UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, DC

Issued by the Department of Transportation on September 18, 2013

 NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKETS DOT-OST-2003-16213 and DOT-OST-2008-0068 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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).

DOCKETS DOT-OST-2003-16213 and DOT-OST-2008-0068 

Joint Application of UNITED AIR LINES, INC. (United) and AIR CHINA LIMITED (Air 

China) filed 8/27/13 for:

XX Renewed and amended exemption for Air China under 49 U.S.C. 40109 to provide the 

following service:

Scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property, and mail, in combination or 

separately, between points in the United States and points in third countries pursuant to its 

code share with United.1

DOCKET DOT-OST-2003-16213

XX Amended statement of authorization for United under CFR Part 212 to:

Display the “CA” designator code of Air China to now include flights operated by United 

between Air China’s United States gateways, on the one hand, and beyond to points in 

third countries solely on a blind sector basis.2 3

Applicant representatives: 

Daniel A. Weiss (872) 825-6828 (United) and

George N. Tompkins, Jr. (212) 915-5624 (Air China)

DOT Analyst: Darren Jaffe (202) 366-2512

 1 Air China’s existing exemption authority permits it to engage in scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, 

property, and mail, in combination or separately, between any points or points in the People’s Republic of China, 

and any point or points in the United States, pursuant to its code-share arrangements with United Air Lines, Inc. in 

DOT-OST-2003-16213 and the United Express carriers in Docket DOT-OST-2008-0068. We note that Air China

also had pending in the above referenced Dockets an exemption renewal application dated November 30, 2009. We 

are addressing both its renewal and amendment applications in our present action. 2 Additional code-share points are listed in Appendix C. 3 We note that the City of Houston, Texas, through the Department of Aviation, submitted a letter in support of the 

Joint Application in Docket DOT-OST-2003-16213. 
D I S P O S I T I O N

XX Granted, renewed and amended exemption authority for Air China (subject to 

conditions, see Attachment A below). 

XX Granted, amended statement of authorization for United (subject to conditions, see 

Attachment B below).

The above action granting renewed and amended exemption authority for Air China was effective

when taken: September 18, 2013, through September 18, 2014.

The above action amending the statement of authorization granted for United was effective when 

taken: September 18, 2013, and will remain in effect indefinitely, subject to the conditions 

listed below.

Action taken by: Paul L. Gretch, Director

 Office of International Aviation

XX The authority granted is consistent with the Air Transport Agreement, as amended, 

between the United States and the People’s Republic of China.

Except to the extent exempted or waived, this authority is subject to the terms, conditions, and 

limitations indicated: 

 XX United’s certificates of public convenience and necessity 

 XX Foreign Air Carrier Exemption Conditions for Air China

XX Statements of Authorization approving the United/Air China code-share 

operations dated October 24, 2003 and conditions therein (see Notice of Action 

Taken in Docket DOT-OST-2003-16213)

__________________________________________________________________________

On the basis of data officially noticeable under Rule 24(g) of the Department’s regulations,

we found the applicant qualified to provide the services authorized.

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, 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://dms.dot.gov//reports/reports_aviation.asp
Attachment A

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
Attachment B

The statements of authorization, as amended, are subject to the following conditions:4

(a) The statements of authorization will remain in effect only as long as (i) United and Air China

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) United and/or Air China 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 OST-2003-16213.5

(c) United and/or Air China must notify the Department no later than 30 days before they begin any

new code-share service under the code-share services authorized here. Such notice shall identify the

market(s) to be served, which carrier will be operating the aircraft in the code-share market added, and the

date on which the service will begin. (Such notice should be filed in this Docket.)

(d) The code-sharing conducted under this authority must comply with Part 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 

codeshare journey for all obligations established in its contract of carriage with the passenger; and that the

passenger liability of the operating carrier be unaffected. Further, the operating carrier shall not permit the

code of its U.S. air carrier code-sharing partner to be carried on any flights that enter, depart, or transit the

airspace of any area for whose airspace the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a flight 

prohibition.

(e) The authority granted here is specifically conditioned so that neither United nor Air China shall

give any force or effect to any contractual provisions between themselves that are contrary to these

conditions.6

(f) The authority for Air China to display its code on flights operated by United, and the authority for

United to display its code on flights operated by Air China, shall be limited to those code-share points

which may be served under the aviation agreement between the United States and the People’s Republic 

of China.

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

 4 The conditions applicable to the United/Air China codeshare operations approved in this docket are repeated here 

in their entirety for ease of reference.

5 We expect this notification to be received within 10 days of such non-effectiveness or of such decision. 

6 We note that the code-share agreement as submitted did not include provisions regarding exclusive

dealings between the code-share parties. Should the parties subsequently amend their code-share

agreement or any other agreement affecting the code-share services to include a provision relating to an

exclusive arrangement between the parties, that amended language must first be submitted for

consideration by the Department.
Attachment C

Additional CA*/UA Code Share Markets

Houston-Cancun

 Houston-Mexico City