Application of 

~ ~ r ~ --", J' :~:~-S~.I\;10>-i BEFORE THE .. I . 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Airone Ventures Limited 

Docket DOT-OST-201O- D (3~ 

For An Exemption Under 49 U.S.C. § 401 09(c) 

(U.S.- Barbados) 

MOTION OF AIRONE VENTURES LIMITED 

FOR CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT 

PURSUANT TO RULE 12 

Communications with respect to this document should be sent to: 

Ian G. Bums 

Chairman 

AIRONE VENTURES LIMITED 

The Courtyard 

Hastings 

Barbados, W.I 

May 17,2010 

1125932vl 

Charles A. Hunnicutt 

Patricia N. Snyder 

G. Brent Connor 

Troutman Sanders LLP 

401 9th Street, N.W. 

Suite 1000 

Washington, D.C. 20004 

Email: 

Charles.H unni cuttral,troutmansanders. com 

Attorneys for 

AIRONE VENTURES LIMITED 
BEFORE THE 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

OFFICE OF THE SECRET AR Y 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Application of 

Airone Ventures Limited 

Docket DOT-OST-2010-

For An Exemption Under 49 U.S.C. § 40109(c) 

(U.S.- Barbados) 

MOTION OF AIRONE VENTURES LIMITED 

FOR CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT 

PURSUANT TO RULE 12 

Pursuant to Rule 12 of the Rules of Practice of the Department of Transportation, 1 

Airone Ventures Limited moves to withhold from public disclosure certain infonnation 

contained in Exhibit A to its Application For An Exemption Under 49 U.S.c. § 40109(c) 

(U.S.-Barbados) submitted herewith under seal in the above-captioned proceeding. 

Airone is also submitting a publicly available copy of its application, redacted to delete 

the confidential proprietary infonnation contained in Exhibit A. 

1. Exhibit A to the Application contains the names and nationalities of individual 

investors - infonnation protected from public disclosure under Exemption 4 of the 

Freedom of Infonnation Act (FOIA).2 Airone does not seek protection for the 

amalgamated nationality percentages - only the identity of the individual investors, and 

in the case of the European Union the specific member states of which each investor is a 

citizen. The amalgamated infonnation is more than sufficient for interested persons to 

2 

1125932vl 

14 C.F.R. § 302.12. 

5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(4). 
Motion of Airone Ventures Limited 

Docket DOT -OST -2010-

Page 2 of 4 

analyze the ownership of Airone and the consequences for U.S. international aviation 

policy. 

Exemption 4 protects from public disclosure information that is "(1) commercial 

or financial, (2) obtained from a person outside the government, and (3) privileged or 

confidential.,,3 The information at issue here satisfies this standard. First, the names and 

nationalities of the investors of Airone's parent company, Airone Holdings Limited, are 

commercial in nature. Second, this data was obtained from private citizens. Third, it is 

confidential and proprietary. On this last test, information is confidential if disclosure "is 

likely ... to cause substantial harm to the competitive position of the person from whom 

the information was obtained.,,4 The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia 

Circuit has emphasized that the "'important point for competitive harm in the FOIA 

context ... is that it be limited to harm flowing from the affirmative use of proprietary 

information by competitors. ",5 

2. In this case, Airone meets the competitive harm prong of the test for 

confidentiality of Exemption 4. The names and nationalities of the individual investors of 

Airone's parent company is information that Airone, like any private company, does not 

3 Gulf & Western Indus., Inc. v. United States, 615 F.2d 527, 529 (D.C. Cir. 1980) 

(citations omitted). 

4 National Parks & Conservation Ass 'n v. Morton, 498 F.2d 765, 770 (D.C. Cir. 

1974). 

5 Pub. Citizen Health Research Group v. FDA, 704 F.2d 1280, 1291 nJO (D.C. Cir. 

1983) (quoting Mark Q. Connelly, Secrets and Smokescreens: A Legal and Economic 

Analysis of Government Disclosures of Business Data, 1981 Wis. L. Rev. 207,235-36). 
Motion of Airone Ventures Limited 

Docket DOT-OST-2010-

Page 3 of 4 

want to share with competitors. Competitors could use this identifying information to 

solicit investments from Airone's private investors, potentially reducing the pool of 

venture capital funds available to Airone's parent company, and, in tum, in Airone. This 

is a commercial risk that Airone does not have to take. 

3. This information is not necessary to evaluate the citizenship and ownership of 

Airone, a key part of Airone's contemporaneously filed application. In that application, 

Airone seeks an exemption under 49 U.S.C. § 40109(c) and Subpart C of the 

Department's procedural regulations from the requirements of 49 U.S.C. §§ 41301 and 

41302 to allow it to provide scheduled foreign air transportation between the United 

States and Barbados. As stated in that application, nothing in Airone's ownership or 

control is inimical to U.S. aviation policy or interests. Airone is indirectly owned and 

controlled by European nationals, with significant participation by Barbadians and/or 

Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) nationals. Interested persons 

do not need to know the identities and citizenship of Airone' s investors to evaluate the 

international aviation policy implications. But, competitors for venture capital could use 

the information to delay or disrupt Airone's plans of proving air service between the 

United States and Barbados or to compete for investment dollars with investors that 

Airone has worked to attract. 

4. Thus, the information for which Airone requests confidential treatment is 

confidential, proprietary and competitively sensitive. Its public release could cause 
Motion of Airone Ventures Limited 

Docket DOT-OST-201OPage 4 of4 

Airone substantial competitive and financial injury. Accordingly, the information should 

be withheld from public disclosure. 

WHEREFORE, Airone Ventures Limited respectfully asks the Department to 

grant its Motion for Confidential Treatment. 

May 17,2010 

Respectfully submitted, 

Charles A. Hunnicutt 

Patricia N. Snyder 

G. Brent Connor 

Troutman Sanders LLP 

Counsel for Airone Ventures Limited 
Certificate of Service 

I hereby certify that I have this 17th day of May 2010 caused this Motion of Airone 

Ventures Limited to be served upon each person listed below in the manner indicated, as 

required by 14 C.F.R. § 302.304. 

American Airlines (by email): 

carl.nclson~aa.com 

Delta Air Lines (by email): 

sascha. vanderbcllcn~nwa.com 

Sametta.C.Bamett~delta.com 

JetBlue Airways (by email): 

joanna.geraghtyrmjetblue.com 

robert.landrmjetblue.com 

US Airways (by email): 

howard kassrmusairways.com 

benjamin.slocum~usairways.com 

Director of Flight Standards (by email) 

F ederal Aviation Admin. 

800 Independence Ave., S.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20591 

james. h.speight@faa.gov 

Office of Aviation Negotiations (by email) 

Department of State 

2201 C Street, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20520 

byer lyj rrmstate. gOY 

Transportation Security Administration (by 

email) 

Department of Homeland Security 

beJ1. seesaranrmdhs. gOY 

Broward County Aviation Department (by 

U.S. mail) 

100 Aviation Boulevard 

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33315