UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on February 10, 2011



### NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKET OST-2010-0232

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _ 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).

Applicant: Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) , a foreign air carrier of Trinidad & Tobago

Date Filed: September 14, 2010 , as amended September 22, 2010

Relief requested: Exemption under 49 U.S.C. § 40109 to permit the applicant to engage in:

(a) scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, pr operty and mail from points behind Jamaica, via Jamaica and intermediate points, to a point or point in the United States and beyond; (b) charter foreign air transportation of persons, property a nd mail between any point or points in the United States and any foreign point or points, provided that, except with r espect to cargo charters, such service constitutes part of a continuous operation, with or without a change of aircraft, that includes servi ces to Jamaica for the purpose of carrying local traffic between Jamaica and the United States; (c) scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, pr operty and mail between the coterminal points Barbados, Grenada, and St. Lucia, on the one hand, and the termin al point New York, New York on the other hand; and (d) scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail between Barbados and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Applicant representative: John R. Mietus, Jr., 202-747- 5212 DOT Analyst: George Wellington, 202-366-2391

Responsive pleadings: See below 1

DISPOSITION

Action: Approved with respect to the proposed operations set forth in (a) and (b) above, and the proposed scheduled operations between Grenada and New York; remainder dismissed.

Action date: February 10, 2011

Effective dates of authority granted: February 10, 2011 – February 10, 2012

Basis for approval: We have decided to grant CAL’s requ est, for a one-year term, to provide the following operations:

(a) scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, pr operty and mail from points behind Jamaica, via Jamaica and intermediate points, to a point or point in the United States and beyond; (b) charter foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail between any point or points in the United States and any foreign point or points, provided that, except with respect to cargo charters, such service constitutes part of a continuous operation, with or without a change of ai rcraft, that includes services to Jamaica for the purpose of carrying local traffic between Jamaica and the United States; and (c) scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, pr operty and mail between Grenada and New York, New York.

1 On October 1, 2010, as supplemented February 3, 2011, Mr . John P.T. Gilmore filed an answer in opposition to CAL’s application. Mr. Gilmore asserts that CAL has failed to provid e adequate evidence to support its request; that CAL does not ho ld the requisite designations from the Governments of Jamaica, Barbados, Grenada, or St. Lucia to be eligible for the requested authority; that CAL does not meet the ownership and control standards to be considered a carrier of those countries; and that t he scope of operations CAL proposes involv es a significant increase in the size and co mplexity of its oper ations, warranting care ful examination by the Department and the FAA.While we note that the seventh-freedom authority we are gr anting here is extrabilateral for a foreign air carrier of Trinidad & Tobago, we have determined that approval of this authority is consistent with the public interest in the circumstances presented and on the specific record of this case. As noted in the record, Air Jamaica intends to cease services in the near future, and the Government of Jamaica has, under a Transitional Services Agreement, transferred

Air Jamaica’s routes to CAL in order to facilitate a smooth transition of air services from Air Jamaica to CAL. 2

We find that CAL’s proposal to serve the United States from Jamaica and from New York to Grenada (currently operated by Air Jamaica) will facilitate a seamless transition from Air Jamaica to CAL of the former carrier’s services, and will minimize disruption to the travel plans of passengers and shippers.

We further note that CAL is an established foreign air ca rrier which holds operations specifications from the Federal

Aviation Administration which include Jamaica and Grenada. We have previously fo und CAL qualified to conduct scheduled and charter foreign air transportation, 3 and note that the authority we are granting here is not markedly different in scope from that we have already granted the ca rrier. Finally, we note that the United States has open-skies aviation agreements with both Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago which are evidence of the positive, liberalized state of

aviation relations between our countries.

With respect to CAL’s request to serve Barbados and St. Lucia, we cannot make the public interest findings necessary to grant this extrabilateral authority. Air Jamaica is no t currently serving either point, and CAL has not demonstrated that there is an immediate public need for these services in the ci rcumstances presented. We will thus dismiss its request to serve these points from the United States.

As a final matter, for the reasons discussed above, we find th at the assertions made by Mr. Gilmore in his answer to the application do not persuade us to reach a different result here.

Except to the extent exempted/waived, this authority is subj ect to the terms, conditions, a nd limitations of our standard exemption conditions (attached).

Action taken by: Paul L. Gretch, Director

Office of International Aviation

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Under authority assigned by the Department in its regula tions, 14 CFR Part 385, we found that (1) our action was consistent with Department policy; (2) grant of the authorit y was consistent with the public interest; and (3) grant of the authority would not constitute a major regulatory acti on under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975. To the extent not granted/deferred/dismissed, we denied a ll 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 th eir 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 revi ew will not alter such effectiveness.

An electronic version of this document is available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.regulations.gov

2 We note that by letter dated July 14, 2010 (and affirmed Dece mber 29, 2010), the Department granted Air Jamaica a waiver of our ownership and control standard in order to permit the carrier to continue to conduct U.S. operations while the Government o f Jamaica was divesting its majority ownershi p interest in the carrier. Air Jamaica identified CAL as the entity assuming majori ty ownership of Air Jamaica.

3 See Notice of Action Taken, dated February 25, 2010, in Docket DOT-OST-2006-26586.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 aut horization from its homeland for such operations, and it has filed a copy of su ch authorization with the Department;

(2) Comply with all applicable requirements of the Fe deral Aviation Administration, the Transportation Security Administration, and with all applicable U.S. Govern ment requirements concerning security, including, but not limited to, 14 CFR Parts 129, 91, and 36 and 49 CFR Pa rt 1546 or 1550, as applicable. To assure compliance with all applicable U.S. Government requirements concerni ng 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 Representativ e (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 Administra tion’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 provi ded 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 s overeign 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 opera tions 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 c ourt or other tribunal of the United States. In this condition, the term "international air transportation" mean s "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 terminat e 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 otherwi se provided in the applicable aviation agreement, comply with the Department's rule s 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 wh en 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.

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