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, property 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 aircraft, that includes services to Jamaica for the purpose of carrying 

local traffic between Jamaica and the United States; 

(c) scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail between the coterminal points Barbados, 

Grenada, and St. Lucia, on the one hand, and the terminal 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 below1

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 request, for a one-year term, to provide the following operations: 

(a) scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property 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 aircraft, 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, property 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 provide adequate evidence to support its request; that CAL does not hold 

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 the 

scope of operations CAL proposes involves a significant increase in the size and complexity of its operations, warranting careful 

examination by the Department and the FAA. 
While we note that the seventh-freedom authority we are granting 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 carrier which holds operations specifications from the Federal 

Aviation Administration which include Jamaica and Grenada. We have previously found 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 carrier. 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 not currently serving either point, and CAL has not demonstrated 

that there is an immediate public need for these services in the circumstances 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 that 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 subject to the terms, conditions, and 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 regulations, 14 CFR Part 385, we found that (1) our action was 

consistent with Department policy; (2) grant of the authority was consistent with the public interest; and (3) 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 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

 

2

 We note that by letter dated July 14, 2010 (and affirmed December 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 of 

Jamaica was divesting its majority ownership interest in the carrier. Air Jamaica identified CAL as the entity assuming majority 

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 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