UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, DC



### Issued by the Department of Transportation on December 20 , 2013

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN

-- DOCKET S DOT

- OST

- 2003

- 16213 and DOT

- OST

- 200 8

- 0068

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________ ___ 

### This serves as notice to the public of the action described below, taken by the Department official indicated (no

additional confir ming order will be issued in this matter).

DOCKET DOT

- OST

- 2003

- 16213

Application of AIR CHINA LIMITED (Air China) filed 11 / 21 /13 for:

XX A mended exemption authority for Air China under 49 U.S.C. 40109 to provide the following service:

Scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property, and mail, in combination or separately,

between Air China’s U.S. gateways and points in third countries pursuant to its code

- share arrangement

with United Express carriers

. 1 2



### DOCKET DOT

- OST

- 2008

- 0068

Joint Appl ication of GOJET AIRLINES, LLC (GoJet), MESA AIRLINES, INC. (Mesa), SHUTTLE

AMERICA CORP. (Shuttle America), and SKYWEST AIRLINES, INC (SkyWest) D/B/A UNITED

EXPRESS (collectively, the “Joint Applicants”) filed 11/21/13 for:

XX Amended blanket statement s of authorization for the Joint Applicants under CFR Part 212 to:

Display the “CA * ” designator code of Air China on flights operated by the Joint Applicants between Air

China’s U.S. gateways and third countries on a blind sector basis. 3 4



### Applicant rep re sentative s:

Daniel A. Weiss ( 872 ) 825

- 6828 ( United) 5 

### and

G eorge N. T ompkins, Jr. (212) 915

- 5624 ( Air China)

DOT Analyst: Darren Jaffe (202) 366

- 2512

1 Air China’s initial exemption authority permit ted it to engage in s cheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property, and mail,

in combination or separately, between any points or points in the People’s Republic of China, and any point or points i n the United

States, pursuant to its code

- share arrangements with United Air l ines, Inc. (United) in Docket DOT

- OST

- 2003

- 16213 and the United

Express carriers in Docket DOT

- OST

- 2008

- 0068

. On September 18, 2013, w e renewed and amended that exemption authori ty

permitting Air China to engage in scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property, and mail, in combination or separately,

between point s in the United States and points in third countries pursuant to its code share with United in Docket DOT

- O ST

- 2003

-

16213

. The instant application seeks comparable exemption authority for Air China so that it may code share with the United Express

carriers between the United States and third countries on a blind sector basis.

2 Air China also plans to codeshare on these services to Mexico with ExpressJet, which is exempt from the Department’s stateme nt of

authorization requirement because it is using small aircraft with less than 60 seats or less or a maximum payload capacity of 18,000

pounds or less

. 3 Addition al code

- share points are listed in Attachment C.

4 The Joint Applicants’ existing blanket statement s of authorization in Docket DOT

- OST

- 2008

- 0068 permit them to display Air

China’s “CA*” designator code on flights operated by any of the Joint Applicants as a United Express carrier between points in the

United States.

5 United filed this application on behalf of and with the permission of the Joint Applicants.

### D I S P O S I T I O N

XX Granted

, amended exemption authority for Air China (subject to conditions , see Attachment A below).

XX Granted

, amended statement s of authorization for the Joint Applicants ( subject to conditions , see

Attachment B below)

.

The above action g ranting amended exemption authority for Air China was effective when taken: December 20

, 20 13

, t h rou g h December 20

, 20 14

.

The above action amending the statement s of authorization granted for the Joint Applicants was effective when

taken: December 20 , 2013

, and will remain in effect indefinitely, subject to the conditions listed below.

Action taken by: Paul L. Gretch, Director

Office of International Aviation

XX The authority granted is consistent with the Air Transport Agreement, as amended

, between the

United States and the People’s Republic of China.

Except to the exte nt exempted or waived, this authority is subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations

indicated:

XX GoJet’s certificates of public convenience and necessity

XX Mesa’s certificates of public convenience and necessity

XX Shuttle America’s c ertificate of convenience and necessity

XX SkyWest’s certificate of convenience and necessity

XX Foreign Air Carrier Exemption Conditions for Air China

XX Statement s of Authorization approving the Joint Applicants /Air China code

- share dated

December 5, 2008 and conditions therein ( see Notice of Action Taken in Docket DOT

- OST

- 2003

-

16213 and DOT

- 2008

- 0068)

On the basis of data officially noticeable under Rule 24(g) of the Depar t ment ’ s regulations, we found the

applicant s qu a lified to provide the serv ic e s authorized.

