UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on August 30, 2013

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKETS DOT-OST-2013-0146 and DOT-OST-2013-0147 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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).

Joint Applicants: SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS SOC LIMITED (SAA) and 

JETBLUE AIRWAYS CORPORATION (JetBlue)

Date Filed: July 29, 2013

Relief requested: 

Docket DOT-OST-2013-0147: Exemption for JetBlue under 49 USC §40109 to permit JetBlue to hold out codeshare only service (a) between any point or points in the United States and Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, East 

London, and Port Elizabeth, South Africa; and (b) between any point or points in the United States, via the 

intermediate point Dakar, Senegal,1 and Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, East London, and Port Elizabeth, South 

Africa.

Docket DOT-OST-2013-0146: SAA requests a statement of authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 to display the 

JetBlue “B6” designator code on flights operated by SAA (a) from SAA’s U.S. gateways to Johannesburg and beyond 

to points in South Africa; and (b) from SAA’s U.S. gateways to Dakar, Senegal as an intermediate point on SAA’s 

authorized U.S.-South Africa services.2

SAA also requests a waiver of the 45-day advance filing requirement under 14 CFR Part 212.

Applicant representatives: Anita M. Mosner and Jennifer M. Nowak (SAA), (202) 955-3000 and 

Jonathan B. Hill and J. Parker Erkmann (JetBlue), (202) 776-2000

DOT analyst: Brett D. Kruger 202-366-8025

Responsive pleadings: None.

DISPOSITION

Action: Approved. Action date: August 30, 2013

Effective dates of authority granted: The exemption authority granted to JetBlue is effective August 30, 2013, through 

August 30, 2015.

The statement of authorization granted to SAA is effective August 30, 2013, for an indefinite period, subject to 

conditions.

Our action granting a waiver of the 45-day advance filing requirement under 14 CFR Part 212 is effective August 30, 

2013. 

Basis for approval (bilateral agreement/reciprocity): United States-South Africa Air Transport Agreement

 1 JetBlue holds underlying authority to serve Senegal pursuant to its Blanket Open Skies Certificate. See Order 2007-7-3. 2 See Appendix C for list of initial code-share routes.
Except to the extent exempted/waived, this authority is subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations of our standard 

U.S. carrier exemption conditions attached as Appendix A, and to the code-share conditions attached as Appendix B.

Special conditions/Remarks: We note that JetBlue has conducted a safety audit of SAA under the Department’s CodeShare Safety Audit Program, and the FAA has advised us that it has reviewed the relevant audit report and found it to be 

acceptable.

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) JetBlue was qualified to perform its proposed operations; (3) grant of the authority was consistent with the 

public interest; and (4) 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
Appendix A

U.S. Carrier Exemption Conditions

In the conduct of the operations authorized, the U.S. carrier applicant(s) shall:

(1) Hold at all times effective operating authority from the government of each country served;

(2) Comply with applicable requirements concerning oversales contained in 14 CFR 250 (for scheduled 

operations, if authorized);

(3) Comply with the requirements for reporting data contained in 14 CFR 241;

(4) Comply with requirements for minimum insurance coverage, and for certifying that coverage to the 

Department, contained in 14 CFR 205;

(5) Except as specifically exempted or otherwise provided for in a Department Order, comply with the 

requirements of 14 CFR 203, concerning waiver of Warsaw Convention liability limits and defenses;

(6) 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, 49 CFR Part 1544. To assure compliance with all applicable U.S. Government 

requirements concerning security, the holder shall, before commencing any new service (including charter 

flights) to or from a foreign airport, contact its Principal Security Inspector (PSI) to advise the PSI 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;

(7) Comply with such other reasonable terms, conditions, and limitations required by the public interest as 

may be prescribed by the Department of Transportation, with all applicable orders and regulations of other 

U.S. agencies and courts, and with all applicable laws of the United States.

The authority granted shall be effective only during the period when the holder is in compliance with the 

conditions imposed above.

 

1/2008
Appendix B

The code-share operations authorized here are subject to the following conditions:

(a) The statement of authorization will remain in effect only as long as (i) SAA and JetBlue continue to hold the 

necessary underlying authority to operate the code-share services at issue, and (ii) the code-share agreement 

providing for the code-share operations remains in effect.

(b) SAA and/or JetBlue must promptly notify the Department (Office of International Aviation) if the code-share 

agreement providing for the code-share operations is no longer effective or if the carriers decide to cease operating 

all or a portion of the approved code-share services. Such notices should be filed in Docket DOT-OST-2013-0146.

3

(c) The code-sharing operations conducted under this authority must comply with 14 CFR 257 and with any 

amendments to the Department’s regulations concerning code-share arrangements that may be adopted. 

Notwithstanding any provisions in the contract between the carriers, our approval here is expressly conditioned 

upon the requirements that the subject foreign air transportation be sold in the name of the carrier holding out such 

service in the computer reservation systems and elsewhere; that the carrier selling such transportation (i.e., the 

carrier shown on the ticket) accept responsibility for the entirety of the code-share journey for all obligations 

established in its contract of carriage with the passenger; that the passenger liability of the operating carrier be 

unaffected; and that the operating carrier shall not permit the code of its U.S. code-sharing partner to be carried on 

any flight that enters, departs, or transits the airspace of any area for whose airspace the Federal Aviation 

Administration has issued a flight prohibition.

(d) The authority to operate to third countries is subject to the condition that any service provided under the statement 

of authorization shall be consistent with all applicable agreements between the United States and the foreign 

countries involved. Furthermore, (i) nothing in the award of this statement of authorization should be construed as 

conferring upon JetBlue rights (including code-share, fifth freedom intermediate and/or beyond rights) to serve 

markets where U.S. carrier entry is limited unless JetBlue notifies the Department of its intent to serve such a 

market and unless and until the Department has completed any necessary carrier selection procedures to determine 

which carrier(s) should be authorized to exercise such rights; and (ii) should there be a request by any carrier to use 

the limited-entry route rights that are included in the authority of JetBlue by virtue of the statement of authorization 

granted here, but that are not then being used by JetBlue, the holding of such authority will not be considered as 

providing any preference for JetBlue in a competitive carrier selection proceeding to determine which carrier(s) 

should be entitled to use the authority at issue.4

(e) The authority granted here is specifically conditioned so that neither SAA nor JetBlue shall give any force or effect 

to any contractual provisions between themselves that are contrary to these conditions.

We may amend, modify, or revoke the authority granted at any time without hearing at our discretion.

 3 We expect this notification to be received within 10 days of such non-effectiveness or of such decision. 4 The notice in paragraph (b) above can be used for this notification. 
Appendix C

List of Initial Code-Share Routes

B6 Designator code on flights operated by SAA:

• New York (JFK)-Johannesburg, South Africa

• Washington, DC (Dulles)-Dakar, Senegal

• Washington, DC (Dulles)-Johannesburg, South Africa

• Johannesburg, South Africa-Cape Town, South Africa

• Johannesburg, South Africa-Durban, South Africa

• Johannesburg, South Africa-East London, South Africa

• Johannesburg, South Africa-Port Elizabeth, South Africa

• Johannesburg, South Africa-New York (JFK)

• Dakar, Senegal-Washington, DC (Dulles)

• Johannesburg, South Africa-Washington, DC (Dulles)

• Cape Town, South Africa-Johannesburg, South Africa

• Durban, South Africa-Johannesburg, South Africa

• East London, South Africa-Johannesburg, South Africa

• Port Elizabeth, South Africa-Johannesburg, South Africa