U.S. Department of Transportation Office ofthe Secretary OfTransportation 

### August 23. 2012 Mr. Jim Buntz SeniorVice President ofFinance Carlsbad-PalomarAirlines. Inc.

d/b/a CaliforniaPacific Airlines 5670El Camino Real. SuiteD Carlsbad, CA 92008 

### -'**~-~~** 

### (**<~** " 1200 NewJersey Ave., S.E. washington, DC 20590



### Re: Dockets DOT-OST-2010-0126 and DOT-OST-2010- 0125. Ruling on Motion of Carlsbad-Palomar Airlines, Inc. d/b/a California Pacific Airlines for Confidential Treatment ofDocuments DearMr. Buntz: The purpose ofthis letter is to notify you ofour intended ruling onyourrequest for confidential treatment ofdocuments filed August 7, 2012, in support the ofCarlsbad-Palomar Airlines. Inc. d/b/a California Pacific Airlines' ("CP Air") request for a waiver from section 204.7 of our rules (14 CFR 204.7). Specifically, CP Air requests that the following material be considered for confidential treatment under 14 CFR 302.12 (Rule 12): Exhibit 8- First-year Operating Forecast Exhibit 9

- Operating expenses to be paid to date and forecasted to first day ofservice Exhibit 10- Audited financials through 2011 and year-to-date P&Lfor 2012 Exhibit 11

- Third-party verification ofcashbalances Exhibit 12

- Status offund raising efforts Exhibit 13

- Verification ofaircraft leases Exhibit 14

- Negotiations for aircraft 2 Exhibit 15

- Negotiations for aircraft 3 & 4 Exhibit 16- Statement and supplement offinancial information Exhibit 17 -Approval from Torrey Pines Bank for $1,000.000 line-of-credit Exhibit 18

- Updated Private Placement Memorandum and subscription booklet In suppol1 of your request for confidential treatment of the noted documents. you stated that these documents include sensitive commercial and/or financial information the public disclosure ofwhich could adversely affect CP Air's commercial and financial interest.2
Rule 12 instructs us to evaluate requests for confidential treatment in accordance with the standards of disclosure found in the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. section 552). By this standard, information maybe withheld from disclosure under 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) ifit is (1) commercial or financial, (2) obtained from a person outside the government, and (3) privileged or confidential. 

### [Gulfand Western Industries, Inc. v. United States, 615 F.2d 527, 529 (D.C. Cir. 1979)]. The information identified above clearly meets the first two requirements. The remaining question is whetherthe information is privileged orconfidential, that is, whether "disclosure of the information is likely to have either of the following effects: (1) impair the Government's ability to obtain necessary information; or (2) cause substantial harm to the competitive position of the person from whom the information was obtained." 

### [National Parks and Conservation Association v. Morton, 498 F.2d 765, 770 (D.C. Cir. 1974)] Furthermore, to be privileged or confidential, the information must not be ofthe type that is usuallyreleased to the public.**[Gu~fand** 

### Western Industries, Inc. v. UnitedStates, 615 F.2d 527, 530)] Absent extenuating circumstances, it is not the Department's practice to withhold from public disclosure informationregarding an applicant's historical orprojected financial statements; preoperating and first-year operating expense forecasts; proposed operating plans and related statistics; third-party verification of funds or an applicant's funding plans; or information pertaining to the ownership ofan applicant. Moreover, CPAir's motionprovides no indication ofhow public disclosure of any of this type of information would likely result in substantial competitiveharm. Therefore wehavedecidedto denyCPAir's requestto withholdExhibits 8- 12 and 16-17 from public disclosure. However, the Department will generally grant confidential treatment to information pertaining to contractual agreements and negotiations, as well as detailedbusiness plans that disclose an applicant's competitive strategy, proposedfares, orprojectedrevenues for plannedroutes. Therefore we will grant CP Air's requestto withhold Exhibits 13-15 and 18 from publicdisclosure. Under Rule 12, the Department's ruling on a motion for confidential treatment will not take effect if, within five (5) business days after issuance, the person requesting confidential treatment files a petition for reconsideration ofthat decision, or files a statement that he or she in good faith intends to seekjudicial review of the decision. If CP Air elects to petition the Department as to this confidentiality determination, we expect that it will provide a statement explaining how the items fall within the exceptions under the Freedom ofInformation Act and is not otherwise required to be filed publicly by all applicants for certificates of public convenience and necessity. Responses shall be due within five calendar days ofthe filing of such apetition. If CP Air elects not to file a petition, we direct that it file the information noted above in the public docket in this proceeding within five business days of the date of this letter. In the meantime, as is the Department's practice, further processing of your application will be deferred pendingreceipt ofthis material.

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Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact DamonWalker at (202) 366-7785 orbye-mail atDamon.Walker@dot.gov.

Chief, AirCarrierFitness Division AirCarrierFitness Division

cc: Docket DOT-OST-2010-0126