch") inDocketDOT-OST-2014-0192 for commuter authority. The purpose ofthis letter is to notify you ofour intended ruling on your request for confidential treatment ofdocuments filed in support ofthis application. OnJanuary 23, 2015, Monarch, filed a motion requesting that tli.e following material be withheld from public disclosure: 1. 2. 3. 4. Exhibit 1 Exhibit2 Exhibit 3 Exhibit4 Rise unaudited Financjal Statementas of 11/30/2014 FirstFinancial Bankletter confirmingtotal cashbalance at 1/2112015 Liberty Capital Bank letter confirmingtotal cashbalance at 1/21/2015 Liberty Capital Bankcommercial line ofcredit agreement and note In support ofyour request for confidential treatment ofthe specified documents, you state that the documents Monarch requests to withhold from public disclosure are (1) commercial or fmancial, {2) obtained from a person outside the government, and (3) privileged or confidential. Moreover, you state that disclosure would cause substantial harm to the competitive position of Monarch orthe individual from whom the information was obtained and serve no public interest ifreleased. Further, you contend that the information in exhibit 1 - 4 contain sensitive financial and commercial information that could be used by competitors to impede the applicant's plansto undertake the proposed air service. Lastly, you state that the information in the above exhibits is highly detailedand would nototherwise be made accessible topersons outsidethe company. Rule 12 instructs us to evaluate requests for confidential treatment in accordance with the standards ofdisclosure found in the Freedom ofInformation Act (5 U.S.C. section 552). By this2 standard, information may be withheld from disclosure ifit is "(1) commercial or fmancial, (2) obtained from a person outside the government, and (3) privileged or confidential." [Gulf& Western Industries, Inc. v. U.S., 615 F.2d 527, 529 (D.C. Cir. 1979).] The information sought to be withheld from disclosure clearly meets the first two requirements. The only question, therefore, is whether the information is privileged or confidential--whether "disclosure ofthe information is likely to have either ofthe following effects: (1) to impair the government's ability to obtain necessary information in the future; or (2) to cause substantial harm to the competitive position of the person from whom the information was obtained." [National Parks and ConservationAssociation v. Morton, 498 F.2d 765, 770 (D.C. Cir. 1974).] Furthermore, to be privileged or confidential, the information must not be ofthe type that is usually released to the public. [Gulf& Western Industries, Inc. v. U.S., supra, 615 F.2d at 530.] Absent extenuating circumstances, it is not the Department's practice to withhold from public disclosure information regarding an applicant's current or historical fmancial condition, pre-operating cost forecasts, proposed operating plans and related statistics, first-year operating cost forecasts, and forecast balance sheets reflecting these forecasts. When requested, however, the Department will generally grant confidential treatment to information pertaining to a company's forecast revenues (and related statistics). It is also our practice to grant confidential treatment to specific agreements between an applicant and vendors, potential customers, etc. Under the circumstances, our decision as to confidential treatment with respect to Monarch's application is as follows: 1. With respectto Exhibit 1-Riseunaudited Financial Statement as of 11/30/2014, we grant confidential treatment to the unaudited fmancial statements as of 11130/2014. The Department fmds that the information contained in this exhibit is not needed to make a fitness determination. 2. With respect to Exhibit 2 - First Financial Bank letter confirming total cash balance at 1121/2015, we have decided to deny confidential treatment. Exhibit 2 contains the fmancial informationnecessary to determine Monarch's fitness. 5. With respect to Exhibit 3- Liberty Capital Bank letter confirming total cash balance at 112112015, we have decided to partially grant confidential treatment. Specifically, we grantconfidentialityto the bank account numbermentioned in the letter. 3. With respect to Exhibit 4, commercial line ofcredit agreement from Liberty Capital, we have decided to partially grant confidential treatment. Specifically, we grant confidentiality to the Loan Number, Interest rate and scheduled payment changes and Line ofcreditterms. The Department fmds that this information contained in this exhibit is notneeded to make afitness determination. To the extentthat confidentialtreatment is not specifically granted above, it is denied.3 Under Rule 12, a Department ruling on motions for confidential treatment will not take effect if, within five (5) business days after issuance, the person requesting confidential treatment files a petition for reconsideration ofthat decision, or files a statement that he or she in good faith intends to seekjudicialreview ofthe decision. IfMonarchelects to petitionthe Department as to this confidentiality determination, we expect that it will provide a statement explaining how the item falls within the exceptions under the Freedom of Information Act and is not otherwise required to be filed publicly by all applicants for commuter authority. Responses shall be due within five calendardays ofthe filing ofsuch apetition. IfMonarch elects not to file apetition, we directthat it file the exhibits noted above in the public docket in this proceeding within five business days ofthe date ofthis letter. In the meantime, as is the Department's practice, further processing of your application will be deferred pending receiptofthis material. Thankyou for your cooperation in**~is** matter. Ifyou have any questions regarding this letter, please feel free to contact me or ShabuThomas of my staffat (202) 366-9721. Sincerely,

awr . emo Chie , AirCarrierFitness Division Office ofAviationAnalysis

cc: DocketDOT-OST-2014-0192

Mr. Cameron Baker , FAA POI for Menagerie Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a Monarch Air FAA