Under author i ty assigned by the Department in its regulations, 14 CFR Part 385, we found th at (1) our action

was c o nsistent with Department policy; (2) g ra n t of the au th ori t y was consistent with the public interest; and (3)

grant of th e authori t y w ould not con s titute a major regulato r y action under the Energy Policy and C onservation

Act of 1975. To the extent not granted, we denied all requests in the referenced Docket s

. We may amend,

m odif y

, or r e voke the aut h ori t y granted in this Notice at any ti m e without hear i ng at our discretion.

Persons entitled to petition the Department for review of the action set forth in this Notice under the

Depar t ment’s regulations, 14 CFR §385.30, m ay file t h eir petitions wit h in seven (7) d a y s after the date of

issuance of this Notice. This action was effective w h en taken, and t h e filing of a petition for r e view will not

alter such effectivene ss

.

An electronic version of this document is available on the World Wide Web at:

http://dms.dot.gov//reports/reports_aviation.asp

### Attachment A

Foreign Carrier Exemption Conditions

In the conduct of the operations authorized, the foreign carrier applicant(s) shall:

(1) Not conduct any operations unless it holds a currently effective authorization from its homeland for such operations,

and it has filed a copy of such authorization with the Department;

(2) Comply with all applicable requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration, the Transportation Security

Administration, and with all applicable U.S. Government requirements concerning security, including, but not limited to,

14 CFR Parts 129, 91, and 36 and 49 CFR Part 1546 or 1550, as applicable. To assure compliance with all applicable U.S.

Govern ment requirements concerning security, the holder shall, before commencing any new service (including charter

flights) from a foreign airport that would be the holder’s last point of departure for the United States, contact its

International Industry Repre sentative (IIR) (formerly referred to as International Principal Security Inspector) to advise

the IIR of its plans and to find out whether the Transportation Security Administration has determined that security is

adequate to allow such airport(s) to be s erved;

(3) Comply with the requirements for minimum insurance coverage contained in 14 CFR Part 205, and, prior to the

commencement of any operations under this authority, file evidence of such coverage, in the form of a completed OST

Form 6411, with the Federal Aviation Administration’s Program Management Branch (AFS

- 260), Flight Standards

Service (any changes to, or termination of, insurance also shall be filed with that office);

(4) Not operate aircraft under this authority unless it complies with op erational safety requirements at least equivalent to

Annex 6 of the Chicago Convention;

(5) Conform to the airworthiness and airman competency requirements of its Government for international air services;

(6) Except as specifically exempted or otherwi se provided for in a Department Order, comply with the requirements of 14

CFR Part 203, concerning waiver of Warsaw Convention liability limits and defenses;

(7) Agree that operations under this authority constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity, for th e purposes of 28 U.S.C.

1605(a), but only with respect to those actions or proceedings instituted against it in any court or other tribunal in the

United States that are: (a) based on its operations in international air transportation that, according to t he contract of

carriage, include a point in the United States as a point of origin, point of destination, or agreed stopping place, or for

which the contract of carriage was purchased in the United States; or (b) based on a claim under any international

a greement or treaty cognizable in any court or other tribunal of the United States. In this condition, the term

"international air transportation" means "international transportation" as defined by the Warsaw Convention, except that

all States shall be con sidered to be High Contracting Parties for the purpose of this definition;

(8) Except as specifically authorized by the Department, originate or terminate all flights to/from the United States in its

homeland ;

(9) Comply with the requirements of 14 CF R Part 217, concerning the reporting of scheduled, nonscheduled, and charter

data;

(10) If charter operations are authorized, except as otherwise provided in the applicable aviation agreement, comply with

the Department's rules governing charters (includi ng 14 CFR Parts 212 and 380); and

(11) Comply with such other reasonable terms, conditions, and limitations required by the public interest as may be

prescribed by the Department, with all applicable orders or regulations of other U.S. agencies and courts , and with all

applicable laws of the United States.

This authority shall not be effective during any period when the holder is not in compliance with the conditions imposed

above. Moreover, this authority cannot be sold or otherwise transferred without e xplicit Department approval under Title

49 of the U.S. Code.

