SI 0-100308-047 

& 

II S Deoartment Assistant Secretary 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

; r '^^-:IIlr*vI « Washington, DC 20590 

of Transportation 

Office of the Secretary jy ^ | g 2OIO 

of Transportation 

The Honorable Mark Sanford 

Governor of South Carolina 

Columbia, SC 29211 

Dear Governor Sanford: 

Thank you for your letter supporting the application for antitrust immunity filed by American 

Airlines and Japan Airlines. I am responding on behalf of the Secretary. 

As you may know, the applicants—members of the oneworld Alliance—are seeking antitrust 

immunity to closely coordinate flights between the United States and Asia. According to the 

application, the alliance partners plan to launch a joint venture for transpacific traffic. 

The application is administered in a public docket, which ensures that interested parties have the 

opportunity to comment. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) will evaluate the 

application according to rigorous statutory standards, beginning with a review of the record to 

determine if it is substantially complete. Decisions on the application are made in consultation 

with the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division following a thorougli analysis of 

competitive factors. As this matter is now pending, I hope you understand that I caimot 

comment on the merits of the application. I can assure you, however, that DOT will give full 

and fair consideration to the application as well as any comments filed in the docket. 

As is our normal practice, 1 am placing a copy of your letter and this response in Docket 

DOT-OST-2010-0059 as a contact outside the record in this matter. I appreciate your interest in 

this proceeding. 

Sincerely yours. 

Susan L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
SI 0-100308-047 

^tat e of ^outl) Carolina 

0liitt of t()e (!^obcrnor 

MAR K SANFORD POST OFFICE BOX 12257 

QOVERNOR COLUMBI A 2921 1 

March 1,2010 

The Honorable Raymond H. LaHood 

Secretary 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Ave, SE 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

Docket DOT-OST-2010-lMI 

Dear Mr. Secretary, 

Thank you for the opportunity to express our support of the application for antitrust immunity 

and proposed joint business agreement filed by American Airlines (AA) and Japan Airlines 

(JAL). The proposed alliance between these two airlines is vital for oneworld to compete 

effectively with the Star and SkyTeam alliance. This increased interalliance competition will in 

turn enhance the benefits of the Department's Open Skies policy - first by solidifying U.S.-Japan 

Open Skies and then by serving as a foundation for further liberalization across Asia. 

After a thorough review, we encourage the Department of Transportation to approve this 

application as it would enable these oneworld alliance airlines to work closely together to deliver 

highly competitive air transportation services. Approval for an AA/JAL alliance will have a 

positive impact on air travel by offering customers more service, scheduling and pricing options 

and will help to ensure that customers continue to benefit with three competitive air alliances 

firom which to choose. If we may be of further assistance, please contact my Chief of Staff Scott 

English at (803) 734-5166 or by email at senglish@gov.sc.KOV . 

I urge you to quickly approve this application. 

Sincerely, 

Mark Sanford 

MS/11