BEFORE THE 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

' , - '^•'•'nr.'-A 

• ' • •'•\ • I A 

Amended Application of 

Airone Ventures Limited 

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

(U.S.- Barbados) 

Docket DOT-OST-2010-0134 

AMENDED 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 

Charles A. Hunnicutt 

Patricia N. Snyder 

G. Brent Connor 

Troutman Sanders LLP 

401 9'^ Street, N.W. 

Suite 1000 

Washington, D.C. 20004 

Email: 

Charles.Hunnicutt@troutmansanders.com 

May 28, 2010 

Attorneys for 

AIRONE VENTURES LIMITED 

DCOl II26394V1 
BEFORE THE 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Amended Application of 

Airone Ventures Limited 

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

(U.S.- Barbados) 

Docket DOT-OST-2010-0134 

AMENDED 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, 

Airone Ventures Limited moves to withhold from public disclosure certain information 

contained in Exhibit A to its Amended 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 amended 

application, redacted to delete the confidential proprietary information contained in 

Exhibit A. 

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

individual investors — information protected from public disclosure under Exemption 4 

' 14 C.F.R. §302.12. 

^ Airone has amended its initial application to delete the statement that Allegiant 

Air is a shareholder of Airone Holdings Limited (AHL). Neither Allegiant Air nor its 

parent, Allegiant Travel Company, was or is a shareholder in Airone Ventures Limited or 

its parent AHL. These changes required Airone to revise the attached Exhibit A to 

update information relating to AHL's shareholders. Like any company seeking 

additional private capital, AHL's shareholders and shareholding percentages may change 

from time to time. The revised Exhibit A is accurate as of May 27, 2010. 

DCOl 1126394V1 
Amended Motion of Airone Ventures Limited 

Docket DOT-OST-2010-0134 

Page 2 of 4 

of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).^ 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 information is more than sufficient for interested persons to 

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.""* 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."^ The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia 

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

5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(4). 

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

(citations omitted). 

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

1974). 

DCOl 1126394V1 
Amended Motion of Airone Ventures Limited 

Docket DOT-OST-2010-0134 

Page 3 of4 

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

information by competitors.'"^ 

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 

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 turn, 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 to evaluate the international 

^ Pub. Citizen Health Research Group v. FDA, 704 F.2d 1280, 1291 n.30 (D.C. Cir. 

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

DCOl 1126394 vl 
Amended Motion of Airone Ventures Limited 

Docket DOT-OST-2010-0134 

Page 4 of4 

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 dolleirs 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 

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

be withheld from public disclosure. 

WHEREFORE, Airone Ventures Limited respectfrilly asks the Department to 

grant its Amended Motion for Confidential Treatment. 

Respectfully submitted. 

Charles A. Hurmicutt 

Patricia N. Snyder 

G. Brent Connor 

Troutman Sanders LLP 

Counsel for Airone Ventures Limited 

May 28, 2010 

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

DCOl 1126394V1 
Certificate of Service 

jth I hereby certify that I have this 28 day of May 2010 caused this Amended 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. 

[yMr ^ J/ a ^\^K\j4'1*nt^r-iri--*-€>^-*^^ 

American Airlines (by email): 

carl.nelson(S)aa.com 

Delta Air Lines (by email): 

sascha.vanderbellen@nwa.com 

Sametta.C.Bamett(a),delta.com 

JetBlue Airways (by email): 

ioanna.geraghtyfgijetblue.com 

robert.land(a)ietblue.com 

US Airways (by email): 

ho ward_ kass@usairwavs .com 

beniamin.slocum@usairways.com 

John P.T. Gilmore (by email): 

iptgilmore@hotmail.com 

Director of Flight Standards (by email) 

Federal Aviation Admin. 

800 Independence Ave., S.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20591 

iames.h.speight@faa.gov 

Office of Aviation Negotiations (by email) 

Department of State 

2201 C Street, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20520 

byerl vi r@state. go v 

Transportation Security Administration (by 

email) 

Department of Homeland Security 

bert.seesaran@dhs.gov 

Broward County Aviation Department (by 

U.S. mail) 

100 Aviation Boulevard 

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33315 

DCOl 1126394V1