BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joint Application of :

 : 

UNITED AIRLINES, INC. and : Docket DOT-OST-2014-____

SKYWEST AIRLINES, INC. : and

 : Docket DOT-OST-2014-____

for exemptions pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109 and :

designations (Los Angeles-Durango, Mexico) :

------------------------------------------------------------------------

JOINT APPLICATION OF

UNITED AIRLINES, INC. AND SKYWEST AIRLINES, INC. 

FOR EXEMPTIONS AND DESIGNATIONS

Communications with respect to this document should be sent to:

Hershel I. Kamen

Senior Vice President-Alliances,

 Regulatory and Policy

Daniel A. Weiss

Managing Director-International

 Affairs and Regulatory

UNITED AIRLINES, INC.

233 South Wacker Drive

10th Floor – HDQIZ

Chicago, IL 60606

(872) 825-6828

hershel.kamen@united.com

dan.weiss@united.com

Thomas Newton Bolling

Vice President and Deputy General Counsel

UNITED AIRLINES, INC.

233 South Wacker Drive

11th Floor – HDQLD

Chicago, IL 60606

(872) 825-8068

thomas.bolling@united.com

Douglas P. Kelley

Senior Counsel-Regulatory, Antitrust &

 Competition

UNITED AIRLINES, INC.

1600 Smith Street

HQSLG-15

Houston, TX 77002

(713) 324-5156

doug.kelley@united.com

February 12, 2014

Steve Morrissey

Managing Director-Regulatory Affairs 

and Policy

Karine R. Faden

Managing Counsel-Regulatory, Antitrust &

 Competition

UNITED AIRLINES, INC.

1225 New York Avenue, NW

Suite 1100 – DCAIZ/DCALD

Washington, DC 20005

(202) 521-4373

(202) 521-4363

steve.morrissey@united.com

karine.faden@united.com

Todd Emerson

General Counsel

SKYWEST AIRLINES, INC.

444 South River Road

St. George, UT 84790

(435) 634-3530

temerson@skywest.com

Gerald F. Murphy

Steven J. Seiden

CROWELL & MORING LLP

1001 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20004

(202) 624-2500

gmurphy@crowell.com

sseiden@crowell.com

Counsel for

United Airlines, Inc. 

and SkyWest Airlines, Inc.

NOTICE: The Joint Applicants have requested expedited treatment of this application. They will poll 

U.S. carrier representatives and inform the Department of the results. 
BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joint Application of :

: 

UNITED AIRLINES, INC. and : Docket DOT-OST-2014-____

SKYWEST AIRLINES, INC. : and

: Docket DOT-OST-2014-____

for exemptions pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109 and :

designations (Los Angeles-Durango, Mexico) :

------------------------------------------------------------------------

JOINT APPLICATION OF 

UNITED AIRLINES, INC. AND SKYWEST AIRLINES, INC. 

FOR EXEMPTIONS AND DESIGNATIONS

United1and SkyWest (d/b/a United Express) (the “Joint Applicants”) apply, pursuant to 

49 U.S.C. § 40109 and Subpart C of the Department's Rules of Practice, for exemptions from 49 

U.S.C. § 41101 authorizing them to provide scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, 

property and mail between Los Angeles and Durango, Mexico beginning in June 2014. In 

addition, the Joint Applicants request a U.S.-Mexico operating carrier designation for SkyWest 

on this route and a marketing carrier designation for United to permit United to display its 

“UA*” designator code on SkyWest’s flights. The Joint Applicants ask that the requested 

authorities become effective as soon as possible2and that the authorities be effective for a period 

of at least two years, subject to the Department’s standard conditions. The Joint Applicants also 

ask the Department to issue the necessary notices to Mexican authorities confirming the carriers’ 

authority to serve the Los Angeles-Durango route. 

The Joint Applicants state as follows in support of this application:

 

1 Common names are used for airlines. 

2

 The Joint Applicants will conduct a poll of all carrier representatives listed on the 

service list and advise the Department of the results.
Joint Application of United and SkyWest

Page 2

1. Awarding the requested exemption authorities will permit the Joint Applicants to 

meet increasing demand for Los Angeles-Durango service by using SkyWest’s CRJ-200 or CRJ700 aircraft. The Joint Applicants urge the Department to act promptly on this application so 

that they can secure foreign authority, make final operating plans and begin marketing the Los 

Angeles-Durango flights well in advance of operations, which they plan to commence in June

2014, provided all necessary approvals have been secured. 

2. SkyWest will operate these Los Angeles-Durango flights pursuant to a capacity 

purchase agreement with United. ExpressJet currently operates United Express service on this 

route using small aircraft.3 SkyWest will be substituted for ExpressJet upon the Joint 

Applicants’ receipt of all necessary approvals. To ensure that United Express service on this 

route is not disrupted, ExpressJet will retain its designation until the Department has taken action 

on the Joint Application, the Joint Applicants have begun providing the service requested herein, 

and ExpressJet has given notice to the Department that its designation is no longer required. 

3. The Joint Applicants’ service on the Los Angeles-Durango route will continue to 

provide substantial consumer benefits by enhancing the service options available to the U.S. 

traveling public, including the online connections between points on United’s network served via

its Los Angeles hub. The Joint Applicants will comply with the Department’s rules on 

codesharing as set forth in Part 257 of the Department’s Regulations. 

4. The authority sought by the Joint Applicants complies fully with the terms of the 

U.S.-Mexico Air Transport Services Agreement (“U.S.-Mexico Agreement”), as amended. 

Route 1(a) of the U.S.-Mexico Agreement authorizes carriers designated by the United States to 

operate from “a point or points in the United States to a point or points in Mexico.” U.S.-Mexico 

 

3

See Department Action dated Oct. 5, 2011.
Joint Application of United and SkyWest

Page 3

Agreement, Annex I, A(1)(a). Further, the U.S.-Mexico Agreement permits the United States to 

designate two airlines to provide scheduled combination services between any point or points in 

the United States and Durango (see U.S.-Mexico Agreement, Annex I, B(4)) and permits such

designated airlines to enter into cooperative marketing arrangements with other airlines provided 

they both hold appropriate authority and meet the requirements applied to such arrangements. 

See id., Annex III(1). Lastly, the United States is authorized to allocate up to 10 codeshare 

designations for each nonstop city pair segment. See id., Annex III(3). Sufficient designations 

are available for SkyWest to operate on the Los Angeles-Durango route and for United to 

codeshare on the SkyWest-operated services. Inasmuch as SkyWest’s United Express services 

will replace those being offered currently by ExpressJet, no additional designations will be 

required. 

5. The Joint Applicants hold various certificates of public convenience and necessity 

and exemptions authorizing them to engage in scheduled air transportation of persons, property 

and mail between the U.S. and foreign countries, and the Joint Applicants are fit, willing and 

able to provide the service for which they seek authority. See, e.g., United: Order 2013-4-11 

(reissuing United/Continental authorities to United), Order 2010-5-17 (U.S.-Mexico), and Notice 

of Action Taken dated February 6, 2013 in Docket DOT-OST-2013-0019 (Austin-San Jose del 

Cabo, Mexico); and SkyWest: Order 2011-12-11 at 4 (continuing fitness review), Order 2008-4-

26 (Blanket Open Skies), and Notice of Action Taken dated February 7, 2014 in Docket DOTOST-2014-0016 (Washington, D.C.-Nassau, Bahamas). Pursuant to Rule 24 of the Department’s 

Rules of Practice, the Joint Applicants request that the Department take official notice of all

information and data that have been filed to establish their fitness.