u.s. Department of 

Transportation 

Office of the Secretory 

of Transportation 

Ms. Bell 0. de Souza 

345 N. Maple Drive, Suite 210 

Beverly Hills, CA 9021 0 

Dear Ms. de Souza: 

Assistant Secretory 

MAY 01 2013 

i 200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

c.:.) 

Thank you for your letter of February 6, 2013, supporting the application for antitrust immunity 

filed by Air France, Alitalia, Delta, KLM, and Virgin Atlantic. The Secretary has asked that I 

respond to your letter directly. 

As you may know, Delta and Virgin Atlantic are seeking antitrust immunity primarily to launch 

a joint venture covering all of their flights between North America and the United Kingdom. 

Delta and Virgin Atlantic are proposing to cooperate with Air France, Alitalia, and KLM as part 

of the new joint venture. 

The application is administered in a public docket, which ensures that interested parties have the 

opportunity to comment The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) will evaluate the 

application according to rigorous statutory standards. Decisions on the application are made in 

consultation with the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division following a thorough 

analysis of competitive factors. As this matter is now pending, 1 hope you tmderstan.d that 1 

cannot comment on the merits of the application. J can assure you, however, that DOT will give 

full and fair consideration to the application as well as to any comments filed in the docket. 

As is our normal practice, 1 am placing a copy of your letter and this response in Docket 

DOT-OST-2013-0068 as a contact outside the record in this matter. I appreciate your interest in 

this proceeding. 

Sincerely yours, 

Susan L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
MANSOUR 

TRAVEL COMPANY 

February 6, 2013 

The Honorable Ray LaHood 

Secretary 

United States Department ofTransportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Re: Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic 

Dear Secretary LaHood: 

The Mansour Travel Services is located in Los Angeles, CA. We are writing in support of the 

application by Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic for antitrust immunity for the two carriers to 

form a joint venture for North America- U.K. service. 

London is the most important transatlantic destination for U.S. passengers, and London is the 

most important international business route for our company. The proposed joint venture will 

allow Delta and Virgin Atlantic to offer a more comprehensive and competitive alternative which 

will benefit business travelers who desire higher service levels and schedule flexibility. 

The Delta -Virgin Atlantic partnership will allow both carriers to offer a greatly expanded 

network at London's Heathrow airport which is the preferred airport for business travelers. The 

joint venture also will benefit our company by providing access to a broader network, improved 

connectivity and convenient booking options. 

For these reasons, we urge you to approve the application for antitrust immunity between Delta 

and Virgin Atlantic. The new joint venture will be a great benefit to our company, and will be a 

positive development in providing improved service and competitive alternatives in the London 

travel market 

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