Order 2011-11-19

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on the day of 15 th of September, 2011

Served: November 16, 2011

In the Matter of Consolidated International Route Authority for:

American Eagle Airlines, Inc.

under a certificate of public convenience and necessity pursuant to 49 USC 41101 Docket DOT-OST-2005-22228

ORDER ISSUING CERTIFICATES

Summary

By this order we grant American Eagle Airlines , Inc. (referred to as American Eagle or the captioned air carrier) consolidated certificate authority to prov ide combination service in U.S.-Mexico city-pair markets fo r which American Eagle holds economic authority by exemption.

Background and Consolidation Request

In furtherance of the Department’s regulatory str eamlining initiative for licensing U.S. air carriers, we announced by Notice on February 13, 2009 (Febru ary Notice) our inten tion to realign the existing non-open-skies economic authority held by carriers already holding a blanket open-skies

certificate into new consolidated certifi cates of public convenience and necessity. 1 We stated that we would realign economic author ity involving markets, other th an Mexico, that are not openskies partners of the United States into two cer tificates -- an indefinite duration certificate for markets that are not entry- or frequency-limite d and a five-year certifi cate for limited-entry and limited-frequency markets so that all authority in limited-entry or limited-frequency markets will have a common expiration date. We stated that we would cover a carrier’s U.S.-Mexico authority

1 February 13, 2009 Notice in Docket DOT-OST-2005-22228.in a third, separate certificate, as a carrier must obtain new economic author ity on a city-pair basis each time it proposes to add a new city-pair market to its U.S.-Mexico services.

We invited carriers to request re alignment of their economic author ity by submitting a letter to the streamlining docket, Docket DOT-OST-2005-22228, identi fying the authority to be included in the new certificates. Specifically, the carrier must identify the aut hority it holds for a particular market, whether it is limited to code-share serv ices only, whether the ma rket is entry- or frequency-limited, the number of the order in wh ich the authority was granted (for previouslyissued certificate authority) and the docket in which it was granted (for exemption authority). We stated that if no issues arise making it impractic al to consolidate currently-held authority as requested by the carrier, we w ould draft a self-executing final order designed to issue the nonopen-skies market certificates upon completion of the 49 USC 41307 Presidenti al review process.

American Eagle submitted a request by letter dated September 2, 2011, confirming the U.S.- Mexico city-pair markets for which it seeks consolidation. 2

Decision

Under assigned authority and consistent with our streamlining and c onsolidated certificate initiative, we have decided to grant the consolida tion request of American Eagle and to reissue the carrier’s existing economic authority to serve U.S.-Mexico city-pair markets.

American Eagle is eligible to receive the consolid ated certificate, as described in the February Notice, as it holds a blan ket open-skies certificate. 3

Our action here establishes for the carrier a new r oute certificate, attached at Appendix A. The authority to serve a particular market is included in the certificate as a route segment. We find that grant of the certificate is consistent w ith the public convenience and necessity. 4 We find further that the pending consolidated cert ificate request is not controversia l and that it is appropriate to grant the authority at issue here under simplified procedures, as e xplained in the February Notice. 5

The authority in the attached cer tificate is consistent with the aviation agreement currently being applied. All of the authority conferred here contri butes to the variety of price and service options available to travelers and shippers.

2 The markets for which American Eagle seeks a conso lidated certificate are listed in Appendix B.

3 By Order 2011-8-9, issued June 2, 2011, American Ea gle was issued a Certificat e of Public Convenience and Necessity for Route 905, authorizing the carrier to serve the open-skies partners of the United States. American Eagle had initially submitted its consolidation request pursuant to the February 13, 2009 Notice on March 25, 2011, before it had received a blanket open-skies certificate. The carrier reaffirmed its consolidation request by letter dated September 2, 2011. We can now act favorably upon its request.

4 Based on officially noticeable data, the Department has foun d the carrier fit, willing, and able to engage in foreign scheduled air transportation of persons, property, and mail using large aircraft. See Order 2011-8-9.

5 In accordance with 14 CFR § 302.207, et seq ., we may, in our discre tion, omit a tentative decision in proceedings and proceed directly to a final decision.We therefore find, under assigned au thority, that the public interest warrants granting American Eagle the consolidated certificate authority attached at Appendix A, and subject to the conditions

attached.

The attached certificate of public convenience and necessi ty is subject to the standard terms, conditions, and limitations we consistently impose in the public interest. The certificate holder may request amendment of the certificate to incl ude newly obtained author ity, through the addition of a new route segment, as descri bed in the February Notice.