12/2007

### Attachment B

The stat e ments of authori z ation are subject to the fol l owing con d it i ons: 6

(a) The statement of authorization for GoJet will rem a in in effect on l y as long as (i) GoJet and Air China continue

to hold the necessary underl y i ng authority to operate t h e code

- share s e rvices at iss u e, and (ii) the code

- share

a g reement prov i ding f o r the code

- share operations re m ains in effect;

(b) The statement of authorization for Mesa will rem a in in effect only as long as (i) Mesa and Air China continue

to hold the necessary underl y i ng authority to operate t h e code

- share s e rvices at iss u e, and (ii) the code

- share

a g reement prov i ding f o r the code

- share operations re m ains in effect;

(c) The statement of authorization for S huttle Ame r ica will remain in effect on l y as long as (i) Shuttle A mer i ca and

Air China continue to hold the necess ar y u n derl y ing authority to operate the code

- share serv i ces at issue, and (ii) the

code

- share agre e m en t provi d i n g f o r the code

- share operations re m ains in effect;

(d) The statement of authorization for Sk y West will re m ain in effect on l y as long as (i) Sk y W est and Air China

continue to hold the neces s ary underl y i ng authority to operate the cod e

- share ser vi c es a t issue, and (ii) the code

- share

agreement provid i ng f o r the code

- share operations re m ains in effect;

(e) GoJet, M esa, Shuttle America, SkyWest and/or A i r China m u st notify the Depar t ment no later than 30 da y s before

t h ey begin a n y new code

- share s ervice u nder the cod e

- share servi ce s authorized here. Such notice shall identi f y the

market(s) to be served, confirm which of the U.S. air c a rrier(s) will be operating the air c raft in t h e code

- s h are m arket

ad d e d

, and the date on which the service w i ll begi n. Su c h notices should be filed in D o cket OST

- 2008

- 0 0 68;

(f) GoJet, Mesa, Shuttle America, SkyWest and/or Air China m u st notify the Depar t ment immed i ately if the code

share a g reement under which these code

- share services are operated is no longer in effec t or if the carrie r s decide to

cease operating all or a portion of th e approved code

- share se r vices. Such notices should be filed in Doc k et OST

2008

- 0068; 7

(g) The cod e

- sharing ope r ations condu c ted und e r this authori t y m u st c o m p ly wi t h 14 CFR Part 257 a n d wi t h any

a men d ments to the De p art ment ' s regulations con c erning code

- share arrangements that may be a d opte d

. Notwithstanding any provisions in the c ontract bet w e en the carrie r s, our approval here is expressly conditioned upon

t h e requ i re ments that the subj ect foreign air transportation be sold in the n a me of the carrier holding out s u ch service

in co m puter r es ervation s y stems and els ewh ere; that the carrier s elling such transportation (i.e., the carrier shown on

the ticket) accept responsibili t y for the ent irety o f the code share journ e y for all obligations established in its contract

of carriage wi t h the passenger; and that the passenger liabili t y of th e operating carrier be unaffected;

(h) A n y service provided s h all be consistent with all applicable agre e ments bet w een the United States and China, and

all applicable agreements with other forei g n countries i n volved. Fur t her m ore, (i) nothing in t h e award of the blanket

statements of authorization to G o Jet, Mesa, S huttle America, and/or SkyWest should be const rued as conferring upon

GoJet, Mesa, Shuttle Ameri c a, and/or Sk y West rights (including code

- share, fifth

- freedom intermediate and/or b e y ond

rights) to serve m arkets where U.S. c arrier rights are l i m ited unless GoJet, Mesa, Shuttle Ame r ica, and/or Sk y West

n otifies us of its int e nt to serve such market a n d unless and until the Depar t ment has co m p le t ed any necessary carrier

selection procedures to deter m ine which carrie r (s) should be authorized to e x ercise such rights; 8 and (ii) should t h ere

be a request by a n y carrier to use the li m i t ed

- entry route rights that are included in GoJet ’ s, Mesa ’ s, Shuttle A mer i ca ’s

, and/or SkyWest ’ s authority b y vir t ue of t h e blanket state ments of a u thorization g r anted here, but that are not being

used b y GoJet, Mesa, Shuttle Ameri ca, and/or Sk y West, the holding of such authori t y will not be considered as

providing any preference f o r GoJet, Mesa, Shuttle A merica, and/or S k y West in a carrier se l ecti o n proceeding to

deter m ine which carrier(s) should be entitled to u s e the authori t y at issue.

6 The conditions applicable to the Joint Applicants/Air China codeshare operations approved in D ocket DOT

- OST

- 2008

- 0068 are

repeated here in their entirety for ease of reference.

7 W e ex pect th i s notification to be receiv e d within 10 days of su c h non

- effective n ess or of s u ch decis i on.

8 The notice referenced in condition (e) above may be used for th is notification.(i) The authority granted here is specifically conditioned so that neither GoJet, Mesa, Shuttle America, and SkyWest

nor Air China shall give any force or effect to any contractual provisions between themselves that are contrary to

these condition s; and

(j) We m ay amend, m odify, or rev o ke t h e authori t y g r anted at any time without hearing at our discretion.

### A ttachment C

New CA* Code s hare Markets in Mexico

Houston

- Mexico City

Houston

- Monterrey