Order 2012-1-19

Served: January 25, 2012

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

On the 25th day of January, 2012

___________________________________________ 

Application of 

US AIRWAYS, INC.

under 49 U.S.C. 41718 for pendente lite Docket OST – 2000 – 7182

authority to operate slot exemptions 

(Ronald Reagan Washington National 

Airport – Jackson, Mississippi)

___________________________________________

ORDER GRANTING TEMPORARY SLOT EXEMPTION AUTHORITY

SUMMARY

By this Order, the Department of Transportation grants US Airways, Inc. (US Airways) 

temporary authority to operate nonstop service using two slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan 

Washington National Airport (DCA) to Jackson-Evers International Airport (JAN) at Jackson, 

Mississippi, until such time as the Department grants long-term authority to operate the two slot 

exemptions pursuant to a reallocation proceeding and the selected carrier initiates service. This 

grant of pendente lite authority will help minimize consumer inconvenience and is made without 

prejudice to the Department’s decision on longer term authority. 

BACKGROUND

The Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR-21), as 

amended by the Vision 100 Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act of 2003, directs the 

Department to grant slot exemptions at DCA, both within and beyond its 1,250 mile perimeter. 

These grants are limited in number, and selections of carriers are made through application of 

specified statutory criteria. See 49 U.S.C. § 41718. 

On December 6, 2004, by Order 2004-12-6, the Department granted two within-perimeter slot 

exemptions to Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Inc. d/b/a Delta Connection (ASA) to provide nonstop 

service from DCA to Jackson, Mississippi. On December 28, 2011, after seven years of 

operating in this market, Delta Air Lines, Inc. informed the Department that ASA’s operation of 

the DCA-JAN service would cease effective March 2, 2012. As a result of this announcement, 
the Department will establish in the near future a proceeding on a long-term reallocation of the 

slot exemptions and invite carriers to submit applications. 

On January 4, US Airways applied to the Department for temporary authority to operate to JAN, 

beginning on March 4, 2012, under these slot exemptions until such time as the Department 

completes a reallocation proceeding. US Airways advised the Department that, if granted the 

interim authority, it plans to use two-class Embraer E170/175 aircraft on the route, maintaining 

the two-class service that presently exists, and that the aircraft would be operated by US Airways 

Express carriers. The slot exemptions would be operated in their originally-awarded times, 

though a one-day gap in service would be necessary due to the carrier’s equipment and crew 

scheduling process US Airways stated that approval of the interim authority would ensure that 

DCA-JAN passengers could maintain the same nonstop service to which they had become 

accustomed until a final decision on the slot exemptions was made. The carrier also noted that 

the Department has granted pendente lite authority previously to ensure that valuable operating 

authorizations did not sit idle and that consumer inconvenience was minimized. 

US Airways further advised that, to assist in expediting action, it would poll other carriers who 

could potentially object to such an award, and advise whether any such objections had been 

received. Accordingly, it polled authorized representatives for AirTran Airways, American 

Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest 

Airlines, Spirit Airlines, Sun Country Airlines, Republic Airways, and United Airlines. On 

January 10, US Airways advised the Department that no objections had been received.

US Airways’ pendente lite application also received letters of support from the Boyd Group, an 

aviation research and consulting firm that has worked with JAN in the past, and Dirk B. 

Vanderleest, Chief Executive Officer of the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority. 

On January 9, Southwest Airlines submitted a letter to the Department relative to US Airways’ 

application. While Southwest expressed no objection to the application, it stated that it did so 

subject to the Department’s “admonition” that the grant of such interim authority would have no 

bearing on the award of permanent authority. Southwest further indicated that it would be 

submitting an application in the reallocation proceeding. 

A grant of pendente lite authority is in fact one of temporary character and in this case would be 

intended only to minimize any inconvenience to travelers in the event that the reallocation 

proceeding is not completed prior to ASA’s cessation of service on March 2. We emphasize that 

our grant to US Airways of interim authority to operate these two slot exemptions to JAN will 

not give the carrier any benefit or advantage in our application of the statutorily-mandated 

criteria in the reallocation proceeding. All applications will receive full and fair comparative 

consideration of their merits under 49 U.S.C. § 41718(b). 
As no objections have been received and having addressed Southwest’s concern, and in the 

interest of conducting the reallocation process while minimizing consumer inconvenience, we 

grant US Airways’ application under the conditions stated below. 

This Order is issued under authority delegated in 49 C.F.R. § 1.56(a).

ACCORDINGLY, 

1. The Department grants to US Airways interim authority to operate, if necessary, nonstop 

service using the two slot exemptions authorized by 49 U.S.C. § 41718(b), previously awarded 

under Order 2004-12-6 at DCA to ASA for service to JAN, commencing on March 4, 2012,

following the cessation of DCA-JAN flights by ASA, until such time as a final selection decision 

is made in the reallocation proceeding and the selected carrier initiates service; 

2. Any flight operations conducted under this Order remain subject to the terms and conditions 

imposed by Order 2004-12-6, including the use of Stage 3 aircraft and the prohibition of use 

between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:59 a.m.;

3. US Airways is prohibited by 49 U.S.C. § 41714(j) from buying, selling, leasing, or otherwise 

transferring the exemptions;

4. The authorities granted in this Order are otherwise subject to the other requirements delineated 

in 14 C.F.R. Part 93, Subparts K and S, including, but not limited to, the reporting provisions and 

the use-or-lose requirements; and

5. We will serve this Order on all parties in Docket OST-2000-7182 and the Federal Aviation 

Administration Slot Administration Office. We further direct US Airways to contact the Slot 

Administration Office to coordinate slot exemption times and identification numbers. 

By: 

SUSAN L. KURLAND

 Assistant Secretary for

 Aviation and International Affairs

(SEAL)

An electronic version of this document is available at

 http://www.regulations.gov