Upon effectiveness, the authority gr anted by this order supersedes a ny orders previously issued or actions taken by the Department granting the car rier operating rights in the listed markets. For those services currently operated under an ex emption, the exemption will terminate upon the

effectiveness of the attached certificat e of public convenience and necessity.

Findings and Conclusions

In view of the foregoing a nd all the facts of record, we find and conclude that:

1. It is consistent with the public convenie nce and necessity to is sue the captioned air

carrier the certificate attached as Appendix A, to this order;

2. On the basis of data officially noticea ble under 14 CFR 302.24 of the Department’s regulations, the captioned air carr ier is a citizen of the United States and is fit, willing, and able to perform properly the foreign ai r transportation described in the attached certificates and to conform to the provisions of Subtitle VII of Title 49, United States Code (Transportation), and to the Department’s rules, re gulations, and requirements;

3. The public interest requires that the exercise of the privile ges granted by the attached certificate be subject to the terms, conditions and limitations contained in the attached certificate and to such others required by th e public interest as the Department may prescribe;

4. The issuance of the attached certificate to the captioned air carrier does not constitute a major regulatory action under the Energy Policy and Conservati on Act of 1975, as defined by section 313.4(a)( 1) of the Department’s regulations; 6 and

5. The public interest does not require an or al evidentiary hearing or a show-cause proceeding on the application and the acti on taken here. There are no material, determinative issues of fact requiring such procedures for their resolution.

In view of the above, and acting under authority assigned by the Department in its regulations, 14 CFR Part 385, we find that our action here is consistent with Department policy.

6 Our finding is based on the fact that the grant of this portion of the application would not result in a near-term increase in annual fuel consumption in excess of 10 million gallons.ACCORDINGLY,

1. We issue, as attached in Appendix A, an experimental certificate of public convenience and necessity to American Eagle Airlines, Inc., covering U.S.-Mexico city-pair markets the carrier is authorized to serve by exemption;

3. This order supersedes any orders previously issued or actions taken by the Department to the extent such order or action grants th e carrier operating rights, by certificate or exemption, in markets covered by the attached certificate;

4. The certificate issued to American Eagle Airlines, Inc. will be effective upon the service date of this order;

5. Unless disapproved by the President of th e United States under 49 U.S.C. § 41307, this

order shall become effective upon the 61st day after its submission for § 41307 review, or upon the date of receipt of advice from th e President or his designee under Executive Order 12597 and implementing regulations that he or she does not intend to disapprove the Department’s order under that section, whichever occurs earlier; 7 and

7 This order was submitted for review under 49 USC Section 41307 on September 15, 2011. The 61 st day is November 15, 2011. Since the President or his designee did not disa pprove the order before that date, it became effective on November 15, 2011.6. We will serve this order on American Eagle Airlines, Inc.; the Ambassador of Mexico in Washington, D.C.; the U.S. Department of State (Office of Avia tion Negotiations); and

the Federal Aviation Administration.

By:

PAUL L. GRETCH

Director

Office of International Aviation

(SEAL)

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



# Experimental Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity

for

ROUTE 906

This Certifies That



# American Eagle Airlines, Inc.

is authorized, subject to the provision s of Subtitle VII of Title 49 of United States Code, the orders, rules, and reg ulations issued thereunder, and the attached Terms, Conditions, and Limi tations, to engage in foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail.

This certificate is not transferable without the approval of the Department of the Transportation.

By Direction of the Secretary

Issued by Order 2011-11-19 Paul L. Gretch On September 15, 2011 Director , Office of Effective on November 15, 2011 International AviationOrder 2011-11-19

Route 906 Page 1 of 3

Terms, Conditions, and Limitations

American Eagle Airlines, Inc.

for Route 906

is authorized to engage in sc heduled foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail over the following U.S.-Mexico city-pair route segments:

Dallas/Ft. Worth-Chihuahua Dallas/Ft. Worth-Guadalajara Dallas/Ft. Worth-Monterrey

Dallas/Ft. Worth-San Luis Potosi

Dallas/Ft. Worth-Torreon

This authority is subject to the following terms, conditions, and limitations:

(1) The holder shall at all times conduct its ope rations in accordance with the regulations prescribed by the Department of Tran sportation for the services authorized by this certificate, and with such other reasonable terms, condi tions, and limitations as the Department of Transportation may prescribe in the public interest.

(2) The holder shall at all times conduct its operations in accordance with all treaties and agreements between the United States and other countries, and the exerci se of the privileges granted by this certificate is subj ect to compliance with such tr eaties and agreements and with any orders of the Department of Transportation i ssued under them. To the extent that the holder has authority to serve more than one country or points in more than one country on the same route segment, that authority does not confer upon the holder any addi tional rights (including fifth-freedom intermediate and/or beyond rights), in limited-entry markets unless the Department has completed any necessary carrie r selection procedures to dete rmine which carrier(s) should be authorized to exercise such rights and has notif ied the foreign country(ies) involved that any such selected carrier(s) has the required authority. In such cases , the fact that the carrier may hold authority to serve the countries (points) at issue on the same segment will not be considered as providing any preference to the holder in a carrier selection proceeding.

(3) The exercise of the authority granted here is subject to the holder’s first obtaining from the appropriate foreign governments such operating rights as may be necessary.

(4) The holder’s authority is effective only to th e extent that such operations comply with all applicable requirements of the Federal Aviati on Administration, the Tr ansportation Security Administration, and with all ap plicable U.S. Government re quirements concerning security, including, but not limited to, 49 CFR Part 1544. To as sure compliance with all applicableOrder 2011-11-19

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U.S. Government requirements concerning secur ity, the holder shall, before commencing any new service (including charter flight s) to or from a foreign airport, contact its Principal Security Inspector (PSI) to advise the PSI of its plans a nd to find out whether the Transportation Security

Administration has determined that security is adequate to allow such airport(s) to be served.

(5) The holder shall at all times remain a “C itizen of the United Stat es” as required by 49 U.S.C. 40102(a)(15).

(6) The holder shall maintain in effect liabil ity insurance coverage as required under 14 CFR

Part 205. Failure to maintain such insurance cove rage will render a cert ificate ineffective, and this or other failure to comply with the pr ovisions of Subtitle VII of 49 U.S.C. or the Department’s regulations shall be suffici ent grounds to revoke this certificate.

(7) The holder acknowledges that this certificate is granted to determine if the holder’s projected services, efficiencies, me thods, rates, fares, charges, and other projected results will, in fact, materialize and remain for a sustained peri od of time, and to determine whether the holder will provide the innovative and low- priced air transportation it propos ed in its application for this authority.

(8a) The holder may combine services on all city-pair route segments of this certificate and

combine services on this certificate with U.S.-M exico combination services authorized by other Department of Transportation certificates or exemptions, subject to the condition below.

(8b) The provisions in paragraph 8(a), above shall not authorize services which would constitute multiple designations on city-pair rout e segments where such multiple designations are not agreed to by the United States and Mexico.

(9 ) The holder shall file a notice with the Department if it discontinues services on a citypair route segment for 90 days or longer. This notice shall be given as soon as the decision to discontinue service (other than seasonal/intermittent) is made, but in no case later than the 91st day of dormancy. Notices shall be filed in the fo rm of a letter addressed to the U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Air Carrier Licensi ng Division, X-44, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20590, and shall identify the dorma nt city-pair route segment, the certificate route number, and the date the 90th day of dormancy will or did occur.

(10) Should the holder propose any substan tial changes in its ownership, management, or operations (as that term is define d in 14 CFR 204 of the Department ’s regulations), it must first comply with the requirements of 14 CFR 204.Order 2011-11-19

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(11) In the event that the holder commences ope rations for which it was found “fit, willing, and able,” and subsequently ceases all such operations, its authority under this certificate shall be suspended under the terms of 14 CFR 204 of the Department’s regulations and the holder may

neither recommence nor advertis e such operations unless its fitness to do so has been redetermined by the Department. Moreover, if th e holder does not resume operations within one year of its cessation, its authority shall be revoked for dormancy.

The authority to serve each city-pair route segment in this certificate shall continue in effect until November 15, 2016 ; notwithstanding the above , however , the authority to serve any city-pair route segment shall expire automatically and reve rt to the Department (a) the 90th day after the holder discontinues service on that segment, or (b ) when the holder notifies the Department (as provided in this certificate) that the segment is dormant, whichever o ccurs earlier; unless the Department earlier suspends, modifi es, or deletes the authority.Appendix B

List of Currently-Held Economic Authority Su bmitted for Consolidation by American Eagle*

Dallas/Ft. Worth-Chihuahua, DOT-OST-2004-18042 Dallas/Ft. Worth-Guadalajara, DOT-OST-2004-17128 Dallas/Ft. Worth-Monterrey, DOT-OST-2003-16101 Dallas/Ft. Worth-San Luis Potosi, DOT-OST-2004-19024 Dallas/Ft. Worth-Torreon, DOT-OST-2004-17469

*American Eagle operates on a year-round basis with its own aircraft in each market.